Go to the Recipe: Sous Vide Barbecue Ribs
Can I cook the ribs at 60°C for 16 hours (as described in the Kung Pao ribs recipe) for even better results?
That would depend on what you are looking for: how you define better.
Is this the recipe we had on Joule Day, or was that still a WIP?
because I was short on time, I did throw them in at 60°C to give it a try. I will post the results in a few hours.
I've read that salting before a longer cook like this can actually draw out moisture. Has anyone tried doing something like this where they salted vs not salted?
Please ... every time you ad an oven temperature, and let us know if it's fan assisted or not?
Unless i can assume that it's *never* fan assisted?
Hi René, Unless noted, all our recipes are developed with the fan on. We get that that may not be clear, however. Added a note in the step here and we will be more clear about this in the future.
These ribs are epic. I have a smoker and I finish them in the smoker but they are competition quality BBQ ribs in texture and flavor. And if I didn't mention it I am a Senior BBQ judge!
@Jess Voelker or @Ellen I do have a question though. I see in the recipe that Ziploc bags are used. I was always of the understanding not to use Ziploc bags at temperatures above 158 F. Is this just an exception?
After the sous-vide step, I re-applied some rub and cold-smoked the ribs for an hour (no smoker needed, check chefsteps peking duck recipe). In addition, I put the ribs in the oven at 110°C for two hours to form a deep bark. Furthermore I slathered some BBQ sauce on top and quickly broiled them for 5 mins per site.
Conclusion: best ribs I've ever made. Incredibly tender and juicy, easy to pull off the bone but still a little snappy and chewy.
At what temperature did you smoke these? For how long? I have an old New Braunfels barrel smoker I could pull out for this.
If you didn't get me the first time, you sure as hell got me now. While I loved the videos featuring Meathead, this one just pushed me over. Canceling all plans for the rest of the weekend. Buying way too many ribs. And getting my freakin' BBQ ON!!!!
Good catch, John. Thanks. I updated the "Before We Begin" section, but the deal is basically that the kitchen has had so few issues with ziplock-style bags, even at these temperatures, that they have been using them to make these ribs. But there is always a chance the seams could fail when you're cooking at or around 70. To be 100% sure that won't happen, sous vide bags are still the best bet. You can always double bag as well.
Update the temperature guide to reflect the "Tender" option of 185/85
Would the times and temp still be the same if I wanted to use spare ribs trimmed to St. Louis style?
Haw can you do anything else than loooooove Grant AND ChefSteps!
The timing and temps here are completely different from the The Food Lab's (Serious Eats) preparation. I can't wait to try Chefsteps' version to compare and contrast!
If seams are a concern I think the best solution is to eliminate any form of them. Use a kitchen garbage can liner. They're are blown with only a seam at the bottom. Tie a tight knot in the bottom of the bag and you are seamless. The 1 mill bags hold up to 212 F and collapse tightly around their contents when put in the water. An added benefit is they allow a weight to be put into them before tying the knot keeping the food submerged if it's the kind that wants to float. Dirt cheap too.
Yesssssss!!!!
What I've been doing is cooking the ribs sous vide until tender (6 or so hours) and then brushing them with a glaze (whatever you like) and finishing them under the grill.
Would love to know your opinion when done!
I've done various forms of sous-vide ribs (though never at these particular time/temp combos), with varying levels of salt in order to find my personal ideal. The first few times I did 145 for 24hr, which make for very tender, albeit completely untraditional, ribs. First batch was unsalted (just the liquid smoke/molasses/amino mixture), and but the flavor did suffer. The bark was very salty and the meat itself fairly bland, and it ended up being less satisfying overall. Second batch was moderately salted pre-cook (probably less than called for here), with less salt in the bark rub. Flavor was better, but noticeably less juicy over 24hrs. I've also done The Food Lab version, 165 for 12hrs, rub before AND after, and honestly they were the sweet spot for me in terms of flavor, juiciness, and texture. Kenji is going for a lot more connective tissue breakdown than Chefsteps is here.
Another observation of mine is that the final juiciness level has to do with some combination of pre-cook salting and the finishing method time/temp. You can lose a lot of moisture trying to build that bark.
I'll be trying this recipe soon, but my gut feeling is that if only cooking in the bag for 4 hours, the moisture loss for salting will be far less noticeable and definitely worth salting for the flavor improvement.
Do you cook the ribs in the oven twice? (Mentioned both at the pre-heat stage and then later on)
Is the salt kosher salt or table salt?
Kosher
If I were to refrigerate them after cooking them sous vide, how would they keep? Also, would I have to reheat in the water bath prior to baking them in the oven? Are there any time/temp info you can provide?
Safety/Quality question: I already finished cooking the ribs low-temp at 85°C before realizing that I had missed the 1% salt/nitrite mix. I had used the full mix on the rack which resulted in about 3.9% by weight. Is there any concern with this level of nitrite (comes out to about 0.3%)? And either way, will these ribs be way too salty? Any suggestions would be appreciated - for instance, might I rinse off the rack (oh the horror!) before glazing again and hitting it with the rub? Or perhaps remake the rub with less or no salt? Thanks in advance! The ribs are cooked and in the fridge, ready for the oven...
Why did you guys go from 167 to 162?
Anyone like a particular KC BBQ sauce recipe for these?
Anyone else had issues with 'ballooning bags' when cooking at 185 degrees? I vacuum sealed my ribs but still saw them ballooning to the surface 2 hours in. I've rigged up a fairly elaborate setup of weights etc to keep them submerged. any tips to avoid this would be appreciated.
I didn't. Got a good vac seal on them, seemed to do great.
These were amazing, utterly awesome!! So thrilled to have this recipe in my back pocket. Thought maybe there's a little too much salt, otherwise perfect for me. I'm wondering what the effect would be going 4-8 hrs at around 175? Anyone experiment with that?
They'll keep fine in a fridge for a few weeks like all sous vide food, assuming they're vacuum sealed. If not, probably still fine for several days. For reheating, you can warm them up in a water bath (usually recommended to use the same temp for around 20-30 mins) or you can drop it in boiling water for a minute or 2. Basically it's already cooked, and if you're finishing it in the oven, it'll likely matter less.
Made these for dinner tonight @ 162 and the texture was absolutely incredible.
I have cooked many a rack of spare ribs using my Big Green Egg and they're always delicious, tender and moist. Seeing this I decided to give it a try so I wouldn't have to tend the Egg for an afternoon. They were terrible. Cooked at 167 for 4 hours. Toughest ribs I've ever tried to eat. So if I were to answer your question I'd say try a higher temp than I used, definitely.
Made a rack with this new rub last night. A triumph.
Had a laugh, because I had exactly 100 grams of paprika in the pantry. I now have zero grams of paprika.
Need a bit of help - I tried this recipe last night and the ribs came out tough and dry. Parts of the meat close to the bone were good, but the rest wasn't. I gave the 85 degree cook a go, not good. My second batch were done half the time at 85 and the other half at 75 - still dry. Any thoughts? I'm giving it another go in a week - and I'm tempted to bump the temp down to 65...
I tried this recipe last night! As I am waiting for the Joule available in Europe, so I didn't cook it in Sous vide method! So I brined the ribs with 10% salted water, for 15 hours, I think it is too much! Next day morning, I change the ribs into water for 1 hour, every 15 mins change new water to wash off the saltiness. Then I cooked it with low heat 100c with aluminium foil, I tried to wrap it up as tight as I can with few layers, baked for 7 hours. Then process the same process! It came out fantastic and super tender, my friends and family enjoy it a lot! I have to say, the rub is AMAZING, it gives the ribs a layer of crispy bite. I am looking forward to make it again, next time I will try to reduce the brine percentage and bake temperature low! Anyone can suggestion for brine and low temperature for cooking? I am happy to know, because this was my first time to prepare food in this way! Thank you....
Can I do this with St. Louis cut ribs?
I would try to use this method for chicken thighs. Someone could suggest me time and temp for that?
https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/sous-vide-time-and-temperature-guide
Squeeze as much air out as possible. Insert a coffee stirrer in one corner. Zip up to it. Suck the remaining air out until the bag molds around the contents. This method replaces a $139.99 vac pack machine for freezing leftovers as well.
If I'm cooking something with the Joule, do I have to have my phone near the pot for the entire time?
Made this with ribs bought in the supermarket the rack was about 600g. The ribs were too small and it ended up being to intense a flavour from the bark for the amount of meat there is. You really need rib racks ~1.5kg as stated in the recipe. Will try again with bigger and better ribs.
Has anyone tried this with beef ribs instead of pork? If so, what would be the temp/time recommended to try it.
https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/beef-short-ribs-your-way
Your phone can be in another state. 😊 Just make sure Joule is hooked to wifi.
Got mine on the go now, only 4 more hours to go
Just finished eating the ribs. Did 1/2 recipe...one rack of baby backs.....and it was more than the two of us could finish.
Absolutely deliciously and more tender than I expected. The only hitch was my crappy scale...which is about to be replaced with something more accurate.
If you use less meat, you need to use less ingredients. This recipe works fine if you properly scale it.
