Sous Vide Q - What's the bid deal?

[MarkN]

I like both comments (and thank you) but they are not practical in this particular situation. I have no opportunity to smoke the ribs before Saturday night. I have to head out Sunday morning. I can either do the LMR recipe at night (Oh, and snow is in the forecast for Saturday) or Sous Vide and sleep at night. And yes, I resorted to Liquid Smoke.

They will not be as good as "the real thing", which I told the people who will be in attendance, but they insist I give it a try.

[Potkettleblack]

Here’s the solution to the trip.

Smoke the ribs per LMR recipe. Vac seal hot. Shock in ice water, then use SV to reheat at the party. I do it with pulled pork regularly.

[fzxdoc]

Potkettleblack , I want to "like" your comments, but the new software update had taken away the like button for comments. Anyway, I like your approach.

Kathryn

[fzxdoc]

So there's no smoking involved with these ribs--just Sous Vide--is that correct? To my mind, if you're going to reheat ribs, they may taste better if done on the smoker/grill then chilled and rewarmed later. Better yet, go the SVQ route, chill as required and rewarm later. I just can't see how a smoke flavor gets into the SV-only ribs without resorting to Liquid Smoke.

Kathryn

[MarkN]

This weekend I continued my SV education by delving into St. Louis Cut Pork Spare Ribs.

I did one rack at 145^o F for 36 hours and a second rack at 165^o F for 12 hours (from Serious Eats). I did half of each rack with dry rub only and sauced the other half of each. After the SV I submerged them into an ice bath for 30 minutes and then into the fridge. Then I invited a friend who has tasted my version of "Last Meal Ribs" in the past to give me his opinion. I reheated the ribs in a 300^o F for 40 minutes. The real reason for the test was that he is having a party at his house next Sunday and wanted me to bring/make ribs. He lives over an hour away and time does not permit me to do them the usual way, so I offered this as an alternative. We both agreed:

1st Place: Still my "Last Meal Ribs"
2nd Place: Dry Rub at 165 degrees for 12 hours
3rd Place: Sauced Ribs at 165 degrees for 12 hours

The 36 hour ribs were OK (we ate them rather than throw them away ) but they were a bit too "mealy" (?) for our tastes. Time and weather permitting, I will still go to the grill. For this occasion, he wants the 2nd Place ribs and I'll have sauce on the side. I can put them in the SV at 9PM on Saturday and pull them out at 9AM on Sunday. Ice bath, fridge, cooler, transport, reheat and eat.

This was my most successful SV attempt so far.

[Potkettleblack]

On the poultry section, white meat at 155 is not that great. At 145, amazing. Dark meat at 145 is dodgy, imho.

[Potkettleblack]

A comment from experience:
Pork loin at 135 is divine.
Pork loin at 140 is not an improvement over traditional cooking.
Pork loin at 145 is not worth eating.

I note this because the chart considers 135 (Heaven) and 145 (Hell) to be the same thing. And they really are not. Not even close.

[hogdog6]

Really looking forward to this heard you mention it on the bbq Central show.

[Polarbear777]

Collagen can break down below 160 it just takes a lot longer. One of the ways to do SVQ or QVQ at medium rare but still as tender as traditional BBQ.

[Polarbear777]

Nice. Though I’d probably just cross out anything medium and above, but that’s just me ;-)

There are lots of other SV tricks (like 135 chicken that is then southern fried) but for SVQ this makes sense.

[JimLinebarger]

Potkettleblack I wish I read this post before last night. Did thin cut chops @140 for 1:15 and then breaded and fried each side for about 30-45 seconds. They were dry. I was going to adjust the time back to 50mins. Next time I hope I remember this post.

[Meathead]

We are putting the finishing touches on a digital book on Sous Vide Que with some good insights. Here is an excerpt, almost finished. A little hard to read. I'll post a pdf somewhere for you when it is finished.

[Smoking77]

MarkN If you're still up to experimenting, I really like Joule's Grilled Chicken Leg Recipe. I marinade with Meathead Hula-hula teriyaki, sous vide at 158 for 5 hours, then put it in an ice bath. While the grill is warming up, I throw an oak or hickory chunk on the fire to get some smoke on the chicken. Then, when the grill is ready, I crisp up the skin brushing the chicken with the sauce. Some of the best chicken I've had.

And then sometimes I just throw dried herbs and spices on some chicken legs (after dry brining for 24-48 hours), get my WSM as hot as I can (around 450), throw the legs on, and pull when the IT is 165. Also great, just different than the SV'd ones. Experimenting is the fun part, and I hope you keep at it!

[willxfmr]

I QVQ, SVQ, PDQ. and most of the other permutations combining sous vide and something else. For me, reverse sear is hands down the best way to make steaks, but if the only guess I can make for when I want dinner to be done is "later", then the steaks will hit the water bath and get seared off when "later" comes. Same goes for chicken, pork. and any other lean and tender cut of meat. As long as it's not in the bath more than 3-4 hours, it will be ready to finish when you are.
The two places that sous vide really shines is making any tough cut of meat tender, and mashed potatoes. if you have a sous vide and haven't tried these, you're missing out.

https://recipes.anovaculinary.com/recipe/sous-vide-garlic-and-rosemary-mashed-potatoes

There are so many opinions and ideas for how to SVQ things like brisket, pork shoulder, and any other tough cut, that I won't bore you with details, I'll just state how I do it. This is not to be confused with the "best", or "right" way, it's just how I do things, so there is actually a fair to middlin chance it is in fact the "wrong" way to do things.

Step 1) Smoke meat to an internal temp that is equal to what you water bath will be set to, or 3 hours.

Step 2) Bag, and soak.

Step 3) De-bag...umm... make that un-bag, carve, and eat.

We can argue flavor profiles, and "best" ways until the cows evolve to the point the are raising us for meat, but for simply making a tough cut of meat tender, sous vide is a stupid easy way to get it done.

[Cheef]

The brisket caught my interest for sure. Any pointers or direction? I just purchased two primes.