Preparation

Our 10-lb. prime rib roast was cooked in a roaster, but was first encased in 24 pounds of rock salt - the same special preparation Chriss' grandmother had used for decades. These photos show the roast first sitting on an inch-thick bed of rock salt, and then having garlic cloves inserted. Finally, we add fresh-grown rosemary from our sunroom garden before burying it and placing the temperature probe. Time: 1:45 pm

Now completely buried, it gets cooked at medium heat until the internal temperature nears 130 degrees. At 4:10pm, it's time to check on the roast, which is coming along nicely.

At 5:22pm - about 3-1/2 hours cooking time - we crack the salt cocoon and pull out the roast, which is nicely rare in the center and mostly pink throughout except at the two ends.