Cooking a 2lb prime rib roast isn’t as tough as you might think, because of its expensive price it might look a bit intimidating to prepare and you might fear you’ll ruin it, well that’s understandable and can be easily avoided once you buy the right ingredients and follow the necessary instructions.
There is great satisfaction in making a perfect, juicy, buttery melt-in-mouth prime rib roast and when it comes to a smaller portion like a 2lb roast it is incredibly easy. Well if this is your first time then you would have to pay close attention because in this article we would be covering everything you’ll need to know about cooking a 2lb prime rib roast including the correct cooking time but before we get into all that let’s look at some useful tips for making a 2lb prime rib roast.
Prime Rib Nutrition Facts
Tips to Consider When Making a 2lb Prime Rib Roast
Before you get right into your recipe, try checking out some of these helpful tips for making a Prime Rib Roast, they include;
Bring frozen roast to room temperature; let the frozen prime rib rest for about an hour so it properly defrosts and comes to room temperature, cooking frozen meat as it is would result in an overcooked outside and a raw or undercooked inside, letting the meat rest helps it cook evenly inside and out.
Work with a meat thermometer; working with a meat thermometer, especially for this recipe would be extremely beneficial to you. The meat thermometer would give you accurate results each time depending on how rare you’d want it.
For rare the meat thermometer would be around 120-125 degrees F when you stick it in the middle, for medium-rare it should be around 125- 135 degrees F when you stick the meat thermometer in the middle, for the medium it should be around 135- 140 degrees F in the middle.
For medium-well it should be around 140- 150 degrees F in the middle, and for Well-done it should be around 155 + degrees F in the middle.
Use butter for extra flavor and juiciness; if the prime rib you have has some fat in it you could skip using butter or still choose to use it for extra flavor because the fat or butter would provide that juiciness, tenderness, and flavor that would drip into the meat when roasted.
Cut the meat across the grain; roasted meats have visible grain lines on them and to avoid getting a chewy and tougher meat cut even after following the procedures that ensure you get a juicy one, make sure you cut across the grain lines.
Sear the meat cut; searing involves browning the fresh outer layer of meat or fish to lock the juices in and enhance flavor. So, before roasting the meat in the oven make sure you sear the meat over high heat to lock its juices. Remember to pat it dry with a paper towel before seasoning and searing.
Allow the meat to rest; letting the meat rest after removing it from the oven helps in sealing the juices back into the meat, don’t cut it after removing it because the juices would escape from the meat and result in a dry and chewy roast.
When you remove the meat cover it with aluminum foil and allow it to rest for about 20- 30 minutes, the meat temperature will continue rising to 5-10 degrees so try not to overcook it.
Bone-in or boneless Prime Rib: Prime Rib could be sold with or without the bones, most people buy with the bone because it gives nice support and flavor to the meat but there isn’t that much difference between buying with the bone or without the bone, they would both taste delicious, it depends on your preference and you could use a rack for support for the boneless prime rib.
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Cooking Time for a 2lb Prime Rib Roast
This table below describes the proper cooking time for a 2lb price rib roast.
| Cooking method | Cooking time |
| Cooking a 2lb roast in an oven | 1 hour 55 minutes |
Oven-baked 2lb prime rib roast (2 servings)
Ingredients
- 2lb Bone-in prime rib
- 3 minced garlic cloves or 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 3 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 3 or more teaspoons of kosher salt
- 3 tablespoons of butter
- Herbs de Provence
Instructions
- Start by removing the meat from the packaging and bringing it to room temperature by letting it rest for at least an hour.
- Next, take a bowl and add some butter, minced garlic cloves or powder, freshly ground black pepper, and herb de Provence and mix them.
- Take this buttery rub and apply it on all sides of the meat, once done take the kosher salt and sprinkle generously on the meat. You don’t have to worry about adding too much because some of them would get lost after cooking, poking some holes in the meat is another way of making sure the rub and salt properly get into the meat.
- Next preheat the oven to 500°F
- We are going to sear this meat for a few minutes, take a large roasting pan that would fit a rack, and place the prime rib on it with the fat side facing up so it drips any extra liquid through the meat into the pan.
- Most people sear this for about 20 minutes but a thing to note is the calculation used by food wishes which implies that to get the correct cooking time for this searing method you should multiply the weight stated on the label of your prime rib by 5. For example, if the weight was 6.4 you would multiply it by 5 (6.4×5) and round up the result to the nearest minute.
- Use the result you get from the calculation to sear the meat in the oven.
- After searing, turn down the oven to 325°F and cook for some extra minutes until it is close to the desired temperature, remember to remove the meat 20- 30 degrees before it gets to your desired internal heat temperature because the meat would continue cooking after your turn off the oven. Pay close attention to the meat and work with a meat thermometer.
- When you remove the roast, cover with a foil and allow it to rest for about 20 minutes, the foil would increase the temperature and the meat juices would slowly flow back into the meat.
- When it’s fully rested, slice and carve out the bones and serve.
If you’d still like to see more ideas and methods for cooking a prime rib roast, check out this video recipe