Kosher Salt Encrusted Prime Rib Roast

I made this recipe for a large dinner party. At first I was nervous about the amount of salt this recipe called for. The primerib roast I purchased was well over $160 since it was 16 pounds. I did however, follow the SCALED recipe exactly. (I had the butcher cut away the bones but still kept them in place when he tied it up for me) I can't say enough how wonderful it was. I used every bit of the required salt (8 cups). Through the cooking process it formed a very nice shell. When it was time to remove the salt it was very easy. The roast was not salty at all but it was super tender and juicy. EVERYONE LOVED IT! Every single guest asked me for the recipe. I will never use any other recipe for primerib again.

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!

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!!!

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

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

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.

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!

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.