Jason Murphy, executive chef of BlackFinn, cooks his prime rib this salt-packed way to make it what he says is the best in town. His recipe is adapted from an Old Steamship Cookbook and works with a 3-pound or a 15-pound cut, to produce a roast that's delicious hot from the oven or sliced cold for sandwiches.

"Home cooks," says Jason, "you don’t need an oven that can get to 500 degrees. All of the ingredients are readily available, the method works with a 3 pound roast or a 15 pound roast, and best of all it's delicious hot from the oven or chilled and shaved for sandwiches.         
       
First and foremost you need to high quality ingredients: large grain Kosher salt, Montreal seasoning, cracked black pepper, granulated salt:

10 pounds of kosher salt
1 quart Montreal seasoning*
1 cup granulated garlic
1 cup table grind black pepper
a 3 to 15 pound roast 

When cooking a large roast you must accomplish two things: first you need to sear the outside of the beef; second you need to cook it to your desired temperature. The searing process closes the surface of the roast preventing the loss of moisture, juiciness, and flavor. This is where a chef turns his oven up as high as they can or heats a skillet very high and cooks the roast for a short amount of time at 500 degrees or more to seal up the outside. They then turn their oven down and cook it at a much lower temperature for a long time.
   
At Blackfinn we use a salt searing process to prevent the eye effect where only the very inside of the prime rib is medium rare.  This is a much older recipe from a time when fueling an oven with wood or coal to 500 degrees or more was expensive and difficult.

We pack our prime ribs (just rub it on) in our salt and seasoning mixture and allow them to temper for two hours, this enables the temperature of the roast to rise which promotes even cooking. It also allows the salt to work its magic and contract the surface of the meat. it is very similar to a curing process only for a much shorter time. It sears the outside the same as heat without beginning the cooking process.

After two hours dust off the excess salt and place directly on oven rack with a pan below to catch drippings. Cook the prime ribs at only 325 degrees for about 2.5 hours. Because it is never subjected to the high temperature of a heat sear we can cook our prime rib so that from edge to edge there is a consistent level of doneness, and every bit is a medium rare Prime Rib very tender and full of flavor."

BlackFinn, 1620 I Street, NW, 202 429 4350.

*McCormicks makes a readily available Montreal Steak Seasoning.