Sous vide que ribs

[MrStosh]

I found a recipe a little while back about sous vide que ribs and whether you should smoke first or not. Resulting recipe was something like smoke for 3 hrs at 225, sous vide for ?? At 140?. Then dry, glaze and pop in the broiler to set the glaze. I have looked all over and can’t find it..sound familiar to anyone?

[jtw]

I've never done it. But Meathead has a recipe on the main site:

https://amazingribs.com/tested-recipes-pork-ribs-recipes-sous-vide-que-smoked-st-louis-spare-ribs-recipe/

[bbqLuv]

Sounds bass-ackwards to me. Perhaps sous vide first, then finish on the grill.
But what do I know.

[WI Bubba]

I would go with a sous vide temp up around 160, but timing you would have to play by ear. The pinch test will be your best friend here. Much like on a smoker, you can reduce time by increasing the temp.

The other option would be to sous vide first until they are fully cooked and tender, then shock them in cold water to stop the cooking. At that point you can stash them in the fridge until you are ready to finish them on the smoker. There is a good tutorial for this method over at Serious Eats.

[bbqLuv]

Ditto, ditto, and ditto on the tutorial too.

[Draznnl]

+1

[RustyHaines]

Yep I would go with SV first, chill in ice bath, then on the smoker

[SheilaAnn]

WI Bubba r+1

[bbqLuv]

Guga did ribs SV before and after smoking.
Sous Vide RIBS, TIME Experiment! - YouTube
I COOKED the most DELICIOUS RIBS of my LIFE! - YouTube

[pkadare]

Thanks for posting these links. Always enjoy Guga and I'm just back from the store getting what I need for the meal in the second video. The ribs I already had. :-)

[Murdy]

If you sous vide them first and then try to smoke them, doesn't that diminish the amount of smoke that the ribs will take on? It's my understanding that raw/cold meat takes smoke better.

[pkadare]

The temp is the important part not raw vs. cooked. A cold cooked rack will take on smoke flavour just as well as a cold raw rack.

[pkadare]

As one of Meathead posts on this topic shows, even a cold beer can will take on smoke. :-)

[bbqLuv]

pkadare commented
Today, 09:02 AM
As one of Meathead posts on this topic shows, even a cold beer can will take on smoke. :-)

Smoked beer, I wonder if that would help Coors light? Couldn't hurt, right?

[shify]

You have it backwards. Sous vide them first and then finish in the smoker for 1-3 hrs. I believe I've done 150 for 24 hrs.

[MarkN]

Glad this was asked because it got me thinking (no small feat).

Pre-pandemic, a group of us co-workers would gather once each summer at the house of a guy who unfortunately lives 1-1/2 hours drive away from me for a big BBQ. The first couple of years I would get to his house 6 hours before everyone else to make ribs as my contribution (as a "student" of AmazingRibs and Cook's Country I was considered "the expert" ). One year I decided to try a brisket at home and throw it in the cooler for the ride up (this allowed the temp to drop from 205 down to 170). No leftovers.

Anyway, short story made long, this is making me think that the way to go if we renew our BBQ this year might be to try the Sous Vide method at home and bring up the chilled ribs the day of the party to finish them on the grill. I've got about three months to practice.

Good stuff!

[WI Bubba]

SVQ is a great way to go when cooking for a crowd.

[BourBonQ]

Yep, thats how we do them for a crowd. Usually SV'd days in advance, then smoked/grilled to serve. Takes all the timing guesswork out of the equation.

[MrStosh]

Thanks everyone for the comments! I did find the recipe I was looking for. Smoke 225 for 3 hours. SV 185 for 4 hours. Glaze then set the glaze in a 425 oven for 10 or 15 minutes. Came out pretty good. Fall off the bone. I would have liked them a little firmer but everyone else liked them.

While prepping the smoker I found a hole rusted through in the smoking chamber (COS). Now obsessing over a replacement!

[wrgilb]

I double bag anything over 150 degrees.

[Potkettleblack]

I think 185 for four hours is excessive in both time and temp... consider, in a 3-2-1 rib recipe, you're running at 225 for the 2 hours in wrap. That's 225 air temp. Humid air at maybe 215-220 inside the wrap.

The SV will be more efficient at energy transfer, so the 185 will function a lot the same... that's why they were fall off the bone. For a bit firmer, maybe go 160x2-3 in the SV step, and pinch the bag to see where the texture is.

[bbqLuv]

Fall off the bone is just a touch overdone, but I like it that way too.
Happy for you and PBR too.

[WI Bubba]

Great to hear you were happy with the results. Sounds like you have a good baseline to start tweaking things to your own liking.