Kosher Salt Encrusted Prime Rib Roast

I am an avid researcher before I even start a recipe. I check the ingredients, steps, and of course, previous ratings. This met all the criteria and figured I'd give it a go, since it was relatively simple. The Prime came out AMAZING. Top quality stuff. You will be paying Big Bucks in a restaurant for this type of quality taste. I do have to recommend that you get really good quality meat, or if the meat is of poor quality, the whole taste is a waste. I would also highly recommend a meat thermometer. I followed the recipe to a tee. The salt doesn't stick on evenly on the sides as much as the top, but it did not seem to matter. The salt scraped off nicely after cooking the meat and setting it aside for 30 minutes.. If you are a meat fan, THIS IS A MUST. Do not skimp on the choice of meat, go for top quality. It will cost a little more, but it is still hundreds of dollars cheaper with the amount of meals/servings you can have with a multi-pound meat, which would cost a fortune in a restaurant. The meat was juicy and succulent and came out perfect thanks to the meat thermometer test at 4 hours, which registered about 145 degrees inside. Thanks HOLLY!!!

My roast required a lot more salt (nearly a whole box of kosher salt) and I did spray the salt with water to help it stick to the meat. I have not made a roast this size encrusted in salt so I was a little nervous about trying this. I have to admit, it was a very good, very tender, roast! Mine was a 5 pound roast and took less time to reach temperature than I expected. USE A MEAT THERMOMETER! That is the only way to make sure your roast is not well done. The leftovers (I had to hide half the roast before serving dinner!) were so good in French Dip sandwiches, I am not sure I will ever get away with buying Deli roast beef again. The salt tends to crack while baking, but don't worry it will still cook just fine. Make sure you get ALL the salt crust off the roast before serving and it won't be too salty. Great recipe!

Wow, who knew cooking prime rib could be so easy?? I took others suggestions (also glanced at the Rock Salt Prime Rib recipe on this site) and did mine this way: I put down a layer of foil in the roasting pan, and also covered the bottom where the roast would be with the kosher salt. Then I placed the roast (bone side down) on top of the salt (note here: if you are using a bone in roast, you do not need to place the roast on an rack. Just place right in pan - the bones act as the rack itself). Then I slathered the meat with dijon mustard and poured the kosher salt on top of that - and yes, you must use kosher salt, table salt will not work with this! Slow roasted at 250 (convection) and took exactly 4 hours to hit 143 for a 4 lb. roast. Allowed it to rest for an hour, which was longer than I intended, temp. rose to 150 and then began to drop b/c the roast was cooling off! And the coolest part - the salt crust does crack right off, so don't be scared by the amount of salt - its needed to form the crust! The roast was medium rare in the very center branching off closer to medium at the ends, just the way we like it. My husband was very impressed with our first homemade prime rib. I can't wait to do it again, perhaps for Christmas dinner!

I don't know how anyone could give this less than 5 stars... it is unbelievably good! I used a 12 pound boneless ribeye roast. I rubbed it with olive oil, garlic, and thyme before applying the salt crust. Mine too looked like a snowball! I cooked at 425 for 15 minutes, then took it down to 215 for about 4 1/2 hours, thermometer read right between 145 and 150. Perfection! Will definitely make again, great holiday meal. Thanks for the recipe!

I have used a variation of this recipe for years. You can tell from the other reviews how good it really is. You must however use COARSE Kosher salt. I allow the meat to dry in the refrigerator uncovered (yes remove the paper/plastic wrapping) for two or three days (you must have a clean, odor free refrigerator). It will start to turn dark but should not appear greasy or slimy. Rub the outside of the roast with crushed garlic, pepper and rosemary before coating with a WET mixture of salt and water. It takes a little work to get the whole thing coated. When done properly the you will have to break the salt coating after cooking with a hammer and it will lift off in a couple of large pieces. Those who didn't like the recipe didn't use WET COARSE Kosher salt or they had a poor quality roast to begin with.

This roast turned out superb! to say the least, I have cooked several ribs and this recipe is the best. I did crush 4 cloves of garlic ,mixed that with the pepper and spread on top before salting. Also I used a 8 1/2 lb roast, which I believe the recipe should call for. Put it in at 11:30am done at 5:00pm perfectly medium. My kids could not get enough, This will be our Christmas tradition dinner. Mike Gibson

Absolutely fantastic. The only change I made was that I thought the internal temperature at 145 degrees was too high and meat would be too well done for our taste. I took it out at 120 and it came up almost to 130 during resting and was perfect. Nice medium rare in the center and and medium with with just a little pink towards the ends of the roast. I carved the whole roast perpendicular to the ribs, then sliced that into 1 1/2 inch filets then seperated the ribs and served them along with the filet. I filet and 1 rib per plate. There was not a scrap left and everybody raved. Thank you Holly.

Very good, worth the wait. I added a small amount of water to the salt so that it could be "pressed" to the roast.

A simple, yet satisfying experience...definitely hands-off and yields exceptional results. I did as follows for a 3.5lb Prime Rib with the bone(s) in: Warmed roast to approx room temp. Pre-heated oven to 500F. Rubbed with season salt and pepper per recipe. Rubbed in approx 3/4C Kosher salt. Wetted with water and pressed on another 1/2C sea salt. Cooked at 500F uncovered for 15 min. Reduced heat to 350F for 70 min. (or until internal temp reaches 135F for med-rare). Removed from oven and let sit for approx 20 min.

We bought a 17 lb prime rib roast (7 ribs) for Christmas dinner and were very anxious as it was an expensive ($157) and large piece of meat and we wanted to have a great dinner. I've never been happier or more pleased with a meal! Here's what we did: To start, we left the meat on the counter for two hours to bring it to room temperature before cooking. When it was ready to go in the oven, I rubbed the meat with olive oil and then generously applied about a cup of minced garlic. I then mixed a whole bottle of powdered steak seasoning with the kosher salt and added water to form a moist (not soaking wet) paste. I molded the salt mixture on top of the meat (about 1/2 inch thick) and then put it in a 225* oven with a meat thermometer inserted in the middle. I started the prime rib at 8 a.m. and by 1:00 p.m. the meat thermometer read 120* - it was ready! I removed the salt in two large, hard pieces and then let it rest for an hour on the counter (covered with foil). The meat was amazing - it was as good as the best restaurant we've eaten at. BEST TIP: USE A MEAT THERMOMETER AND DO NOT COOK BEYOND 120* for rare/medium rare. BON APPETIT!

This recipe made our Christmas dinner so amazing! Like everyone else, I was afraid of covering $150 of prime rib with salt and ruining our Christmas dinner. Thanks to the other reviewers I proceeded with the recipe. I had a 14 lb boneless prime rib. I used 6 lbs (2 boxes) of Morton's Coarse Kosher Salt, mixed with 2 cups of water to make the salt stick. I made a "bed" of the salt mixture in the bottom of the roasting pan and placed the p.rib on it. I brought the meat to room temp. (about 2 hrs.), then coated it with olive oil, chopped fresh rosemary, chopped garlic, seasoning salt and pepper; inserted a digital meat thermometer, and packed it with the rest of the salt. Put p.rib in a hot 450 degree oven for 15 min. then turned the oven down to 225. It took 4 1/2 hours (approx) for the meat to reach 130 degrees. Let it rest 30 min. Perfection! Rare-Med Rare in the center. You have to trust the recipe and the digital thermometer (won't use reg. thermometer again)! Several guests planned to make their own prime rib this way for New Year's Eve dinner.

I followed the recipe right down to the letter, but was left with a really really salty slab of expensive meat. It didn't create a salt crust like I thought that it would, and scraping the kosher salt off of the meat was tedious. After removing the salt, it was still really salty.

This recipe makes a perfect prime rib! We always make our prime rib roast exactly like this at Christmas. One important note is to ensure that the roast is at room temperature before you start roasting - believe it or not, it makes it even better.

I read most of the 9 pages of reviews before I made this. A few things to remember, 1.) take your rib roast out an hour or so before cooking and leave it unwrapped on your counter to come to room temperature, 2.) do not be afraid to season your meat before putting the salt crust on, 3.) use a salt paste to get it to stick to the meat (use course kosher salt, I used an entire 3 lb box), 4.) use a meat thermometer and 5.) do not open your oven. This was a wonderful recipe and everyone loved it! Even my 22 month old daughter ate a ton of it. I will definitely make this again. I had read a review to use olive oil on the roast but I didn't care for the taste. I did not season enough before hand because I was too scared but I will definitely use plenty of seasoning and garlic next time. I had a 7.11 lb roast, put it in at 500 degrees for 15 minutes and then lowered to the 210 for 4.5 hours. Very good.

This recipe turned out great. I used considerable more salt. For a 6lb roast I used a whole 3lb box of kosher salt. A Prime Rib trick is the unwrap the meat about 4 days before cooking. Put the meat on a platter on top of paper towels and store in the refrigerator. Every day flip the meat and replace the paper towels. This will draw out extra moisture which intensifies the flavor of the meat.

We made this for Thanksgiving and it was soooooo good. I will never cook prime rib any other way. I followed the recipe to the letter. It was so easy. I had a 10 lb. roast that I cooked for 7 hours at 220 degrees. Thanks for sharing!

Add me to the list of happy prime ribbers! This was one of the best I have ever cooked. I did add water to the salt and for fear of it being to salty(yeh i know I read ALL the reviews and yes it is not salty!) I took cheese cloth and wrapped it twice around the middle, this protected the end pieces, to get the salt to stick on the cheesecloth i put olive oil on it and the salt stuck perfectly! The top and the bottom did not have any cheesecloth and the salt made a perfect crust. When I removed it 125 let it sit 20 minutes, removed the salt crust and popped back in the oven at 350 for 10- 15 minutes, I prefer my prime rib warmer, It was cooked perfectly, everyone RAVED! took it out at 135 degrees medium rare perfection. When cooking prime rib YOU MUST USE A THERMOMETER!! period! it was tender juicy and had a wonderful flavor. I sprinkled garlic powder all over it before I put on the crust, for those disappointed on no ajus, just buy "Johnny's Au Jus" located somewhere around the BBQ sauces and ketchup in your local store, it is concentrated and is way better than Au Jus I can make and is 100 times better than the pkg mix!! Problem solved! Enjoy and try this don't be scared it is wonderful!!!

This came out perfect. There were two pieces of advice that I believe helped this be the best prime rib ever. 1) make a paste out of the salt. This created a nice crust that just broke away from the beef so easily. 2) watch the internal temp. Ignore the time and just watch the temp. This beef came out perfect. Thanks for the recipe.

This is the best recipe for prime rib that I have ever found. We were extremely nervous about using it but after reading several pages of reviews we decided to risk it. If they publish the picture I submitted you will see why we were nervous; those two prime ribs looked like giant coconut-covered Twinkies with all the salt. As others have said, the salt comes off in crusts and the meat is absolutely fabulous. Thank you Holly for a truly wonderful recipe!!

I had a 10 lb roast with the bone in. I used a 3 Lb box of salt mixed with 1 cup of water, and piled it on. I used the whole box and could have used more salt I think. This cooked almost 4 hours at 300. I took it from the oven at 130 on the meat thermometer, and it rose to 140 while standing which was a moist tender medium to medium well. This was the most delicious thing I have ever cooked for a large group. (12 people). So easy to do. The end pieces of meat were a little salty, but other than that it was a huge hit and I will do it again. The salt turns brown and cracks but that is ok, don't worry. Almost foolproof. If you like more rare pull from oven at 120.

I have been cooking this roast since the late 1960's with the following differences. Wrap the roast in cheesecloth at least two thicknesses, then place the roast on the layer of salt, completely cover the roast with salt top and sides with at least one inch or more of salt, I use a stainless steel turkey roasting pan. Place in a preheated 400 degree oven and roast for 1 hour, lower the temperature to 300 degrees and cook to desired temp using a meat thermometer (this roast is best served rare to medium rare), When desired temperatureis reached, roast will be evenly cooked from outer to inner cut. Remember this roast continues to cook as it is setting. After taking in roast out of the oven, remove the roast from the salt, using two large kitchen forks, and remove the cheesecloth. There will not be any heavy salt that needs to be scraped from the roast. The roast is now ready to carve and serve.

I have never cooked a rib this way but have always wanted to try. I was a little worried about the rib being too salty or that it would not cook in time for my event but all went well using a meat thermometer. A 10.02 lb. rib started cooking at noon and was out of the oven by 6-6:15 and was done to a very nice Medium rare on the thicker end and a nice Med on the smaller end. This was a flavorful, juicy and tender meal and I knew all was well when a room full of women bacame quiet....REALLY quiet! My Ladies Night out dinner was a success and we all reccomend this method of cooking a prime rib!

I followed recommendations from other members by moistening the salt in order to aid the crust formation. I also kept salt off the ends to eliminate oversalting those pieces. Furthermore I started with an oven preheated to 500 degrees, cooking the roast for 5 minutes before lowering the temp to 210 for 4.5 hours. The roast came out wonderful. The next time I'll have it sit on the sideboard for a while at room temp. That seems to also help. All in all, a very good recipe and worth the effort.

I have purchased a 15 pound Prime Rib for Christmas dinner, I was a bit leary in spite of all the great reviews, so found a tiny 2 pounder and decided to give it a try. I followed the directions to the tee, and put it in the oven at 12:00, figuring, it would be ready in about 4 hours, WRONG, we went to town, and got back around 2:00 and I checked the temperature of the meat, it was right at 140, the temp for the meat to be rare as we like it, so, I took it out of the oven and let it rest while I prepared the baked potatoe and the salad, and then, I too, the crust of salt off and finished getting the reast off with a little pastry brush, it worked great, I then, sliced into the luscious piece of meat, and Yep, it was rare, probably too rare for some people, but, just right for us. My husband, who does not like much salt on his food, was very happy with it.I definately will go ahead and cook the Christmas roast with this recipe, but, will plan on a longer cooking time. I increased the number of servings to accomadate a 15 pound roast, and the cooking time still showed 4 1/2 hours, I am sure, it will take longer, so I plan to put it into the oven around 6 AM and see how it goes! We may have to adjust our dinner time to go with the roast!

When I bought my first prime rib ever, the butcher told me to slather it in mustard and coat it with Kosher salt. This is so easy and delicous, and the way we always cook it! Serve with creamed horseradish on the side.

This is just like my mother made before she went to Heaven. I was reading the reviews and the remarks about the cracking of the salt crust... when my mother mixed the salt and seasonings, it was ready when you could put some of the salt in your palm, make a fist and it retained the pattern of your grip. Her crust always came out intact.

Mine didn't work. Couldn't get it to stick properly (very hard to do) so the juices ran out and the salt ran in! lol. But I can imagine it must be just wonderful if you get it right. Won't be trying again without help though, thats for sure. $Cha-Ching!$

I looked all over the internet for a good prime rib recipe - I chose this one. The time seemed incorrect and other reviewers mentioned this (cooked in about half the time). So I figured from looking at other recipes that my 16 pound roast should take about 10 hours at 210 degrees - and it did. I did add to the recipe 4 cloves of garlic that I crushed and spread with the pepper on top under the salt. I was very pleased with the outcome and will reuse this recipe next time.

We served this for Thanksgiving. I took the suggestions from another person and had the butcher remove the ribbs but tie them on. I special ordered an 11 lb roast and was VERY nervous about all of the salt and never having cooked a prime rib roast. This recipe was EVERYTHING and more that everyone said about it. I can't wait to have it again.

Oh my GOD if I could give this a 10 I would have - Slow cook this puppy and take it out with a meat thermometer reading of 130 degrees for rare, by the time you get the crust off it will be PERFECT, just like in a five star restaurant. It was the best rib roast I've ever made.

Although the prime rib roasted beautifully, my family really thought the flavor of salt on the outter edges of the roast was TOO strong. NOTE: With all the salt in the juices, you could not even make au-Jus sauce from the drippings. (Yes, you could remove big chunks of salt from the roast but NOT the juice!)

Followed the instructions and this rib roast came out perfect.

I read many reviews thoroughly before choosing this recipe. I rubbed the meat with a paste of fresh garlic before applying the salt as another member suggested. After researching on this site and a few others I started with a temperature of 425 and then lowered the oven to 250 for about 4 hours. I cooked it until the thermometer read 135 degrees and let it rest for 30 minutes. It was perfectly medium rare. I served this with au jus and horseradish. This was excellent, as good as any restaurant. I will definitely make this again.Update: I used the leftovers to make prime rib soup,a copycat of the one served at Harrigan's restaurant.My family loved it as well. I got two great meals out of this recipe. This will be a new holiday tradition.

This may be the best prime rib roast I have ever made. I was very nervous about making it for Christmas day, but I needn't have worried. It was perfect! One thing, it is very important to make a paste of the salt with a small amount of water. Otherwise, I don't think the salt would have stuck so well and formed such a nice crust that was easy to remove. By the way, for an 8 pound roast roasted to medium (145), it was almost 6 hours at the 210 temperature...but certainly worth the wait. Thanks for a superb dish!

I have been making this recipe for Christmas for the past four years...everyone raves about the meat. The salt layer under slow heat does form a crust that is easy to remove. One thing I have noted is that small end of standing rib roasts (while oh so great quality beef!) lack fat at the top of the roast or some butchers cut it down. I get a quality large end roast with a SMALL TO MODERATE (can't see the pink of beef shining through) amount of fat layer on the top and find it helps to keep the meat from becoming salty. The fat heats to form the crust layer with the salt. It and the fat peel back to reveal the most juiciest rib roast ever. Hope this helps. Making it again tomorrow....enjoy!

Temp is weird, my oven doesn't have a 210 degree setting, so I used 225 deg. I didn't time it, I used a meat therm. It had a good flavor, but I like to be able to use the au jus and you couldn't...too salty.

If you mix in a bowl kosher salt and a small amount of water, to make a paste to put on the meat your kosher salt will go much further.George

For the minority of people who didn't like the recipe I can only guess that the salt wasn't applied correctly, a meat thermometer wasn't used or possibly just a bad piece of meat to start with. For the meat thermometer, invest in one that I digital with a probe the inserts into the meat and a small heat-proof cable that goes to the digital part and allows you to monitor the thermometer without opening the oven door during the roasting process. Mine was around $25 and is well worth it. Ignore the clock an pay attention to temperature. Second, there seems to be such an issue and debate with the salt and maybe this will help. Just remember back to when you were a kid and you would go to the beach. Remember how the soft, wet sand felt? Remember the consistency that made the best sand castles? That's what you're aiming for here - get the consistency of your salt to the consistency of wet sand and then 'entomb' your meat in the wet salt. I can hear it in the reviews - people are trying to rub it in or sprinkle it on and it's not working, the roast is coming out salty and that is why. Hope that helps! :-)

Amazing....it's about all I can say! I use this all the time for holiday dinners! It's on request every single year! :) Thanks so much!

Horrible! Definitely a salty taste. What a waste of a good Prime Rib. Followed the recipe to the letter.

For Thanksgiving we wanted to do something different...this recipe turned out spectacular. I used a 4 lb. prime rib, coated in kosher salt (with a little water sprinkled on it so the salt would stick, cooked at 210 degrees (it took almost 6 hours) but was WELL worth the extra time, it was juicy, medium rare, and better than ANY restaurant prime rib we have ever had...served with au jus and horseradish mmmmmmm!! Thank you Holly for sharing this recipe.

Oh My 10 Stars!!!!! This is wonderful! I used this recipe on a rump roast and it was out of this world! I had planned on making the roast for sandwiches; it was so good that we ate and ate and ended up not even making dinner. I used sea salt instead of kosher and sprinkled a little garlic powder on top. I used a crock pot, placing salt all over the bottom and placing roast in dry. It turned out beautifully. I cannot recommend this highly enough. Yes, even though I scraped the salt off it was still a tad bit salty, which we expected and enjoyed. The simplest recipes so many times turn out to be the best. Thanks for posting Holly :-)

I made this for our Seder meal at church and everyone just raved about it. I was pretty shocked myself on how well it turned out! I used a 15 pound roast and it was boneless and still only used about 2 cups of salt. I also cut slivers of garlic and stuffed down inside the roast. It was amazing!!

Delish! I didn't crust properly, but it still came out really good. The parts that were crusted properly were amazing! It gives me incentive to keep trying, bc even the mistakes are delicious!

Excellent! Number one, buy an instant read thermometer, then try this flavorful recipe. Do not be afraid of the salt; it keeps moisture in the roast while giving wonderful flavor. I laid fresh thyme sprigs on top of the salt on the cooking pan, as well as on top of the roast before adding the salt. I cooked a 5.5 pound prime rib roast, and it took nearly two hours to reach 135, resting until it reached 140, a lovely medium rare. This is when the instant read can save your investment, don't cook prime rib without one! I started the roast at 450 for 30 minutes, then lowered to 350 until it reached temp.

Costco prime rib done as per this recipe and the oohs and aahs when I started slicing the meat about 3/8-1/2" thick and we saw the juice running and the pinkness not to mention the smell was too much.Our 1st. try and a winner.Great.Ken W.

I followed these directions exactly and it came out perfect. Not too salty at all. Rave reviews from everyone.

I also added a about 1 Tbsp. dried basil, garlic and 1/2 tsp. each marjoram, onion powder and thyme to the Rib Roast before coating with the salt. You do need to combine the Kosher salt with a cup of water to form a thick paste. Pat it on as thickly as possible, and the best tool to use is your hands!I put mine on a rack with a little water at the bottom of the pan.The steam causes the salt crust to crack slightly, and makes it easier to remove (it really just peels away.) We have no leftovers!

All I can say is AWESOME. I made this for Father's Day this year. It was the first time that I had made a Prime Rib at home. Juicy, tender and incredible flavor!!! The only thing that was not accurate, was the cooking time. We like our Prime rib medium rare, so it only took about 4 hours to cook to our liking. But, It was EXCELLENT! Thank You, Lili Osborne

Absolutely delicious! Impress your guests with this restaurant quality meal. Make sure you do not leave slices in the drippings, otherwise they soak up the salty juice.

Another great recipe MARBALET, thank you. I was worried a little about the salt method, but it looked interesting so I decided to try it. I did only about 1/8 tsp. of black pepper, but did everything else exactly. It was so easy to make, it cut nicely when done, and was so tender! I do like steak including primed rib at a medium well stage, so I baked the meat for exactly 6 hours. It was fine, because the temperature was so low. The only thing was I wished it would have had its own au jus sauce, but with this recipe it obviously couldn't work. For those who had to have it, I made the packet type. I thought it was too salty as is, so I added a tablespoon of flour to it. The prime rib was so good, I didn't want to ruin it with the packet au jus, so we used it for the potatoes. I plan to make again next Christmas as of now.

The only way I cook a rib roast!!! Tried this on my very first roast, (for xmas 2004) came out PERFECT. Very tender, flavorful, not salty at all (salt just brushes off) Perfect with horseradish sauce! Hubby's cooking it for me today!

Wow, was this delicious! This was my first time cooking prime rib, and I have to admit that I was a little scared cooking it with all that salt. It came out perfect! I can honestly say it was the best prime rib I have ever had. I followed the recipe exactly except I added a little water to the kosher salt to help it adhere better to the roast. The salt formed a shell and popped right off when I went to take it off. It did not leave a salty taste at all. It was extremely juicy and melt-in-your-mouth tender. My roast was a little over 6# and I cooked it for about 5 hours. It's imperative to use a meat thermometer because oven times can vary greatly. I served it with a horseradish sauce that I found on this site and it complimented it perfectly. Thank you for such a great recipe that I'm sure I'll use again and again!

I have done salt crusted prime rib before, this was not as good

Amazingly perfect and delicious -- next time I will not put the salt on each end -- those pieces remained very salty tasting. I cooked it to 135, and it was perfection. Can't wait to do it again.

FABULOUS, I'll never make prime rib another way again! My roast was 5.08 lbs and took approx. 5 hours at 210F. Like others had suggested, I made a paste with some water to make my salt crust. The salt just breaks off in chunks after resting. I allowed my roast to rest sitting in my microwave.

are you afraid? why are you reading the reviews then? do it correct and you will not taste the salt. i am really bad about following recipes, i cant even follow my own, but i do use them for a guide and this is an awesome guide. i peal and slice about 1-2 heads (yes heads, not cloves) of garlic and insert into meat (avg of 8-10lbs roast). generously coat with approx 1-tsp each dried basil, oregano, thyme, sage and chicken bouillon. leave uncovered in frig over night. set on counter early am and rest at room temp for at least 5 hours. lightly coat in olive oil (lightly!). mix +/- one cup water per 3 lb box of "kosher" salt, to make thick paste. cover all sides, including bottom and sides. quick roast at 500 deg for about 10-15min, turn down to 210 and cook till thermometer reads 10 degrees below desired doneness, will cook while resting. IT MUST REST REST!!!! the salt will lift off like a helmet and you will not taste it. if you want gravy, make with bouillon, the drippings are not good for gravy. i have made this recipe several times, it is by far the best.

YUM! I served this for a non-traditional Thanksgiving meal. This was my first time to cook prime rib so I was a bit nervous about the possibility of messing up an expensive cut of meat. I did a 5 lb roast and followed the instructions pretty closely. It turned out perfect! Better than any I've ever had in a restaurant. My family loved it. I can't wait to serve my friends this meal in the near future.

I think this could have been great, but when I moved my roast half way through cooking, a lot of the crust cracked and fell off. I made the mistake of adding more salt, which was a huge error. It just melted right into the meat and made it so salty. I almost ruined the roast and as it was I had to chuck a bunch of the one side. The roast was still juicy and I really think it would have been great if not for my mistake. I also did not like that I could not use the juices to make gravy because it was just too salty. I will try something different next time, thanks.

What a pleasure making this - picked up this recipe, so easy in preparation, and ever since have been making it at least once a month. Just keep watch of the meat temperature as it will easily overcook if left in the oven too long. My family love medium rare so between 135-140 degrees is the point to stop. Would recommend this to anyone.

This recipe is every bit as good (and shocking) as everyone else has said. I cooked a 14 pound roast and used about 1 1/2 pounds of the koser course salt. I used the salt dry on top of the roast and wetted it for the sides which was a great move. It stuck to the sides well and the water/salt combo made a better crust than the dry salt alone. The meat was absolutely fabulous and everybody raved, even my critical sister said it was better than any restaurant. As far as the quality, I found the least exensive place to buy at $2.98 per pound and it really didn't matter, it was superb!

Oh my gosh! We had this for Christmas dinner yesterday, and it's simply the best ever. Scary at first, cuz it looked like a snowball. Very moist, consistently cooked throughout, and absolutely delicious!

I have made this recipe quite a few times and it has never disappointed me. My rule of thumb is to totally cover the roast with coarse salt and cook it at 170ºF for 1 hr per lb of roast. I usually use between a 4-7 lb roast. I sell natural-raised beef for a living and have given many people this formula, even for rolled rump roasts and gotten good reviews. If you think it's too salty, you haven't gotten all of the salt off. Better than any restaurant meal if you use good beef to start with, not the store bought wet-aged stuff. Go to a butcher and get dry-aged beef. It's worth the extra cost.

I made this last New Years and it was the best prime rib ever. I will be serving this for Christmas dinner this year. I cooked one boneless roast and a bone in roast. Both were cooked to med rare and were good, but the bone in comes out better for some reason. (longer cook time = more tender roast?) Me and my guests thank you!

Great recipe thanks for sharing. My mom is particular about prime rib and she loved it!

This is the first prime rib I have ever made and it is outstanding! We have friends who raise cattle and they give us prime rib when we promise to make it!

This just isn't that great!

Quickness rating doesn't really apply - prime rib is supposed to cook s l o w! It was delicious!

The first website I go to for recipes is allrecipes.com as I have not been let down yet..BUT..this was TERRIBLE. What a waste of a great prime rib. All we could taste is salt, entirely covering up the taste of the beef. It did come out very tender, but that was overpowered by the salt. I would not recommend this to anyone and would not try again. VERY DISSAPOINTED

fantastic, however, I cooked the entire primerib, about 14lbs., and had to turn up the oven. Keep that in mind if you are cooking more then 4lbs.

I have prepared this recipe twice for 50 people each time and everyone raved about it. Some people who don't like beef, tried it and loved it. Great recipie. Thanks

After I read all the great reviews for this recipe I had to try it. I made this for my family's Christmas dinner today and it was delicious! Everyone was blown away by the flavor and at how juicy the meat was. The kosher salt kept all the juices in while flavoring the meat.The seasoning salt and pepper made every bite good, not bland at all. It was salty without being overwhelming. I recommend this recipe to anyone that is making a rib roast for the first time because it is a really easy recipe.

The guests raved over the juicy, tender, free of what was expected to be a salty morsel of meat. We use this recipe when we entertain special guests.

I am amazed that anyone would fool with this recipe! Absolutely delicious-- as is! The low oven temp avoids the usual splatter and time-consuming cleanup. Our roast was moist, tender, and flavorful.

If your looking for the perfect Prime Rib just follow these instruction to the letter and you won't be disappointed. The best prime I have ever had the pleasure eating, and to think I made it. Thank you very much for sharing

Woderful and flavorful. A must try. Just so you all don't make the same mistake my husband made. DO NOT make gravy from the drippings, It makes for a VERY SALTY gravy.

I have made this recipe about a dozen times in the last 2 years and do have a couple of suggestions. For a 5 lbs roast I typically use 1 1/2 or 2 boxes of kosher salt. I pour it into a large mixing bowl and add a little water until it can be formed into walls on the outside of the bowl and hold its own weight. I do this so that I can make a cocoon of salt around the entire roast with no exposed spots. Also when you place the salt on the roast use a metal spoon or spatula because your hands will stick to the salt and it will collapse instead of forming around the roast. I also take garlic cloves and cut them into fourths and insert them inside the roast between the fat layers. Also if you have the butcher cut the ribs from the roast and tie them back together the garlic fits well between the two. After it is coated I place in an oven that is 500 degrees. As soon as I place the roast into the oven I decrease the temp to 210. This hardens the salt quickly and seals the roast inside. Monitor with a meat thermometer and take out several degrees shy of your desired temp and allow it to sit in the salt cocoon and it will cook for another 30 minutes before cutting. Over all this is a great recipe and I use it all the time.

I just wanted to let you know that the prime rib was great and people compared it Scotch and Sirloin which has the best prime rib in the area thanks!!!!!!!!!!

My family loves this dish. Very easy to make for special occassions.

Very, very yummy! It was my first time making a prime rib and it turned out GREAT!!! I made it for my daughters family birthday party. Everyone LOVED it! I think if I had turned my back for one second my nephew would have chewed the bone. I followed the recipe to a T, and it was wonderful. Wouldn’t change a thing. I will defiantly make this again. I think if I didn’t my family would disown me.

Amazing! I made another prime rib recipe years ago from this site that got great reviews, however I wasn't that excited about the outcome. This recipe, however, is the winner. It was so easy to prepare and cook - no needing to baste or do much prep work other than light seasoning and covering in salt. It also doesn't heat up your kitchen! Always buy the top grade beef you can afford, and you can't go wrong.

Awesome! Very easy. Wet the Kosher salt down a little to make it pack better. My cut was a little under 5lb and time was still spot on as we like a little more on the rare side of medium. Let sit covered with a towel loosely in the microwave for about an hour and the temp when cut was perfect. My first attempt so will go with a larger cut with more people now I have the confidence! Used a dry mix Au Jus sauce because you cannot make one from the drippings. Get a good horse radish sauce as well.

Excellent! We used a 6lb roast and baked for the full 5 hours. It came out perfect. We also moistened the salt to a moist sand consistency so it would encase the meat better.

I cook my 4 lb prime rib at 325 for about 2.5 hours and use the same ingredients at you.

Reading the other reviews, I lightly rubbed the roast with OLIVE OIL (and added a little garlic powder because we love the flavor) before adding the kosher salt. Excellent Recipe. I will most definitely keep this on file.

Turned out beautifully! The salt crusted well and came off in great chunks. Roast was done sooner than I thought it would be, but could be my oven. I added garlic to the rub before salting and it was a good addition. Juicy, tender enough to cut with a fork and full of flavor. Will make this again.

Unbelievably juicy!! I'll never cook a prime rib roast any other way than this. I like it rare/medium rare, so I took it out at about 130F and let it sit for a half-hour. Was perfectly pink throughout.

Easy and very good.....you cant mess it up!

I tried this recipe for Xmas dinner and it came out to be the best prime rib I have ever made. I made a few changes in that I rubbed the meat with seasoning salt and Lawrys Beef & Pork Rub first and then coated it with a salt paste (kosher salt mixed with water). Also, after it reached rare, I turned up the oven temp to 375 and browned the salt for about 15 min. My husband said that he had never had a prime rib as good but admitted he was nervous when he saw me lathering salt all over the meat! This will become our only way of cooking prime rib in the future.

Fantastic recipe. I altered it slightly to accomodate tighter time frame as follows - rubbed 4lb roast with some minced garlic first, then pepper and piled on the kosher salt (to anyone who found their recipe tasted salty - did you use regular salt or kosher? There's a BIG difference!!) Warmed oven up to 425 degrees, then put roast in and turned down to 250. Roast reached medium in just under 4 hrs. For reference - 140 degrees = rare, 155 = medium, 165 = well done. Let rest for 10 min, cracked off salt crust and served - perfect!

I was afraid to try this recipe with all the salt it asks for. And I dont like salt that much. But wow! it was so good. I got rave reviews on it and the meat was tender and very flavorful. I will make this every year now for the holidays. Thanks!

Slow cooking and packing the salt on to the roast made for one fantastic xmas meal. Make sure to put in a meat thermometer so you can serve the roast to your desired liking...ie rare, med, etc

Fantastic taste - easy to do! Did a 5.5 lb oven-prepared prime rib roast for Oscar night, seasoned the roast all over with pepper and a package of Lipton onion soup mix,then pasted on a mixture of coarse kosher salt, Montreal steak seasoning and water. I roasted at 425 for 20 minutes, and then at 215 until the temperature reached 140. I let it sit for 15 minutes, cracked/scraped off the crust, and it was perfectly medium, tasty and juicy!

Excellent! Best prime rib I have ever made at home. Got approval from everyone who tried it. I highly reccomend this to anyone wanting to cook a prime rib. Make sure you scrape off the salt layer.

Flavor was great, but be sure to go by your own taste for meat, as far as when it is done. 5 hours brought my rib to being well done.

Turned out wonderfu!! Only thing I changed was I rubbed it with jarred chopped garlic and it's juices before I covered it in the salt. Family didn't leave one scap of meat!

This was deliciouse! Just like at a really good steak house!! My fiance and I loved it....we had no left overs...I only used a 2 1/2 lb rib roast tho. Sooo good. def. make it again!

AWESOME!! We loved it! I had a 4.5 lb prime rib and roasted it for about 5 hours. It came out medium rare and amazing. Wouldn't change a thing...

The roast turned out great, but I made a couple of improvements. I marinated the prime rib with olive oil and rosemary for two days prior to cooking. Instead of black pepper, I used a dry rub of ground green and pink peppercorns and ground coriander seed. Just put all the dry ingredients into a coffee grinder. I also coated with a little bit of a vegetable-based garlic spread. That's easier than trying to make garlic cloves stick to the meat. When done, I served with a basic gravy made from a dark roux (margarine & flour fried at high heat), beef broth, au jus concentrate, red wine, and juices from the roast. Everybody commented on how well the gravy turned out, despite the fact that I didn't have any beef drippings.