I tried sous vide leftover ribs. They were frozen. Placed the ribs in Ziplock bags. Placed the frozen ribs in instant pot with sous vide setting at 145'F.
Came out very good.
Now I may smoke enough meat for several meal and freeze the extras.
Pic of ribs reheated via sous vide.
Plated with veggies
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Malcom Reed recommends doing something similar ... albeit a little simpler. Just bring a "sizable" pot of water to a boil. Once it's boiling, drop in a vac-sealed bag of frozen whatever you're wanting to eat and turn off the heat. Wait 20 minutes ... remove from the still-hot water, remove from the bag, and eat ... (it works; I've tried it ... repeatedly).
bbqLuv - Malcom’s technique works well for small/thin portions … but if I had a big/thick bag of frozen stuff to reheat, I’d probably trust the SV method more.
bbqLuv - I should add that Malcom's reheating method should only be used with items that were originally cooked to at least 195-205F (e.g., ribs, brisket, etc.). I would NEVER use this method to reheat steak or anything else that was cooked to a lower temp ... for fear of overcooking & ruining it.
I started doing this last year. After not having barbecue nearly as often as I’d like due to time shortage for long cooks I started doing big cooks - a brisket, couple butts, few racks of ribs - then vac sealing servings that feed my family.
When we want barbecue I no longer have to dedicate 8-14 hours feeding my stickburner, I just grab a bag from the freezer and toss it in the sous vide!
Always been a big proponent of using sous vide to reheat BBQ and honestly feel like its almost worth getting a sous vide if all you are doing is reheating BBQ. It keeps it moist and tender, no drying out and almost as good as right off the smoker. I vacuum seal my leftovers in single/double portion packages, so they can be dropped in right out of the freezer.
Actually did this yesterday afternoon with pastrami - decided last minute I wanted a pastrami sandwich for lunch, so took a single serve package of homemade sliced pastrami in the freezer and dropped it right in the bath. I fanned the slices out before I vacuum sealed it so the whole thing took less than 20-25 minutes to heat through
When I do something like ribs, after warming in sous vide, I usually give it a light brush of sauce and flash under the broiler or a quick trip to the gasser over direct heat to give it a little bark/crust
Agree with shify, it's the only way to fly for reheating smoked/grilled meats, and so much else besides. Zero chance of additional cooking provided one sets the correct temperature and doesn't pull some totally bonehead play like reheating a perfect medium-rare prime rib to 150/65, that only a complete idiot would do (ask me how I know).
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