Smoking, freezing & reheating ribs?

[jjdbike]

I’m doing 4 racks of pork back ribs.They’re a tad on the thick side, weighing in at approximately 2.75 lbs each.
I plan on eating one rack, and intend others for future meals. I’ll cool, vacuum seal and put into deep freezer.
I plan on wrapping to tenderize and maintain as much moisture as I can. Then saucing.
My question is, should I wait to sauce the ones I intend to freeze after they’re thawed while reheating? I read that Malcom Reed recommends saucing and reheating on a grill to tighten up bark & caramelize the sauce. This sounds like a good idea to me. I’d think freezing after saucing would just make sauced surface & bark mushy.
Id love to hear your thoughts on experiences please.
Thanks in advance!
JD

[STEbbq]

I agree on saucing when reheating. I can’t see how saucing and freezing would be any good as you note.

[captainlee]

We reheat ribs all the time as a second meal that week, they come out great. We just wrap in foil and heat in the oven. Also i only cut enough ribs off for the one meal and the balance can be reheated as a rack. I have never frozen them. As a guess I would resist saucing until reheated. Hopefully somebody can give you input.

[Bad Hat BBQ]

This is a good question....interested in following...still have not pulled the trigger on a Sous Vide...this discussion might tip the scales!

[smokenoob]

I have vac packed and frozen ribs. I then sous vide for reheat. I figure they will be “wet” either way so I sauce before vac pack, then when they come out of the sous vide they are ready to eat with warmed up sauce. 👍

[RonB]

I don't sauce ribs until the last 10 min or so anyway, so I "vote" for just before reheating.

[jjdbike]

Thanks everyone!
JD

[jjdbike]

I have vac packed and frozen ribs. I then sous vide for reheat. I figure they will be “wet” either way so I sauce before vac pack, then when they come out of the sous vide they are ready to eat with warmed up sauce. 👍

Thanks smoke,
I like that it would omit a step. Is there anything that resembles a bark left after warming in the vacuum pack w/ sauce? That would be my concern, Barack & sauce just turned to mush. That’s why reheating on a grill w/ sauce sound like it might be a good option.
JD

[smokenoob]

how bout vac packin’ 4 ribs dry and 4 ribs sauced, report back (with pics 😁) what ya think!
I guess it would also depend on the reheat method you choose

[Waster]

We freeze and defrost sauced ribs all the time. Reheating after thawing in foil in the oven.
There isn't an issue with the bark, but we don't tent to use the really meaty ribs anyway.

If you are concerned about the bark, then freeze without sauce, defrost, reheat in the oven and then fire up the grill to sauce and finish off.

[Bad Hat BBQ]

We have a family gathering in NC ( near Asheville)...was planning on smokin slabs of ribs and freezing...then sous vide to re-heat

What Temp?
How Long?

I have good luck with, sous vide w/ thick steaks then searing....all else is new to me

Thanks in advance....

[realdocBBQ]

I'd sous vide to 145ºF, prolly an hour, no more than 2 if from frozen.

[jfmorris]

That'll work well. On Father's Day I smoked 5 slabs of ribs, and we only ate 3. I vacuum sealed the others and tossed them in the freezer. I pulled them out a month or two later and reheated wrapped in foil in a 250 oven for about 2 hours from frozen, and they were perfect.