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    Home » Beef

    Published: Mar 4, 2021 · Modified: Apr 3, 2024 by Mads Martigan · This post may contain affiliate links · 1 Comment

    Smoked Prime Rib on a Traeger Pellet Grill

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    Learn step by step how to make a smoked prime rib on a Traeger pellet grill and why this is such an easy way to prepare this ultimate rib roast.

    Let's go!

    Smoked prime rib sliced on a wooden cutting board

    Prime rib is great for celebrating a special occasion. It has more marbling than a beef tenderloin so it's juicier and more flavorful.

    Just like with our steaks, we like to reverse sear prime rib. This involves a first step of smoking at a lower temperature and then finish it with a sear to create a delicious crust on the outside. The result is a a perfectly cooked interior and browned exterior.

    Jump to:
    • Size of Prime Rib Roast
    • Prepare the Roast
    • Seasonings
    • Choosing Wood Pellets
    • Add your Hardwood Pellets
    • Start up the Traeger
    • Smoking Temperature
    • Target Internal Temperature
    • Cooking Time
    • Reverse Searing
    • Carve and Serve
    • 📖 Recipe

    Size of Prime Rib Roast

    Prime rib roast generally come with the bones removed, but then tied back on by the butcher for presentation and to held them against the meat while cooking.

    a raw prime rib roast shown from the side

    You will see some prime rib roasts with 3-4 bones and others with as many as 6. Usually the roast will be about 2 lbs in weight per bone.

    Consider buying 1 lb of prime rib roast per person to be safe.

    Most prime rib roasts can be found anywhere from 4-8 lbs.

    Some water weight will be lost during the cook and you also have to factor in the weight of any bones and fat that doesn't get eaten, so it really ends up being about an 8-10 oz portion per person once the prime rib done cooking on the Traeger.

    Prepare the Roast

    Let's start with the #1 tip right off the bat:

    Don't remove the strings before cooking!

    These strings are holding the bones in place and you want to keep everything held together while it is cooking.

    You shouldn't have to trim too much fat or do anything else to your prime rib.

    This is a Top O' the Line cut of beef you paid for and your butcher should have trimmed it up, removed the bones, then tied them back in place like a beautiful meaty holiday present.

    Did we mention not to cut the strings? 🙂

    Seasonings

    When it comes to an expensive cut of meat like a prime rib, or ribeye roast, you want to keep the seasonings simple and let the meat shine through.

    Save the flashy sugary and spicy BBQ rubs for your brisket, ribs and pork butts.

    For our recipe below, we simply mix kosher salt, black pepper, fresh minced garlic, rosemary, paprika, onion powder and a dash of cayenne.

    Ideally use a HIGH smoke point oil to help the rub adhere to the meat such as avocado or grapeseed oil, especially if you plan to reverse sear at the end of the cook as we go into detail on below.

    BetterBody Foods Avocado Oil, Refined Non-GMO High Smoke Point Cooking Oil
    Check Price on Amazon

    If you want to just buy a quality beef rub for your prime rib, we are big fans of Bad Byron's Butt Rub Seasoning on smoked beef because it is heavy on flavor, and has no sugar.

    It also works great anytime you are reverse searing of cooking something "Hot and Fast,"  and you don't want a sugary rub to burn at those higher smoking temperatures.

    Bad Byrons Butt Rub Barbecue Seasoning 4.5 Ounce - Pack 2
    Bad Byrons Butt Rub Barbecue Seasoning 4.5 Ounce - Pack 2
    • Try Bad Byron Butt Rub on fish, vegetables, potatoes, potatoes, eggs, popcorn and much more!
    • All natural and gluten-free
    Check Price on Amazon

    We apply a thin layer of the high smoke point cooking oil, then a generous amount of the rub.

    After that, we like to wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight.

    This gives the salt loads of time to penetrate the prime rib and really flavor it all the way through.

    Choosing Wood Pellets

    You have a lot of freedom when it comes to choosing the right wood pellets to cook a prime rib on a Traeger pellet grill.

    Mesquite and hickory will give a very aggressive smoke flavor.

    Alternatively, you can also go for a milder smoke flavor by choosing oak or fruitwood pellets. Pecan, apple, beech, alder, and cherry all give great results on smoked beef.

    For prime rib, we are big fans of Bear Mountain Gourmet Blend Pellets.

    BEAR MOUNTAIN Premium BBQ WOODS FK90 Craft Blends All Natural Smoky Hardwood Gourmet Blend Smoker Pellets, 20 Pound Bag
    BEAR MOUNTAIN Premium BBQ Gourmet Blend, 20 Pound Bag
    • GOURMET BLEND: Gourmet Blend BBQ pellets add a sweet, smoky flavor to your favorite red meat, poultry, fish, pork, lamb, or vegetable dish
    • ALL NATURAL: Made from 100 percent all-natural hardwoods with no flavorings, fillers, or additives
    Check Price on Amazon

    For best results, store your unused pellets in a sealed room temperature container rather than in the Traeger's hopper outside.

    Traeger pellets do not last forever, but will definitely last a LOT longer if stored indoors.

    Add your Hardwood Pellets

    First, you add hardwood pellets into a side hopper.

    The Traeger pellet grill automatically feeds these small wood pellets via an auger mechanism to a fire pot where they are burned up, providing both heat and smokey flavor.

    The pellet grill automatically controls the flow of pellets depending on your temperature setting so that you maintain an even temperature throughout the entire cook.

    Start up the Traeger

    There is a specific start up process for the Traeger brand pellet grills you can read all about in depth here if you aren't sure how to fire it up the first time.

    Now that the prime rib has been seasoned and the slat has permeated the meat in the refrigerator for at least a few hours, all that's left to do is cook it!

    With a Traeger, this is the easy part!

    Like we described above, just add your chosen pellets to the hopper, plug in and start the Traeger grill up.

    Let the Traeger go through its start up process and once it has come up to temperature and stopped producing the thick white "start- up" smoke, put the prime rib either directly on the grill grates, or in an aluminum foil pan to help catch the juices and keep it contained.

    Smoking Temperature

    We recommend initially setting up the smoker to cook at 250°F.

    trager pellet grill set to 250 degrees

    This seems to be the sweet spot where its low enough that the outside doesn't overcook but also high enough that the prime rib roast doesn't cook for so long that it dries out.

    Target Internal Temperature

    You HAVE to use a good instant read meat thermometer to know where the internal temperature is of your smoked prime rib while its cooking on the Traeger.

    Ideally you want a good leave in probe thermometer like the ThermoPro as well as a second instant read to spot check different depths and areas on the roast.

    ThermoPro TP08 300FT Wireless Meat Thermometer for Grilling Smoker BBQ Grill Oven Thermometer with Dual Probe Kitchen Cooking Food Thermometer
    ThermoPro TP08 300FT Wireless Meat Thermometer with Dual Probe
    • 300ft remote range
    • Oven safe with highly accurate stainless steel meat probe and oven/ grill/ smoker temperature probe, to allow you to monitor both food and ambient temperature simultaneously
    • Food temp & HI/LOW ambient temp alarm
    • Highly accurate temp range 14˚f to 572˚F; Displays both Fahrenheit and Celsius
    Check Price on Amazon

    While we have used and recommended ThermoPro for years, lately we have also become big fans of the MEATER leave in thermometer.

    It is extremely accurate and has an incredible 165 foot Bluetooth range and works right with your smartphone so you don't need to carry a separate controller around with you like many other remote thermometers require.

    It's got a great free app that is constantly being updated and even has an algorithm to predict how much longer your type of meat will take to cook based on cooking temperature, target temperature, and current internal temperature.

    It's like a GPS for your meat!

    MEATER Plus: Premium Wireless Smart Meat Thermometer with Bluetooth | for BBQ, Oven, Grill, Kitchen, Smoker, Rotisserie | iOS & Android App | Apple Watch, Alexa Compatible | Dishwasher Safe
    MEATER Plus: Premium Wireless Smart Meat Thermometer with Bluetooth
    • Dual temperature sensors enable you to monitor both the internal meat temperature (up to 212°F) and the ambient/external temperature (up to 527°F) at the same time.
    • Dishwasher safe
    Check Price on Amazon

    We are going to slowly bring the internal temperature up to about 110°F, then crank the heat as hot as we can to reverse sear the prime rib until the internal temperature hits about 120°F and then remove it from the Traeger.

    prime rib smoking on a Traeger pellet grill

    Perfect medium rare in the center means an internal temperature of about 130-135°F, and a good rule of thumb is to pull big roasts like this when they are 10°F shy of your target temperature.

    You can't do all this without accurate thermometers.  There is very little room for error when smoking a prime rib roast.

    We are particular fans of this one from ThermoPro because of its durability and affordable price.

    Everyone from beginner smokers to competition cooks need to use instant thermometers to consistently make great food.

    So keep it handy and use it often.

    ThermoPro TP19H Digital Meat Thermometer for Cooking with Ambidextrous Backlit, Waterproof Kitchen Food BBQ Grill Smoker Oil Fry Candy Instant Read
    ThermoPro TP19H Digital Meat Thermometer
    Check Price on Amazon

    Cooking Time

    A general guide is that it will take about 15-20 minutes per pound to smoke a prime rib roast at 250°F up to 110°F.

    So plan on a 6 lb prime rib roast to take about 90-120 minutes to initially smoke during the "Low" portion of the cook.

    Then we will crank the heat for another 15-20 minutes depending how long it takes to raise the internal temperature the rest of the way up to 120-125°F.

    Then you will need to let the meat rest for 45-60 minutes after cooking it before carving.

    No joke.

    Unless you want those delicious juices running all over your cutting board instead of staying in the meat where you want them, you need to set aside time for the meat to rest, and a large piece of beef like a prime rib roast needs extra time.

    Reverse Searing

    "Reverse Searing" is just a fancy term for searing your meat at the very end, once it is pretty much all the way cooked through, in order to get a nice crispy exterior crust that you sometimes just can't get from low and slow smoking alone.

    In this case, we are not technically going to sear the prime rib roast like we might do with a steak in a pan like we did with our smoked ribeye steak recipe.

    Rather, we are going to crank the temperature of our Traeger up as high as it will go right at the very end of cooking, and only for a few minutes, in order to get a nice, golden brown crust on the outside of our smoked prime rib roast without overcooking the inside.

    If you wish to reverse sear the meat, you will want to smoke it at 250°F only until it reaches an internal temperature of about 110°F.  At this point it will still be very, very rare in the center.

    Next, you will turn up the temperature setting on your Traeger to "High", or the highest temperature setting it has available, depending on your model.

    You need to watch your prime rib roast VERY closely at this point as it may only need maybe 4-6 minutes total once the Traeger comes fully up to the new high temperature.

    Watch for the exterior fat to begin to sizzle and crisp up, watch for the color to turn from grayish to medium-dark brown, and whatever you do, do no leave it unattended to burn or over cook!

    Use your instant meat thermometer to make sure the internal temperature has reached 120-125°F and no further.

    Remember, it will continue to rise another 10°F as it rests after you remove it.

    Carve and Serve

    You will then remove the smoked prime rib roast from the hot Traeger and let it rest.

    You can tent loosely with foil but DO NOT wrap it tightly or it will overcook from its own residual heat.

    Let the smoked ribeye roast rest for 45-60 minutes before carving.

    Once the smoked prime rib has rested you will want to cut the ties an remove them from the roast.

    The roast should separate easily from the slab of bones where the butcher cut them apart.

    Set the rib bones aside but do not discard them!

    These are delicious and can be sliced and eaten like a rack of ribs or you can use the meat for other purposes.

    Place the rest of the main roast on the cutting board.

    Although we mostly slow smoked the prime rib for ideal even cooking, the portions closer to the outside will still be more done than the very center.

    This is nice because as you slice you can give the more done pieces on the ends to those that prefer them.

    Then give the more medium rare slices from the center to those that prefer their meat less done.

    Use a good meat slicing knife and cut the prime rib roast into nice thick slices based on how many guests you are serving.

    We particularly like this meat slicing knife from Mairico.

    MAIRICO Ultra Sharp Premium 11-inch Stainless Steel Carving Knife - Ergonomic Design - Best for Slicing Roasts, Meats, Fruits and Vegetables
    • IMPECCABLE PERFORMANCE: The long, ultra sharp blade is engineered to deliver highly precise cuts with minimal effort.
    • PROFESSIONAL DESIGN, SUPERB QUALITY: Most desirable length by professionals. Sharp blade with premium stainless steel engineered to excel on all cuts of meats, including big roasts. It is also designed to last.
    Check Price on Amazon

    The outside slices will be more done than the very center if you have guests who prefer various levels of doneness.

    📖 Recipe

    Smoked prime rib sliced on a wooden cutting board

    Traeger Smoked Prime Rib with Horseradish Cream

    Mads Martigan
    This prime rib is seasoned with a savory bbq rub and then smoked to perfection on a Traeger pellet grill before we turn up the heat and reverse sear it for an amazing exterior crust.
    Served optionally with a horseradish cream sauce.
    5 from 1 vote
    PRINT PIN SHARE SAVE Saved Recipe
    Prep Time 45 minutes mins
    Cook Time 2 hours hrs
    Resting Time 45 minutes mins
    Total Time 3 hours hrs 30 minutes mins
    Course Main Course
    Cuisine American, Australian, barbecue, BBQ, Holiday, Smoked
    Servings 8 people
    Calories 1341 kcal

    Equipment

    • Traeger Pellet Grill
    • Cutting Board
    • Meat Slicing Knife
    • Aluminum foil pan
    • Instant Read Thermometer
    • Dual Probe Thermometer
    • Pellets for smoking, preferably hickory and oak.

    Ingredients
      

    • 1 Prime Rib Roast bones removed but tied on, 5-8 lbs (plan on 1 lb per person served)
    • Cooking Oil High smoke point oil like avocado or grapeseed oil

    Savory Beef Rub for Prime Rib

    • ½ cup Kosher Salt
    • ½ cup Black Pepper
    • ¼ cup Fresh Minced Garlic about 10 cloves fresh
    • 1 tablespoon Paprika
    • 1 tablespoon Dried Rosemary or can substitute fresh rosemary, finely minced
    • ½ tablespoon Onion Powder
    • 1 tsp Dried Thyme

    Horseradish Cream (optional)

    • 1 cup Sour Cream
    • ¼ cup Horseradish
    • 1 tablespoon Stone Ground or Dijon Mustard
    • ½ teaspoon Kosher Salt
    • 1 teaspoon White Wine Vinegar
    • Fresh Cracked Black Pepper to taste

    Instructions
     

    Season the Prime Rib

    • Take prime rib out of the packaging but DO NOT cut and remove strings.
      1 Prime Rib Roast
    • Rub with a thin layer of cooking oil.
      Cooking Oil
    • Mix all the rub ingredients and thoroughly and coat the entire outside of the prime rib including the sides with the mixture.
      ½ cup Kosher Salt, ½ cup Black Pepper, ¼ cup Fresh Minced Garlic, 1 tablespoon Paprika, 1 tablespoon Dried Rosemary, ½ tablespoon Onion Powder, 1 teaspoon Dried Thyme
    • Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator until ready to put on the Traeger.

    Start the Traeger Grill

    • Load the hopper of the Traeger with your chosen wood pellets.
    • Turn on the Traeger and move the dial to the "Smoke" setting.
    • Leave the lid open for 5-7 minutes until you start seeing white billowing smoke coming out of the grill. This means the initial pellets are igniting.
    • Close the lid and turn the temperature dial to 250°F. Allow 10-15 minutes for the grill to come up to temperature.

    Smoke the Prime Rib on the Traeger

    • Remove the prime rib roast from the refrigerator and remove the plastic wrap.
    • Once the temperature of the Traeger hits 250°F, place the roast in the cooking chamber. Place a temperature probe into the deepest part of the rib roast.
      prime rib smoking on a Traeger pellet grill
    • Cook at this temperature until the internal temperature reaches about 110°F.

    Prepare the Horseradish Cream Sauce (optional)

    • While the prime rib is smoking on the Traeger, you can prepare the horseradish cream sauce if you wish.
    • Combine all the horseradish cream sauce ingredients in a small bowl and mix well to incorporate. Add extra salt as needed.
      1 cup Sour Cream, ¼ cup Horseradish, 1 tablespoon Stone Ground or Dijon Mustard, ½ teaspoon Kosher Salt, 1 teaspoon White Wine Vinegar, Fresh Cracked Black Pepper
      horseradish cream sauce mixed in a glass bowl with a small silicone spatula
    • Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to serve with the prime rib later.

    Reverse Sear the Prime Rib on the Traeger

    • Once the internal temperature of the prime rib reaches 110°F, turn the temperature of the Traeger as high as it will go.
    • Watch closely to make sure it does not burn and cook until the internal temperature rises to about 120-125°F then remove from the Traeger.

    Remove, Rest, and Slice the Smoked Prime Rib

    • Let the smoked prime rib rest in an aluminum foil pan, uncovered, for 45 minutes.
    • Cut the ties off the prime rib roast and gently remove the slab of bones away from the rest of the roast. Do not discard, these are delicious.
    • Place the main part of the roast on a cutting board and slice in thick slices for each guest.
      Smoked prime rib sliced on a wooden cutting board
    • Serve immediately with horseradish cream sauce on the side.

    Notes

    Plan 1 pound bone-in raw prime rib per person, which will be about ½ pound of cooked meat per person. For example, an 8 pound raw bone-in prime rib roast will yield about 4 pounds of cooked meat, serving about 8 people.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 8ozCalories: 1341kcalCarbohydrates: 5gProtein: 59gFat: 119gSaturated Fat: 50gPolyunsaturated Fat: 4gMonounsaturated Fat: 51gCholesterol: 274mgSodium: 14544mgPotassium: 1045mgFiber: 1gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 625IUVitamin C: 4mgCalcium: 92mgIron: 7mg
    Keyword barbecue, bbq, BBQ Rub, Beef, Christmas, Dry Brine, Easter, Garlic, Grilling, hickory, horseradish, horseradish cream sauce, How to, New Years, pellet grill, pellet smoked, pellet smoker, Prime Rib, prime rib roast, reverse sear, ribeye roast, smoked, smoked prime rib, traeger, traeger prime rib, traeger prime rib roast, Traeger Recipes, traeger smoked prime rib, Wood pellets, wood smoke
    Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

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    About Mads Martigan

    Mads is the founder of Madbackyard.com and has been a BBQ and Grilling enthusiast for the past 15 years. He loves to write about and make videos on smoking and barbecuing all kinds of great food.

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    Comments

    1. Fred says

      March 07, 2021 at 11:00 am

      5 stars
      Man this was good, thanks for posting everything step by step for people like me that need it!! Haha.

    5 from 1 vote

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    Robert "Mads" Martigan, the founder of Mad Backyard

    Hi, I'm Mads, the founder of Mad Backyard and an avid outdoorsman, barbecue/smoker buff, and pellet grilling enthusiast who loves to share my passion for outdoor living and outdoor cooking with the world.

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