Betteirene - Thanks for the informative (and hilarious) answer. Hopefully, there will be no hillbillies around on roasting day . ..

You can purchase what's called the "golden lion cut" from some grocery stores. With that cut, the meat is cut away from the bone and the whole thing is tied back together, which allows you to use the bones as a roasting rack and also allows for easier carving tableside.

I prefer to cut the bone away and tie it back together myself. It makes me feel more like a professional, and it's often a few cents cheaper.

Thank you for not calling it "prime." I wish I could get my hands on a rib roast with that grade.

I've never done the "forgotten" rib roast recipe. I've heard from a couple of people who raved about it (including from the mother of a boyfriend in high school who coated her roast with wet rock salt, which was cracked off with a flourish before carving at the table). The only reason I've never tried it is because I can't afford to dedicate my oven to a single item for a holiday dinner--I'm constantly in and out of it with a pan of this and a sheet of that. Opening and closing the oven door even one time is strictly forbidden with a forgotten-type recipe.

If you decide to purchase a rib roast, the two most important tips I have are to make sure you spend the extra money and purchase a "choice" roast, not "select" grade (unless you like chewy, flavorless meat); and to make sure you don't shack up with a hillbilly from W.(by God) Va. who will only eat it if it's well done. Very well done, not even a little pink. So he gets an end slice, which I fry cut-end down, until it's "kilt," as in, "Is it dead yet?" That gene got passed along to one of the sons, dangnabbit.

I digress. Sorry for venting.

Here are some tips from a man who knows how beef should be cooked: Kenji J. Lopez-Alt worked (works?) at America's Test Kitchen. Once in a while, he makes the science of cooking a lot more fun with his reports from the www.seriouseats.com "lab". Go here to learn more:

http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/12/what-is-prime-rib-questions-how-to-cook-christmas-recipe-dry-aged-wet-aged.html

http://www.seriouseats.com/2009/12/the-food-lab-how-to-cook-roast-a-perfect-prime-rib.html

I dry-age mine for three days and use a rub of Diamond Crystal kosher salt, medium-grind black pepper, a couple pinches of dark brown sugar and very finely minced, almost paste-like, garlic.

You can do it either way. I remove the bone and I don't tie anything before roasting in the oven. I use the bones and the trim to make the jus.

Thanks everyone. Mr. Hirshfeld's rub look very nice indeed; may be borrowing it as well. One follow-up question since I've only bought a rib roast once. Do I have the butcher cut off the bone and then tie it back on or do I debone it once it is roasted and ready to carve?

Rib roast- If you would like a nice rare red all the way through cook at 500F to brown it up and lower your oven to 140F until internal temp reaches 140F. If you follow pierino's advice you will get very little rare in the middle and a shade of doneness from the outside in. What you do to the outside has very little consequence as to how the middle of the meat will taste. All though I do recommend a good salt and peppering.

Look at Mr. Hirshfeld's! He posted it last night. It's on my C-Day menu. ;o)

Please don't remind me of rib roast. I just had to cook 35 pounds of it. Myself, I start the oven at 450F put the meat in. After 15 minutes I turn it down to 375F but after that you need to keep track of the internal temperature. For mine I rubbed the outside with finely chopped rosemary and sea salt. Okay, I also larded it with some slivers of garlic.