# Ordering Prime Rib... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 18, 2018, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordering-prime-rib/806882 "2018-01-18T03:44:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2018, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordering-prime-rib/806882/61 "2018-01-20T22:22:34Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > I’m not 100% sure, but I believe you can call it by its colloquial name, Prime Rib, but all beef needs to be labeled with its USDA grade. So it will could Prime Rib, but it will also elsewhere say USDA Choice. If one knows what to look for, no problem. If not… > > (And don’t even get me started on the one dude at an Amish market meat counter trying to convince me that all Certified Angus is “prime” when I asked him the grade. This is why I hate asking for help in stores. It’s a crapshoot whether or not the associate knows his or her shit, but they get so used to dealing with the ignorant customers they become convinced that they know better.) /end rant Could be confusion there. There is an Angus Prime brand that they claim is higher grade than USDA Prime. But not all Angus Beef is Prime. And it’s all overrated as far as I can tell. Not bad, just no better than plenty of other good beef. But it is also better than a lot of other beef available. A lot of that has to do with how it’s been cut packed, stored, etc., not just the grade. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2018, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordering-prime-rib/806882/62 "2018-01-21T00:14:22Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > If it comes from the rib primal, it’s a rib roast. If it also happens to be prime, then it’s a prime rib. Prime rib was called “prime rib” decades before “prime” was ever a USDA classification. “Standing rib” and “prime rib (with bone)” are synonymous; of course you can get prime ribs without the bone, in which case they’re not standing rib. USDA “prime” grading is _not_ a prerequisite for calling a rib primal a “prime rib.” ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2018, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordering-prime-rib/806882/63 "2018-01-21T00:37:07Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > (And don’t even get me started on the one dude at an Amish market meat counter trying to convince me that all Certified Angus is “prime” when I asked him the grade. This is why I hate asking for help in stores. It’s a crapshoot whether or not the associate knows his or her shit, but they get so used to dealing with the ignorant customers they become convinced that they know better.) /end rant Certified Angus Beef is a specific brand of angus beef. It is either upper grades of choice or prime beef. [Cite](https://amazingribs.com/tested-recipes/beef-and-bison-recipes/buying-beef-beef-grades-and-labels-and-busting-kobe-beef-myth). > [@](#): > > The Certified Angus Beef (CAB) brand is a trademarked brand designed to market quality beef. To wear the CAB logo, the carcass is supposed to pass 10 quality control standards and CAB must be either USDA Prime or one of the two upper sublevels of USDA Choice. Most of it is USDA Choice. CAB costs a bit more because the American Angus Association charges a fee to “certify” the cattle and higher markups take place on down the line. > > Interestingly, CAB does not actually certify that the beef labeled Certified Angus Beef is from the highly regarded Angus breed. Their major control is that the cattle must have a black hide, which is a genetic indicator that there are Angus genes in the cattle, but not a guarantee. Do not confuse this with beef just marked “angus” or “black angus.” ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2018, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordering-prime-rib/806882/64 "2018-01-21T03:20:29Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Certified Angus Beef is a specific brand of angus beef. It is either upper grades of choice or prime beef. [Cite](https://amazingribs.com/tested-recipes/beef-and-bison-recipes/buying-beef-beef-grades-and-labels-and-busting-kobe-beef-myth). > > Do not confuse this with beef just marked “angus” or “black angus.” This I understood. But it is an industry designation, especially when describing “upper grades of choice”, which the USDA (to the best of my knowledge) doesn’t do. CAB != Prime, which was my contention while his was CAB = Prime. And ranchers pay for CAB designation, which makes me just a little bit less sure about their claims of better beef. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2018, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordering-prime-rib/806882/65 "2018-01-21T04:34:06Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > This I understood. But it is an industry designation, especially when describing “upper grades of choice”, which the USDA (to the best of my knowledge) doesn’t do. CAB != Prime, which was my contention while his was CAB = Prime. And ranchers pay for CAB designation, which makes me just a little bit less sure about their claims of better beef. Oh, I agree with you! Hence the inclusion of the important “Most of it is USDA Choice” in the quote I selected. 🙂 (Although that link does say that there are three numbered sublevels of choice meat. I’m not 100% sure what they are, but maybe it’s broken down like [in this link?](https://meat.tamu.edu/beefgrading/)) ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2018, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordering-prime-rib/806882/66 "2018-01-21T06:06:23Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > I’d never heard of a salamander broiler before so I Googled it. Now you’ve got me wanting one! Except that [this nice one](https://www.bluestarcooking.com/cooking/broilers/salamander-broiler/) suitable for residential use has a special introductory price that starts at only $3,295! :eek: I used one of those for over a decade, sometimes 7 days a week, and just called it a broiler. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2018, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordering-prime-rib/806882/67 "2018-01-21T06:10:33Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > Like others my experience with Prime Rib is no different than any other steak. They ask how you want it done. It’s possible rather than cooking it to a certain doneness they just give you a piece that matches what you asked for (and maybe throw it on a pan if need be) but I never really thought about it. There are a lot of places that just do prime rib and that’s how it is. Some do it as a special on certain nights or when they feel like it and then make it and it runs out or they use it for sandwiches for lunch the next day. At least that’s my experience. I’ve never worked at a chain restaurant or ordered prime rib at one. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2018, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordering-prime-rib/806882/68 "2018-01-21T09:17:42Z")
> [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](#): > > I used one of those for over a decade, sometimes 7 days a week, and just called it a broiler. There’s a difference though. Salamanders were generally intended in restaurants to provide high heat to brown cheese on proteins where it was visible to the cooks, which is why most of them were installed above ovens and at or slightly above eye level, and it was open faced without a door that closed on the product. A true broiler was inside the oven where you couldn’t see it. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2018, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordering-prime-rib/806882/69 "2018-02-14T20:19:02Z")
Me so hungy. Normally I prefer my steaks medium well, but on prime rub I find I like it better kicked up a little more to medium, especially if it’s got much fat. Especially lately, after some stomach issues I tend to like it all slightly more done, not that I dont’ recognize it’s still technically better not so done. Then there’s my dad who wants is “well” done but never just says so, he fuddles around and says “as [close to well/little pink] as possible”… My mom’s not quite that bad, but also falls into the medium well to well category. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2018, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordering-prime-rib/806882/70 "2018-02-15T11:43:36Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > There’s a difference though. Salamanders were generally intended in restaurants to provide high heat to brown cheese on proteins where it was visible to the cooks, which is why most of them were installed above ovens and at or slightly above eye level, and it was open faced without a door that closed on the product. > > A true broiler was inside the oven where you couldn’t see it. I guess since I only used the salamander at my station, it was just the “broiler” and was used for melting cheese on egg dishes and making chicken for chicken caesars and things like that. I worked a 7 day breakfast/lunch shift at a restaurant for a little over a decade. Then we closed for about 4 hours to switch over to dinner. Different equipment was used (or used in different ways) then. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordering-prime-rib/806882.md?page=3)