The best recipe I've found for standing rib roast (aka prime rib):

From Nov-Dec 2002 issue of Cook’s Illustrated and stripped to its essentials:

1. Take the roast out 2 hours before starting the process.
2. Pre-heat oven to 250 degrees.
3. Using kosher salt, salt and pepper the roast all over. The use of kosher salt is important.
4. Take a heavy 10-12” skillet and heat it on medium for 4 minutes. Put the rib roast in, fat side down, and brown it for 12 minutes. Then turn the roast onto ONE side for 4 minutes, then the other side for 4 minutes. This is all the browning the roast gets.
5. Put the roast in roasting pan, ribs down, and roast at 250 degrees until temperature inside is 140-145º (that’s my preference, anyway).
6. Remove from the oven and tent with foil to rest 10 minutes before carving.

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There's one fallacy in your post. Searing doesn't seal in any juices. You should look to Shirley Corriher or Harold McGee for this, or the Good Eats episode where Alton Brown debunks this myth. Searing may make for a more tasty product, but it doesn't seal in anything.

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Both methods are flawed....

Method 1 will yield a juicy (assuming your "medium" temp is < 65C) roast which is evenly cooked throughout (no grey-rare gradient), but will lack flavour and have an unappetizing grey surface.

Method 2 will yield a nicely browned surface (assuming oven is very hot) but (even if you have a $$ steam-combi oven which can lower temp v. quickly) will yield a layer of overcooked=tough+dry beef under the surface. Convection is not very fast, it takes times for the air to heat the surface of the roast to >170C=browning, the long time allows most of the heat to penetrate into the roast, so by the time the surface is at 170C the meat underneath will be way over 55-60C (medium).

The correct method is to brown the steak either using a hot cast iron pan or a touch-gun (both method heats the surface to >170C very quickly, not much heat will penetrate and overcook the meat underneath), then place in a low oven or sous-vide to evenly cooked the roast through...

Resting does not allow meat to reabsorb juice it has expelled, although if one overcooks to the extent the moisture is "steaming", allowing that moisture to condense back to liquid will be better than letting it "steam away"...I guess. Resting is needed if the cooking environment is hotter than the cooking temperature of the meat: if the even is say 200C, the surface and region around the surface will be much hotter than the core, there is no need to keep cooking the roast till the core has reached final temp, there is enough heat in the outer regions to be transferred into the core. Resting allows the heat to "balance out" without having to extremely overcooking the outer to cook the inner / having a raw inner. But resting is not needed if oven temp is at/near meat cooking temp...

Glad you mentioned the "does not sear the surface and thereby retain its juices" kitchen-myth =)

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Can't say i've ever managed to roast beef and have it tough and dry. There are simple methods for cooking beef so it is always juicy and tasty.
The main reasons for dry/tough meat is cut and overcooking.
If i have a decent size piece of meat, I'll season and sear it pretty aggressively (which doesnt seal it, just adds much needed flavour), then roast at 180C for 20-25min(i like mine rare-med rare) per 500gram (that of course depends on the thickness of the cut etc), also if you're using a thermometer, take the meat out of the oven 5 degrees before it gets to your desired temp, as while it rest the internal temp will usually go up by that much.

http://crapkitchen.blogspot.com/

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I expected to see some true chefs tips to a good roast beef when i clicked on this article so i was a bit surprised when my top tips weren't mentioned.

A little bit of background first. I run a kitchen that can on a big function cook 300 covers of roast beef, so it is important to get it right.

Anyways so to stop myself waffling here are the tips.

1. Don't cook the meat from the fridge, allow it to get to room temperature before roasting as this cuts down on cooking time and means that the outside of the joint hasn't been bombarded with heat for hours.

2. Use a good cut of meat! I like fore rib as it has just the right amount of fat to meat to give a juicy roast, and get good quality meat. I source all of my meat to ensure it is locally slaughtered, never frozen and aged and bled correctly. The only person who can supply you with meat to this specification is your local butcher. Don't buy your joint from a supermarket as it is mass produced with as many corners cut as possible to increase the profit margins.

3. The next bit is easy for chefs in a professional kitchen as the ovens have probes inside them so they can cook it to exactly the right temperature and when it is at the right temperature the oven turns off and beeps :) As you wont have this feature in your oven check it often and get it out of the oven as soon as the juice is clear. If your oven does have an internal food probe then set it to 75 to remove all blood but keep the joint juicy.

4. i have heard a lot of people debunk this next bit but i find it works for me so here it is - I dont baste the meat when it is cooking, instead i baste it often as it rests. the joint takes in a lot of the juice and flavour as it rests.

Hope this helps guys and gals.

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I use the method from Alton Brown's "I'm Just Here for the Food". He discusses both of these and then offers his solution - season with oil, salt, and pepper, and cook uncovered at a low temperature (he calls for 200F, but mentions that USDA calls for 300F, so it depends how much you trust your meat/butcher, I split the difference at 250F), with a probe thermometer in the centre to get the right temperature (since a simple weight-to-time method doesn't take into account things like shape). Once you're within 10 degrees of your desired temp, you remove the roast, cover it in foil, and crank the oven to it's highest temperature. When it reaches that temp, you return the roast, uncovered for the last 10 degrees to get that nice crust. Then remove and let the meat rest for 20-30 minutes covered lightly in foil.

You get a nice even roast with a dark brown crust cooked perfectly with lots of juice. I've done this a few times with beef and elk and received nothing but rave reviews from some people who love their roast beef.

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