Shaun- Nope, no smoke alarms, I used the LeCreuset grilling skillet and a temp of 500degrees. It splattered for sure, but no big mess. Crashed potatoes are from Pioneer Woman's blog. DH loves them. Here's my rendition: I use a nice fist-sized red potato, nuke it for about 4 minutes, then let it cool for a few minutes. Afterwards take a fork and smash one side of it down with a fork (only on one side, not as much as her photo). Then I drizzle garlic EVOO, sprinkle salt, pepper and rosemary. Rebake for about 10 minutes at a high heat. It makes a soft, potato with flavor and a bit of crunch! Here is a link that might be useful: Pioneer Woman's crash potatoes

I'm unconcerned about using galvanized nails in roasting meat - at least, doing in occasionally. Here is why: Zinc is an essential nutrient, in small quantities. Recommended daily intake is about 11 mg/day for adults. There are zinc supplement pills, if you don't get enough. Upper limit for sustained intake is about 40 milligrams/day. For one-time exposure to zinc, toxic effects start around 100 mg. Each galvanized nail has around 0.6 gram of zinc. So about 15% of the zinc on the nail would have to dissolve into one serving of meat, to get into the range of toxicity. But the zinc coating on a nail won't start melting until around 800 F. This temperature is never reached inside the meat. It never gets above 120 F in there. That is a temperature similar to hot tap water. So I conclude that roughly "no" zinc got into the meat. Nails can have oil and grease on them too, but hopefully I cleaned that off by scrubbing with detergent and hot water.

My dinner was a huge success! I'm a beginner with lots to learn and you have all been wonderful. We sliced the bones off the roast, salted liberally, and tied the ribs back on 2 days before cooking (another Serious Eats, Food Lab article - scroll down to SALT). I read that the salt will draw the moisture out at first, but then it will reabsorb the moisture along with the salt, carrying the seasoning deep within the meat. This was the only thing I did differently from a few weeks ago when I ran my trial run, and this roast was far superior. It was the same cut of meat (choice), from the same store (CostCo), and cooked the same way. So it must have been the 2 day seasoning. I let the roast sit on the counter for 2 hours, then used the Serious Eats Food Lab recipe to cook low and slow - it took 4 1/2 hours for the 11lb roast to reach 122. I did make a mistake here - instead of removing the roast from the roasting pan to sit for an hour (like I did 2 weeks ago), I simply tented the roast in the pan. I think the pan caused the roast to continue to cook. I used the same probe and oven as 2 weeks ago, so unless it went bad in that time, this has to be the reason it was overcooked. However, the flavor was fabulous, so I really have no complaints. Following the Serious Eats recipe - it did go back into the oven for 10 minutes at 500 to develop a beautiful sizzling crust. I made 2 pans of Yorkshire puddings. When everything came out of the oven and my guests were serving themselves, I popped the second pan in and proudly served a second helping to all at the table 30 minutes later. What I learned from this is the pan makes a HUGE difference! I bought a new muffin pan since I didn't have 2 and the new pan the YP's rose so high and popped right out unlike my old pan where they still looked OK, but I had to use a knife to work them out. I made my Au Jus ahead of time by making a rich stock from browning bones, oxtails, veggies for a couple of hours and them simmering them for 24 hours. I did this 2 weeks ago and froze it. Yesterday I let it simmer for another couple of hours and added any Jus from the meat before serving. I'm so glad I did this! Not only was it easier on me, but I never would have had enough Jus otherwise. Everyone took a little Au Jus cup on their plate and I put the rest into gravy boats for the table - most of which was used. I'm very proud of my dinner and I couldn't have done it without the help from all of you on this forum. :-) Thank-you! Jeri

Been wondering where I got the idea that the short rib was somehow part of the prime rib, and found my answer when speaking to the butcher the other day. I was ordering short ribs for a dinner party I am having on Saturday, and he said he'd take them from the rib instead of the chuck. Hmmm, so I asked him to explain. He said that the prime rib bone extends another 12 inches beyond what we normally see when getting a bone-in roast. At the end of that is where the short ribs are located, and are a little less fatty than thse from the chuck. So, thankfully, I cleared up why I connected prime rib to short ribs. Whew, that feels better now. Sue