While every steak and roast deserves the best prep possible, prime rib is in a category all its own. Cut from a standing rib roast — which is just about the most expensive roast you can buy per pound — it should be perfectly pink, juicy, and tender, with a robust flavor inside and out. That’s why we sought advice from Chef Jean-Pierre, a best-selling cookbook author who has hosted such PBS cooking shows as “Sunshine Cuisine” and “Incredible Cuisine.” During our exchange, he told us about mistakes you should avoid with prime rib. According to the famed chef, a commonly overlooked step when making prime rib is dry brining. This process should last a minimum of 24 hours.
In contrast to wet brining, where the meat is submerged in salted water or a salty marinade, dry brining entails rubbing the exterior of meat with salt to help flavor and tenderize it. Despite using no water, dry brining actually helps meat like prime rib stay juicy too. But dry brining takes time, and with larger things like roasts a few hours won’t make much of a difference. As Jean-Pierre told us, “One hour before does not do anything but create a moist outside since the salt draws moisture, and you are not giving it enough time to penetrate back inside the meat.”
Prime ribs needs at least 24 hours to be dry brined before you roast it
Dry brining works wonders on meat because of the science of how salt gets absorbed, but that’s also why you need to wait. When you salt the outside of a rib roast, or any meat, the salt will dissolve as it draws out water. It then gets absorbed by the meat cells via osmosis. But neighboring cells want to naturally balance out the amount of salt in each of them, so the salt will gradually be absorbed farther and farther into the center of the meat. Give your prime rib enough time, and the absolute center of the roast will be just as well-seasoned as the exterior. This happens slowly. While some small cuts may be seasoned through in just a few hours, larger ones like whole turkeys can take as long as three full days for the salt to permeate the whole thing.
Rib roasts won’t take quite this long, but as Jean-Pierre notes, 24 hours is the minimum. However, you may even want to wait as long as 48 hours. Thankfully it doesn’t take much work. Just rub the exterior of your prime rib roast with kosher salt, and let it sit uncovered in the fridge. You’ll need room, but the air exposure will dry out the exterior, which will help with browning too. Sure, it’s a wait, but that perfectly cooked prime rib will be more than worth it.
