Foolproof Rib Roast of Beef

a favorite of the whole family

Plan your day so you will not need your oven for anything else. You are going to roast the beef in the morning for one hour. You must leave it in the oven all day, and the oven door must not be opened. Originally passed along to us by the Maine branch of the family, which they adapted from Keep Cooking - The Maine Way by Marjorie Standish, this is indeed a

FOOLPROOF RIB ROAST OF BEEF*

One standing rib roast of beef, any number of pounds
Salt and pepper
There are TWO STEPS to be followed in preparation.

STEP ONE

IMPORTANT: Let the roast stand at room temperature for one hour before placing it in the oven.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Rub roast with salt and pepper, place on rack in shallow pan, RIB SIDE DOWN. Roast for one hour at 375 degrees. After the hour, turn the oven switch OFF. DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN DOOR. The larger the roast, the longer time it continues to cook after the oven is turned off.

STEP TWO

About 30 to 40 minutes before serving time, again turn oven to preheat oven to 375° F. Roast an additional 30 to 40 minutes.
*This is a FOOLPROOF method for rare roast beef. But do not despair, if you prefer medium or well done roast beef, just add 15 minutes to 20 minutes to this step. (Step Two)

Do not open the oven door from the time you place roast in oven until you are ready to serve the roast. I used to place a non-marring tape, crisscrossed across the oven door to discourage kitchen browsers who were not used to this approach to cooking prime ribs.

A suggestion, remove roast 15 minutes before dinner is served, then the juices of the roast will be absorbed, giving you an even better roast.

NOTES ON DIFFERENCES BETWEEN OVENS and ROASTS

In Vermont, I have done this in the GE (electric) oven for both an 11 (5-rib roast) and an 11 3/4 (5-rib roast) piece of beef--results were fine for both. Take out of refrigerator first thing in the morning, i.e. by 8 AM, to come to room temperature. Begin preheating oven at 10 AM. Set Vermont (GE) oven at 385 degrees F. Put roast in at 11 AM and turn oven off at 12:15 PM. Turn oven back on at 7 PM, let it be on until 7:45 and then remove roast from oven and let sit for 15 minutes. Cook baking potatoes at 400° F in convection oven from 6:30 PM to 8 PM. Bottom line, the Vermont oven cooks a bit under temp.

This method works with a three-rib roast as well as with a five- to six-rib roast.

In Connecticut, I have done this in the Thermador (electric) oven and used the same approach but set oven at the temperatures recommended in the recipe as originally given to me by SWK, i.e. 375° F. Cook baking potatoes at 400° F. in smaller Wolf oven from 6:30 PM to 8 PM.

This recipe has been kitchen tested.

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