How to Carve Prime Rib for a Reception (8 Steps)

Whether you're a professional chef serving prime rib for a couple hundred guests or an ambitious home cook serving prime rib for a reception party, carving it the right way lowers your food costs, creates a nice presentation and makes the guests happy. Cutting uniform slices is the most important part of carving prime rib because it minimizes waste and ensures you have enough for everyone. You need to know how much prime to cook to know how much you need to carve, so the carving, or at least the preparation for it, actually starts before the cooking does.

Things You'll Need

12-inch or longer carving knife
Meat fork

Honing steel

Instructions

Take the prime rib out of the oven after you roast it and let it rest for 45 to 60 minutes -- 45 minutes if it weighs 10 pounds or less, and 60 minutes if it weighs more than 10 pounds.
Grasp the bones and tilt the prime rib up off the work surface a few inches. Position the blade of a long carving knife on top of the bones where they meet the fatty lip. Slice toward the prime rib, between the fatty lip and the bones, until you reach the base of the bones. If you have a boneless prime rib, you don't need to do anything until you slice it.
Fold the prime rib bones outward away from the meat, like a hinge, then slice the thin piece of connective tissue that holds them to the meat. You can pick the meat from the bones later or discard the set of bones altogether. Position the prime rib with the pointed, fatty lip facing away from you.
Score the top of cooked prime rib about 1/4 inch deep with a sharp knife to mark how many portions you will carve. Make the first score 1/2 inch from the right end of the prime rib. Continue scoring the prime rib at 1/2-inch intervals. Each slice will weigh about 8 ounces.
Hold the prime rib in a warm oven with the door propped open 1 or 2 inches with a towel until service. Take the prime rib to the carving station when you're ready to serve it.
Position the blade of the carving knife in the first score you made. Hold the prime rib in place with a meat fork. Slice the first slice of prime rib using long, careful strokes, utilizing the length of the entire blade. The fewer knife strokes you use, the better. Set the end slice of prime rib aside for a guest who wants a well-done slice.
Position the blade of the carving knife on the next score and slice through the prime rib, again utilizing the entire length of the blade in long, smooth strokes. Use serving tongs to place the steak on the guest's plate.
Continue slicing the prime rib using the scoring as a guide. Wipe the knife blade using a moist towel and hone it on a sharpening steel if you notice it starting to dull.

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