To roast or not to roast (prime rib)

Come to think of it, my family has never made a roast. Perhaps it's because cooking a large amount of meat is a scary ordeal. Initially I was worried if it would be too rare or too dry - under-seasoned or over-salted. But spoilers! All was well after the roast's long journey in the oven and hopefully I can convince you to try it out for yourself. Turns out that prime rib requires very little hands-on time and if you have 3 hours to spare, you can make one too!

In my venture to figure our how to make a roast I found some very conflicting information. Some will say to cook it low and slow, others will say high then low. I choose the latter. The high initial temperature will sear the outside and reducing the temperature for the remainder for the cooking time makes for a juicy roast.

I spontaneously splurged on a 5-1/2 pound bone-in prime rib while traversing the meat department. This was probably the best impulsive buy I've made in a long time.

Ingredients:

• 1 hunk of meat (bone-in prime rib)
• 2 tsp coarse sea salt
• 1 tsp ground pepper
• 1 tsp onion powder

 Equipment:

• 1 large pan
• A probe thermometer 
• Aluminum foil

Instructions:

1. Leave your hunk of meat out for 30-60 minutes so it can reach room temperature. 
2. Mix the sea salt, pepper, and onion powder in a small dish.
3. Rub your roast with the seasoning and coat all sides evenly.  
   
4. Preheat your oven to 450F 
5. Place the roast with the fatty side up (bone side down) in the pan and then in the oven. If you choose to use a disposable aluminum pan, remember to support the bottom.
6.  Bake at 450F for 25 minutes. 
7. Lower the temperature to 325F. Bake for an additional (13 minutes)x(# pounds). For example, for my 5.5 lb roast, it took 13 min x 5.5 lb = 71.5 minutes. 
8. To check that it's done, insert the probe thermometer about 2 inches into the top of the roast, into the thickest part of the meat. For medium rare check the temperature 10 minutes before it's expected to be done. Do not hit the bone for an accurate reading. For medium the internal temperature should be 145-155F, for medium rare 130-140F.
9. Remove the roast from the oven after it has reached your desired temperature. Let it sit with a loose sheet of foil tented over it for at least 20 minutes before cutting.

Notes:

Remember to calibrate a new thermometer (or if it hasn't been used in a while) by placing it in ice cold water. The thermometer should read 32F; if it does not, make adjustments in accordance with your thermometer instructions or note the difference and subtract/add it when you take the temperature to check if the roast is done.