17 lb. ribeye roast HELP!

[Surfnsnowboard3]

Good afternoon,
First post here. I’ve never cooked a ribeye roast on my Traeger. I just bought a 6 bone 17 lb Ribeye roast from Staters. I plan on using this recipe: https://www.traegergrills.com/recipes/slow-smoked-rib-eye-roast

My question Is that everywhere I’ve read, a 17lb roast at 250 will take 30-40 minutes per pound. That’s an 11 hour cook. At the same time, the recipe has two separate ribeye roasts (for 12 people) and has a 4 hour cook time. So if I keep it together at 17 lbs it’ll take 11 hours and if I cut it in half and cook them separately, it’ll be 4 hours? That doesn’t make much since to me. If somebody can advise?

Thanks

 

[GrillMeister]

First off, welcome to the Traeger Forum!

I've never cooked one that big, but I found this. This guy did it in 5 hours on a barrel smoker. Check it out.

 

[Surfnsnowboard3]

First off, welcome to the Traeger Forum!

I've never cooked one that big, but I found this. This guy did it in 5 hours on a barrel smoker. Check it out.

Thanks. I just want to understand the logic behind if it’s 17 pounds it takes 40 min per pound, so 11 hours. But if it’s two 8 pounders it takes 4 hours. Same temp. Same smoked. I don’t understand.

 

[GrillMeister]

Thanks. I just want to understand the logic behind if it’s 17 pounds it takes 40 min per pound, so 11 hours. But if it’s two 8 pounders it takes 4 hours. Same temp. Same smoked. I don’t understand.

Time, Temp, Surface Area. Surface area being the biggest variable.

 

[Surfnsnowboard3]

Time, Temp, Surface Area. Surface area being the biggest variable.

Surface area of the meat or smoker? Cuz the time, temp and surface area of the smoker all remain the same regardless if I cut in half or not.

 

[GrillMeister]

Surface area of the meat.

 

[RustyJake]

Surface area of the meat.

Like @GrillMeister said, it's about surface area and that relates to the circumference of the roast. The rule of thumb for x number of minutes per pound may be helpful if you knew the size of the roast as opposed to the weight.
Meathead from amazingribs.com has some good details on this

Have a look after the recipes on this page for some science behind the cook

The Science Of Cooking Prime Rib, Tenderloin, And Other Beef Roasts

There are some tricks to learning how to cook a perfect prime rib, tenderloin, round, rump, and other beef roasts and we have assembled them all in one place! Discover our secrets for ensuring it is cooked right from end to end and with a deeply flavored crust in this ultimate prime rib recipe.

amazingribs.com

 

[Surfnsnowboard3]

Like @GrillMeister said, it's about surface area and that relates to the circumference of the roast. The rule of thumb for x number of minutes per pound may be helpful if you knew the size of the roast as opposed to the weight.
Meathead from amazingribs.com has some good details on this
View attachment 4944
Have a look after the recipes on this page for some science behind the cook

The Science Of Cooking Prime Rib, Tenderloin, And Other Beef Roasts

There are some tricks to learning how to cook a perfect prime rib, tenderloin, round, rump, and other beef roasts and we have assembled them all in one place! Discover our secrets for ensuring it is cooked right from end to end and with a deeply flavored crust in this ultimate prime rib recipe.

amazingribs.com

I appreciate the reply. However I cannot trust this guy. He says you do not need to rest meat. Lost all credibility with me. He also says bones don’t add flavor. Honestly. SMH.

 

[Slimpicker]

I cut my 9lb pork butts in half for the same reason as described above.

Rusty gave a good info link.... me, i wouldn't trust Traeger recipes. TEHO
I would also cut that PR in half for sure, 4 hours is not off too far but I would NEVER go by time obviously, go buy IT and give your guests more beer while they wait!!

I have cooked for 10 people before and about 4 hours is where I was at also, and the meat had no problem resting but didn't rest long and was still better than restaurant quality, everyone LOVED it.

 

[RustyJake]

I appreciate the reply. However I cannot trust this guy. He says you do not need to rest meat. Lost all credibility with me. He also says bones don’t add flavor. Honestly. SMH.

Everyone makes their own final decisions on how things are cooked. Foil vs paper, fat up or fat down, there are thousands of debatable methods for how things are done. People choose the camp they are in. The information available is for reference only. You have the choice to experiment and decide what camp you ultimately belong to.
You can always go with the 30-40 minutes a pound, keep a diary on the cook and see how it turns out. If it works out, you have found your method. If not, you tweak it for next time.
While I don't always agree with meathead, sometimes his science makes sense to me. We were talking about mass vs cooking times, that's one of his sciences that makes sound sense.
The part about resting, the tests he did were on moisture loss, and it was minimal on numerous tests. I personally still rest my proteins.
The religion of cooking has many denominations, and it is good to share the ideals from each of them

 

[Slimpicker]

I agree Rusty, well said. In his mild defense, a PR cooked to medium rare is so juicy already and still full of blood that resting for "moisture" is really not needed AS MUCH as other meats... but I still do not disagree with the science of resting. (I just really never 'needed' it with a PR)

 

[Coyote Joe]

Good afternoon,
First post here. I’ve never cooked a ribeye roast on my Traeger. I just bought a 6 bone 17 lb Ribeye roast from Staters. I plan on using this recipe: https://www.traegergrills.com/recipes/slow-smoked-rib-eye-roast

My question Is that everywhere I’ve read, a 17lb roast at 250 will take 30-40 minutes per pound. That’s an 11 hour cook. At the same time, the recipe has two separate ribeye roasts (for 12 people) and has a 4 hour cook time. So if I keep it together at 17 lbs it’ll take 11 hours and if I cut it in half and cook them separately, it’ll be 4 hours? That doesn’t make much since to me. If somebody can advise?

Thanks

google reverse sear...prime rib cooking time like an oven...I would cut in 1/2 to reduce time and also get better smoke flavor throughout

 

[RoadRunner18]

40 to 50 minutes per pound at 225 degrees.