MWF seeks advice on smoking the big one

[Jenise]

14 pounds of boneless prime rib awaits my attention. My plan is to start it in the oven (imminently) and finish it in the smoker. The smoker cooks at 200-250 degrees F, depending on the weather.

It's 43 degrees, overcast and blustery.

At around 200-250, I'm thinking that this Hunk o' Meat is going to require about 30 minutes per pound or a total of about seven hours. Bearing in mind that I would rather have the meat wait for the guests than my guests lunging about in hunger while the meat finishes, if there's anything stupid, naive or just plain dead wrong about my calculations, I'd love to hear about it while I still have a chance to change course.

Any help?

[Robin Garr]

Sounds right to me, Jenise. In my experience, outdoor grill/smoker cooking does slow down when the weather's cold. And really, in low-heat smoking, a little extra time isn't going to hurt anything. I'd get right on it. Hope I'm not leading you astray!

[Jenise]

I'd get right on it. Hope I'm not leading you astray!

After three hours in a 250 degree oven it's already at 98, so in fact it's cooking more quickly than I thought it would at such low heat. I'm slowing it down now in anticipation of moving it to the smoker. It's rather a challenge cooking something bigger than anything I ever cooked slower than I've ever cooked it. Kind of like that joke about Adam and Eve gettin' it on for the first time when Adam cautioned Eve to stand back becuase he didn't know how big it was going to get.

[Jenise]

Sounds right to me, Jenise. In my experience, outdoor grill/smoker cooking does slow down when the weather's cold. And really, in low-heat smoking, a little extra time isn't going to hurt anything. I'd get right on it. Hope I'm not leading you astray!

Guess what? With three hours in the oven it went to 98, so I let it cool some then moved it to the smoker at 150 F where, in just slightly over an hour, it was registering 130. So it was out of the smoker and in a warming oven at 100 F by 3:00. We didn't serve it until 6:00--it held beautifully. Absolutely the best prime rib I've ever made. Dazzling.

[Robin Garr]

Absolutely the best prime rib I've ever made. Dazzling.

Awwwwright! <high five>

[Jenise]

Awwwwright! <high five>

Well, I'm not sure if it was worth the extra 400 gray hairs I got worrying about it, but darn if it wasn't sensational.

[Howie Hart]

Somehow I totally missed this thread yesterday. However my experience with my electric smoker is as follows:
The overall weather temp is less important than wind. On a brisk windy day a 17 pound turkey took me 10 hours. On a brisk, calm day it took 6 hours. Now if its windy, I enclose the smoker in something to break the wind. I prefer apple wood or hickory - not crazy about mesquite. I've never done prime rib, but it sounds like like something to try. In addtion to turkey, I've done beef brisket, sirloin tip, pork ribs, salmon and chicken.

[Jenise]

Somehow I totally missed this thread yesterday. However my experience with my electric smoker is as follows:
The overall weather temp is less important than wind. On a brisk windy day a 17 pound turkey took me 10 hours. On a brisk, calm day it took 6 hours. Now if its windy, I enclose the smoker in something to break the wind. I prefer apple wood or hickory - not crazy about mesquite. I've never done prime rib, but it sounds like like something to try. In addtion to turkey, I've done beef brisket, sirloin tip, pork ribs, salmon and chicken.

Howie, we've certainly learned about the wind. Our answer to it yesterday was to simply move the smoker to the non-beach side of the house--we have a protected courtyard in front. So though it's not as showy for company, but heck it was done before they got here, a full two hours sooner than I'd anticipated. But boy was it good. Perfect, uniform rare (not gradiant, or browning the closer one gets to the edge)--most of my guests didn't even think that was possible.

Of course I had one guest who had to have his incinerated, so we cut him a chunk and pan-fried it to a finish--what a waste.

[Randy Buckner]

Here it is -- all 45 feet of it. See you next year.

[Carl K]

Had no tiem to surf any sites the past two days in any depth, so I'm sorry I missed this one but it sounds like you did good. Just out of curiousity, what wood did you use to smoke the prime rib with? I tend to use Hickory most of the time simply because it's the easiest to find around here other than Mesquite which I find tends to over power many foods, but my favorite is Apple when I can get it.

[Jenise]

Carl, I used alder. A friend in Seattle had some trees that they cut down and I was gifted boxes of wood thoughtfully cut into friendly little chips. I haven't tried other woods much, but you give me an idea: I've got an apple tree that's coming down soon. Guess I should save the good wood, huh?