Generously sprinkle salt all over the roast and return it to the refrigerator for 1 hour. Remove from the refrigerator 1 hour before cooking to help bring the roast to room temperature before cooking. This will help ensure more even cooking.

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit. Pat the roast dry with paper towels as the pre-salting makes the roast release some moisture. Then sprinkle roast all over the salt and pepper and place fat side up in a baking pan large enough to hold the rib eye roast.

Bake the roast uncovered for 15 minutes. This will help brown the roast.

After 15 minutes, lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Cook the roast for 10-12 minutes per pound for rare and 13-15 minutes per pound for medium rare.

I started checking the roast with a thermometer after 1 hour 15 minutes of cooking. Then continued to check every 15 minutes. Remember to use the temperature of the roast to tell how done the meat is.

For the 8 pound roast, I baked mine for 1 hour 45 minutes, plus the initial 15 minutes - total cook time was 2 hours.

Let the Roast Rest once it is removed from the oven. This helps the juices go back into the meat. Cover it and let rest for 30 minutes. Remember, the internal temperature of the roast will continue to rise as it rests.

You may choose to make a gravy from the pan drippings. If you do, once the roast is removed, pour the drippings in a measuring cup that also separates the fat from the liquid. Pour 1 cup of the liquid back in the pan. Put the pan on the stove on medium-high heat. Using a metal spatula to scrape the pan drippings if there are any goodies sticking to the pan.

While the pan drippings are coming to a boil, in a separate cup, mix 1/4 cup of flour with 3/4 cup water. Once the pan drippings are boiling, whisk in the flour and water mixture. Continue to whisk while slowly adding 3 more cups of water. Once the mixture starts to thicken, remove from the heat. If you would like your gravy a bit creamy, once the gravy is off the heat, whisk in a cup of milk.

Taste the gravy as you may have to season it with salt and pepper before serving.