Tips For Purchasing a Rib Roast

• Quantity:
  • Bone-in (sometimes labeled as "Bone-In Rib Roast" or "Standing Rib Roast": a bone-in roast can be ordered with three to seven ribs in it. Every rib bone will generate enough meat for two large slices, so you can feed from six to fourteen guests depending on the number of ribs. Don't go below three bones or you're basically ordering two large bone-in ribeye steaks, making it nearly impossible to achieve the desired doneness; your roast will go from raw to grey and lifeless in a matter of seconds. Order the three bone roast and enjoy the leftovers!
  • Boneless (sometimes labeled as "Boneless Rib Roast" or "Ribeye Roast"): buy 12-16 ounces (0.75-1 lbs/0.34-0.45 kg) of uncooked roast per guest.
• Requests to the butcher:
  • Ask for the "first cut," meaning the ribs closest to the short end, closest to the short loin. These will be slightly smaller but be much leaner than the chuck end. It may cost you a bit more per pound, but at least you're paying for meat instead of fat.
  • If you're buying a bone-in roast but feel uncomfortable with carving the roast once it's cooked, most butchers will be happy to remove the chine bone and short ribs (all in one piece) when you order the meat and then tie the bones back to the meat with string. This will get you all the flavor that the bones provide but save you the carving work.
• Prime grade roast:
  • Call your local independent butcher or meat shop several days prior to when you'll need to pick it up. I always advocate this method, mostly because I'm a fan of true butcher shops (such as the one local to me, Lehr's Meats) and try to give them my business whenever possible. Lehr's is selling bone-in prime-grade roasts for $12.99/lb as of 7 Feb 2009.
  • Whole Foods Markets, sometimes sarcastically referred to as "Whole Paycheck Markets," does an impressive job of stocking quality meat and training their butchers; the company requires all butchers to go through a 1,920 hour training course that takes approximately two full years to complete. You'll pay dearly for a roast purchased at Whole Foods -- $20-25/pound during the peak holiday season has been reported -- but you can leave the market extremely confident that you have a very, very quality piece of cow. Again, order ahead.
  • Believe it or not, Costco often stocks true prime-grade rib roasts during the holiday season (Thanksgiving to Christmas). I'm not sure if you can call ahead and have them hold one for you, but it can't hurt to try and you'll certainly save some money if you can find one.
• Choice grade roast:
  • The meat counter at your local supermarket (Kroger, Albertson's, Meijer and the like) SHOULD be able to provide this with some heads-up. (January 2009 Update: much to my surprise, my local Meijer had a bone-in roast just sitting in the meat counter. Apparently you can find them without a special order.)
  • Costco almost always has boneless rib roasts for sale. I was seriously skeptical, but after cooking one of their roasts I can say if prepared correctly it's better than easily 90% of the restaurant prime rib out there. For just over $20 I was able to produce four very thick slices from a 3.1 pound roast. Pretty impressive at $5 a plate or $7 per pound.

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