The holiday season is upon us and that means cooking big hunks of meat for a lot of people. The turkey and ham for Thanksgiving is in the rear view mirror so that means it is time to starting thinking about prime rib and rib roasts for Christmas dinner and where to buy prime rib and rib roasts.
Few cuts of meat will bring the same wow factor to the table as a beautiful prime rib. The beautiful crust, the pink/red interior, the juices dripping everywhere… it is truly a sight to behold.
A couple things to get out of the way right up front:
- “Prime Rib” doesn’t refer to the grade of meat. Of course you can get USDA Prime grade prime rib but you can also get USDA Choice rib roasts, American Wagyu roasts, and other non-graded cuts.
- For the sake of this post (and any other discussion I will have about Prime Rib) I will use the words prime rib and rib roast interchangeably. If I really had to define the two I would say the rib roast is the cut of meat and the prime rib is the dish prepared with that cut but that is getting kind of nitpicky.
Disclosure: This post is monetized with affiliate links. If you buy something through them I earn a commission which helps support this site and lets me buy more meat so I can write about it.
What is Prime Rib?
Prime rib (or a rib roast) is a roast that is cut from the rib primal which is one of the 9 beef primals. The rib primal runs from rib 6 to rib 12. Generally speaking most prime ribs are 3 or 4 bone roasts but you can find them anywhere from 2 bones to massive 7 bone roasts.
Prime ribs can come with or without the bones. I really don’t have much of a preference and there are advantages to both. With a boneless roast you get a great crust all the way around but with a bone in rib roast the bones help provide some thermal protection so you get some delicious meat right next to the bone. The bones however don’t really impart any flavor. Gnawing on the bones is a great treat though. Boneless roasts are also easier to carve. So it is up to you. Bone in prime ribs do have a great presentation factor. So the choice is yours. I would probably lean towards a boneless rib roast but will never fault anyone for choosing a bone in roast.
When deciding how big of a rib roast to buy you can generally plan on 2-3 people per bone on bone in roasts.
How to cook Prime Rib
I know it can be intimidating cooking a hunk of meat that can easily run into the hundreds of dollars. But cooking a prime rib isn’t really that difficult.
First thing, you will need a good thermometer. My choice would be something like the Thermoworks DOT or the Smoke X4 but any good leave in probe thermometer will do. Prime rib is a piece of meat you definitely don’t want to overcook so you really need to know what the internal temperature of the meat is.
As far as seasoning goes there are dozens or even hundreds of rubs or spice blends you can use with prime rib according to your taste but I kind of just like a nice, heavy dose of kosher salt. Salt your meat a day or two ahead of time and let it sit in the fridge uncovered or a couple days. This is called dry brining and it really helps get some salt and flavor into the interior of the meat. Snake River Farms makes a roast seasoning that looks pretty good but don’t be afraid to just stick to some salt.
The two keys to a good prime rib in my opinion are 1: A nice rare interior and 2: A great exterior crust. You also want to try and get as much of the meat as possible to be that beautiful pink/red color and not have much of a great band around the exterior of the meat.
To achieve this I would go with a reverse sear. Set your oven or grill or smoker at around 250 and cook your roast until you have an interior temperature of 120 degrees. Once it hits that temperature (should take around 2 hours depending on the size of your roast) pull it out of the cooker, get some heat cranking (a broiler, a 500 degree oven, a load of charcoal, or even a good blow torch will do the job) and sear the heck out of the exterior to give you a nice crust. Don’t burn it and turn it to charcoal but you want an nice crust on your prime rib.
Since prime rib is generally served rare or medium rare if you do have people who like meat a bit more done you can feed them a cut from closer to the end of the roast. And be sure to let your roast rest about 30 minutes or so before carving!!!
I will throw a couple of my favorite prime rib videos in at the end of this article showing some different ways of cooking a rib roast.
Where to buy prime rib and rib roasts
OK, so you know what a prime rib is and how to cook it. Now you need to buy a prime rib. Around the Christmas season most grocery store meat cases will usually have a few roasts available but chances are they are going to be choice beef. Nothing wrong with that but the quality of meat isn’t as good as what you can get online.
Also keep in mind that these tend to sell out so get yours ordered in early December.
So here are 4 online sources where you can buy prime rib and rib roasts:
Snake River Farms Prime Rib
Snake River Farms specializes in American Wagyu beef which is a cross between Japanese Wagyu cattle and Angus cattle. The resulting meat is very heavily marbled and the taste is out of this world.
I would venture to guess that Snake River Farms sells more prime ribs than any other online retailer throughout the holiday season. No other retailer I have seen has the same selection of quality rib roasts available for purchase.
Their most popular roast are their American Wagyu prime ribs that start at $255 for a 5 pound boneless roast. If you really want to splurge and want an over the top experience go with the Gold Grade bone in roast that will run $449 for a 3 bone and $499 for a 4 bone.
And if you are looking for the absolute most impressive roast you can put on the table check out this amazing Tomahawk rib roast:
That is a 7 bone American Wagyu gold grade rib roast. Talk about taking bone in to another level! Slice between each bone when serving and you will be plating up probably 2 pounds of prime rib per bone!!! This cut will run you $1800 but there are also a 3 bone and 4 bone version for $799 and $999 respectively. And just because we need more pictures of this amazing roast:
If you are looking for a bit more budget-friendly option be sure to check out Snake River Farms Double R choice and prime grade prime ribs. The choice 3 bone roast weighs in at 8 pounds and will cost $159. Prime grade rib roasts start at $229.
Pick up a prime rib from Snake River Farms today.
Porter Road Rib Roast
Around the holidays Porter Road serves up some amazing looking bone in rib roasts. Their roasts weigh in right around 5 pounds and you can probably feed 8-12 people with one and will only cost you $143. If you are a first time customer at Porter Road you can also use code MEATLOVER that will save you $15 on your order. And these ship for free as well!
When it comes to beef there are few retailers who can consistently deliver better meat than Porter Road. I have ordered from them dozens of times and have never been disappointed with the taste and quality of their meat. Their beef just consistently tastes better than anything you will get at the grocery store.
Right now they are taking pre-orders for their rib roasts that will be delivered by the 23rd. You might think that is cutting it close but one thing I love about Porter Road is they ship their meat fresh, not frozen. So once you get it you can get it salted and in the fridge in plenty of time for Christmas dinner.
Order your rib roast from Porter Road. Don’t forget to use code MEATLOVER to save $15 and get free shipping.
Meat N Bone Prime Rib Roasts
Meat N Bone is a retailer based out of the Miami area that carries a number of different grades and cuts of rib roasts. The picture above is from an American Wagyu farm in Texas and has more marbling than you would get in a standard USDA Prime grade roast. It runs $359.99 and is about 8 1/2 pounds.
At Meat N Bone you will also find everything from bone in USDA prime roasts, 45 day dry aged bone in roasts, and even some Japanese Wagyu prime ribs. Prices start at $224.99 and go up from there.
Check out the great selection of prime rib roasts at Meat N Bone.
Crowd Cow Japanese A5 Rib Roast
Are you looking to go over the top this holiday season? This Japanese A5 Wagyu prime rib will do the trick. At 3 1/4 pounds this isn’t the biggest roast but honestly it could easily feed 8-10 people. Japanese Wagyu is so rich most people won’t be able to eat more than a few ounces of it.
Personally I would slice this into some nice steaks and sear them off but if you want to go ahead and roast the whole cut up you won’t be disappointed.
Order a Japanese A5 Wagyu prime rib from Crowd Cow today.
If the above sources are out of stock here are a few more sources for where to buy prime rib and rib roasts:
Pat LaFrieda Meat Purveyors – They supply a ton of NYC area restaurants and have some of the best beef you can get.
Allen Brothers – Allen Brothers also supplies many of the top steakhouses in the country.
And if you get as excited as I do watching other people cook meat here are a couple of my favorite prime rib videos:
