Camp Rib Roast, Dutch Oven
Salted overnight in the cooler, then roasted over coals with root vegetables.
- calories
- 880
- weight
- 18 oz
- cal / oz
- 49
- protein
- 58 g
- serves
- 5
- prep
- 25 min
- cook
- 150 min
- total time
- 175 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $$$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Dutch oven
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Gluten free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Bone-in standing rib roast | 5-6 lb | salted at home the night before |
|---|---|---|
| Kosher salt | 1 cup | most of it comes back off; it is a dry brine, not a seasoning |
| Garlic | 5 cloves, chopped | |
| Shallots | 2, chopped | |
| Rosemary | 2 tbsp | dried works, use 2 tsp |
| Oregano | 1 tbsp | |
| Thyme | 2 tsp | |
| Dijon mustard | 1 tbsp | |
| Cracked black pepper | 2 tsp | |
| Olive oil | 3 tbsp | |
| Carrots | 4 large, in 1-inch pieces | |
| Celery | 4 stalks, in 1-inch pieces | |
| Red onion | 2 medium, chopped | |
| Horseradish sauce | to serve | shelf-stable jar, optional |
Method
- At home the night before: coat the roast in the kosher salt, set it on a rack over a tray, and leave it uncovered in the fridge overnight. Pack it into the cooler on ice the morning you leave.
- In camp, scrape and wipe the salt crust off. Pat the meat dry. Mash the garlic, shallots, Dijon, herbs, pepper, and 1 tbsp of the oil into a paste and rub it over the whole roast.
- Burn a fire down to coals. You want a bed you can rake into two piles.
- Set the dutch oven on coals with the remaining oil in it. When it smokes, sear the roast on every face, three to four minutes a side. Lift it out.
- Dump the carrots, celery, and onion into the oven, set the roast bone-side down on top, and put the lid on.
- Move most of the coals to the lid and leave a thin layer underneath. Bake, rotating oven and lid a quarter turn every 20 minutes, until an instant-read thermometer in the center reads 125F for medium rare. Two to two and a half hours, depending on your coals.
- Pull the oven off the heat and let the roast sit under the lid for 20 minutes before you cut it. Slice against the grain, spoon the vegetables and pan juices over, serve with horseradish.
This is a car-camping showpiece, so it stays a real roast rather than a trail substitute. The one change that matters is timing: the overnight salt cure happens at home in the fridge, and the roast rides to camp on ice. A dry brine needs cold and about twelve hours, and a cooler on day one gives you neither reliably.
The dutch oven replaces the 450F oven, and the heat goes on the lid rather than under it. That is what keeps the bottom vegetables from scorching while the meat browns from above. A thermometer is not optional here. Coal beds vary too much for a clock, and this is an expensive piece of meat to overshoot.
Packing
The roast travels salted and wrapped in the cooler, on ice, bottom layer. Combine the dried herbs and pepper in one small jar at home. Garlic, shallots, and the root vegetables need no cold. Bring the thermometer; there is no way to judge this by feel.
Variations
- No dutch oven: sear in a cast iron skillet, then tent tightly with heavy foil and roast on a grill grate over indirect coals.
- Swap the celery for quartered potatoes if you want the pot to carry the whole dinner.
- A smaller 3 lb roast cuts the bake to about 75 minutes and feeds three.
https://www.lodgecastiron.com/blogs/recipe/cast-iron-seared-standing-rib-roast