What is End Cut" Prime Rib??? [Moved from Manhattan board]

[steakrules85]

IIn my search for the best prime rib recs I have seen a few posts saying that the "end cut" prime rib at the Palm is supposedly the best. What exactly does this mean- end cut? I would think the better cuts would be more towards the middle of the rib roast. Please advise me. Thanks!!!!!!!!

[Caroline1]

It seems to me that any restaurant worth its salt can have as many "end cuts" of standing ribs as it would like. All you do is put a nice thick slice under a really hot salamander for a bit, char it on one side and voila! You've got an "end cut." Broil it on both sides and you've got a rib steak.

[BlueHerons]

I just asked my husband about this and he said the 'chuck' end is the best part of the Prime Rib. The 'strip' end is the toughest.

[ChefDude]

Sure, just go ahead and throw new terms into this discussion. Care to elaborate on which end is which? And, is this your husband's professional opinion, or layman's opinion?

[BlueHerons]

LOL! He is a professional.

If you lay a prime rib loin on it's side, one end is much larger and 'spongy' and it is the Chuck end. It is the most tender and the most desirable. As the loin flattens out and gets smaller, the opposite end is actually a New York Strip and is the densest end and has much less fat.

[ChefDude]

There you go again. Prime rib loin. I don't think this is what we've been talking about. The discussion has been centered on the entire prime rib, not just the loin, or eye, as I've been calling it.
Jeez, it's like you're giving your opinion about Granny Smith apples, when we're all talking about Macouns! Same family, wrong item.

[Caroline1]

Tell your husband, the professional, that some old broad on Chowhound says if the beef is USDA Prime, and properly DRY aged, there AIN"T no tough end...! '-)

[BlueHerons]

If you notice I later said that the end was dense and I mispoke when I said tough. Is that better?

[Caroline1]

Yeah. But I was just pulling your leg. When you roast a well dry-aged whole prime rib of USDA Prime grade, I don't think that there are many human jaws on the planet discretionary enough to say, "This end is more tender than that end." '-)

Good lord, WHY am I writing about this when it's still a half hour until lunch will be ready and I am STARVING...!!! <sigh>

[CDouglas]

I would have to agree that the chuck end is more flavorful - more marbling = more flavor. Heading back from the cow's neck you have the chuck which extends through rib 5. Ribs 6-12 constitute the rib section and then comes the short loin. Rib 6 would be more tender and have more flavor than rib 12. Both are tremendous however and rival any other cut, especially when Prime grade.

Center ribs, 8-10 seem to have more of that half-moon shaped outer section sometimes called the "cap" or "deckle" or its French name "calotte". It is the spinalis dorsi muscle and is some of the beefiest tasting goodness to be had from a cow.

[ESNY]

Skip the eye and give me a whole steak made up of the cap and i'd be a happy man.

[KevinB]

Because my dad would rub the whole outside of the roast with garlic and fresh pepper, I loved the cap portion; I'd eat it plain, but the rare interior - horseradish and gravy! Liked them both; the only prime rib I've ever disliked has been the gray shoe leather you get at a lot of banquets.

[ChefDude]

Not all end cuts are created equal. The front of the rib will have a larger "eye" and fewer of the other attached cuts. The back of the rib will have a significantly smaller "eye" and much more of the other cuts, including the very front of the tenderloin. I think that these days of marketing "uniformity", what is referred to as a the "better" cut is the one with the larger eye. But, as some of you will attest to, the juicest, most flavorful parts are the surrounding cuts - not the "eye" itself! Even when ordering a grilled ribeye steak in a restaurant, or buying one from the supermarket, you can see exactly how the piece of meat is composed. When I pick out my own steaks, I ALWAYS go for the ones with the smallest "eyes". Great, now I gotta do my shopping before all of ya get my steaks!

[OCAnn]

It's my favourite part of the rib roast. Though I generally prefer rare to medium rare, on the occasion when there's a whole roast, I'll ask for the end cut. All that flavour...mmmmm!

[Cheflambo]

I like my steaks medium rare, but when I order prime rib that way, I end up with a pulsing slab of raw meat. I LOVE the end cut, and ask for it every time. And pass the horseradish, please......

[alkapal]

but end cut is more done than the "regular cut" prime rib.

[alkapal]

oh, sorry cheflambo. misread your post. my bad! from a fellow end-cut lover.....

[TongoRad]

When I buy my standing rib roasts at the supermarket, usually on sale, they do tend to specify that you are getting the 'center cut'. Sometimes they even give rib numbers. My suspicion is that the end cut is more marbled, therefore more desirable. Hopefully somebody can chime in here to verify that.

[sebetti]

Sorry TongoRad, can't chime!
It's the smaller section of the ribs that's considered the best section to get and doesn't have anything to do with the end cut mentioned above. You don't really want the 'end cut' from the large end.
I would love to know the rib numbering system though - it would make life much easier!

[TongoRad]

After a bit of googling here's what I found-
http://www.cooksillustrated.com/image...
"First Cut" is ribs 9-12, closer to the loin and most preferable.
"Second Cut" is ribs 6-9, good but not as good as first cut. (Probably what the supermarkets are calling 'center cut')

[alkapal]

tongorad, thanks for the excellent link!

got pork?

[TongoRad]

You're welcome. As to the pork- nothing came up for Cooks Illustrated, but the Cook's Thesaurus is always worth a look:
http://www.foodsubs.com/

[alkapal]

tongorad, another winner! bookmarked that. i like that it offers substitutions for the ingredient in question. cheers!

[Caroline1]

I can't agree with the second cut not being as good as first cut. Back in my big entertaining days (as in large flocks of people), I used to cook the whole 7 bone prime rib, and one end was just as delicious as the other. However the cuts from one end were larger than the other. But the roasts were always USDA Prime (try finding THAT anymore!) and dry aged. I don't even want to know how much a 7 rib USDA Prime dry aged rib roast costs today. I would probably die of sticker shock!

[KevinB]

Although I normally order my beef blue to very rare, I make an exception with prime rib. My dad used to make this most Sundays when I was a kid, and he would rub the beef all over with garlic salt and other spices. As others have noted, it is cooked a little more on the well done side than the rest of the roast, but that huge hit of garlic flavour more than makes up for it. Problem was, my mom and dad both liked it too, so there were often, shall we say, "discussions" on who was going to get the end piece!

[TongoRad]

If we're talking about a cooked roast the best part, to me, is actually the cap (that 1" layer above the fat). I'll take that over the pink interior any day of the week, even though I too usually love my beef rare.

[HSBSteveM]

If I could have a whole roast like that, I'd love it...er, die loving it.

[alkapal]

so that is a "cap"? very flavorful and succulent, indeed.

[raf945]

I like my beef med rare but would take the cap any day of the weekRecently,at a wedding reception featuring a high end buffet,the carver wanted to throw the cap away.Needless to say,I had him put it on my plate and was I was satisfied for the rest of the night.

[alkapal]

was the server totally devoid of any knowledge about food? throw it away? goodness!

[raf945]

I think either that or it was a status thing.It truly didn't matter to me.Let them talk if they must.The carver looked as though he was in his second year at Johnson and Wales.

[alkapal]

it has the somewhat "crusty" side (from exposure in the oven) that has a nice caramelized flavor. typically more well-done, usually the rarest is "medium." and it will have a higher seasoning level, just from volume of surface exposed to the rub.

[BlueHerons]

From my understanding, the end cut of the prime rib is the most well cooked and driest.

[Non Cognomina]

Because there are only two end cuts on any one Prime Rib Roast (one from each end), I've known people to request it because of its rarity (but not its rareness). Pardon the pun. As ricepad mentions, it is more heavily seasoned and generally more salty.

[manraysky]

A waiter at the hotel where worked told me that everyone at table of 10 ask for the end cut. He had to tell there are only two per roast, everyone can't have the end!

[ricepad]

The "end cut" is just that...the end of the roast. It'll be cooked more, and it usually is more heavily seasoned than a cut from the interior of the roast.