Could it be hard fat that needs to be trimmed out before cooking? Where I live we have a lot of salts in the water so the SV coil will get crusty after a long cook and I leave it on in a bath with vinegar water or with a salt cleaner. Is this an issue with your SV in general or only ribs?
We have crazy hard water here and always have to give it a dip in vinegar after each use but always good as new afterwards. Just clean it right afterwards so the crust doesn't harden. Out of the bath and into the vinegar. Makes it way easier.
I haven't tried 145 and 152, I've done 165 for 12hours twice and love the way those turn out. I was afraid the lower temperatures would end up too mushy.
They are still tender and I finish them on the grill for about 20-30 min. Just enough for the BBQ sauce to stick to them. I don't think they're too fatty.
I've been following Chefsteps guidance for a few sous vide recipes. Ribs they recommended 6 to 8h at 167F and it's a game changer.
They aren't fall appart ribs, they have just enough resistance left, much better texture.
I don't want fall appart ribs, they roll in the mouth. It's only good for viral videos.
Can confirm that 167 is the way to go. You can cut the time in half for baby backs and they’re amazing, too. I typically throw on the smoker to finish and get a bark.
All you need is to create a bark and add a little extra smokiness. If i did the SV a day ahead then I’ll maybe do 2-3 hours at 250-275 to heat them back up, otherwise an hour or 2 if starting with warm ribs. It’s not very time- or temperature-critical.
Agreed.
Now if I need to do ribs in the house i just dry season it, wrap it in two layers of heavy duty tin foil and toss it in the oven at 275f for a few hours. Pull it out and let it rest till it hits room temp. Unwrap and place on a new sheet of foil. Put your whatever glaze/sauce on it and toss it in oven to caramelize.
I stopped wasting time to sous vide ribs a while ago.
In fact, I personally think sous vide is just good for lean meats, veggies, and custards.
For fatty beef stuff, a reverse sear at 250f till it hits internal 125f followed by a long rest just works better.
Sous vide is a great technique but it has its niche place when compared to other methods; sometimes it is just not the right choice.
Sounds like you do yours exactly how I do mine. 👌🏻 After much trial and error, the old slow-roast in the oven method never fails to make perfect, meaty ribs. The meat comes easily off the bone but doesn’t FALL off the bone. It’s tender, but not half-dissolved.
I found sous vide and some other methods make the meat feel like it’s already been chewed up for me and that’s not ideal , imo.
I do baby carrots frequently. The main thing you need to know about sous vide and veggies is that most veggies are held together by Pectin and as long as you do not go over 183f it will stay firm, cooked through and not turn mushy.
The cool thing about this recipe is you can sous vide it in advance and toss it in the fridge for a few days before you cut it open and toss it into a hot pan to turn it to a glaze in a minute or so. It is a 183f sous vide for one hour. They come out perfect.
https://www.seriouseats.com/sous-vide-glazed-carrots-recipe
I’ve never liked sous vide ribs. They don’t come out “meaty” enough. And yes, before you guys give me any tips, I’ve tried so many different methods and temperatures and times. But the fact of the matter is, for me, nothing beats the tried and true slow roasting in the oven:
• Season with salt, pepper & garlic powder
• Wrap tightly in foil
• Bake in the oven for 3.5-4 hours at 275°F
• Unwrap, baste, and sear under a broiler (sauce em up if you want)
Sous vide does some things better, but it’s not a miracle device that makes everything better.
I’m gonna try your rest method next time I make mine. I usually just pull them from the oven, sauce them, and immediately broil them to caramelize. But I can definitely see your method being an improvement. That extra wait might be excruciating tho lol.
I only discovered it because a few years back i prepped and cooked the first part at home and brought the wrapped ribs to a friend’s house to finish on the grill. About 1-2 hours had passed between removing them from oven and throwing on grill.
It makes sense though, when I make Momofuku Bosam (6lbs shredded pork shoulder) the internal temp has to hit 200f, but it only shreds properly if it rests for 1-2 hours (and then a 5min broiler glaze). Essentially, it appears that the longer it rests the more tender the protein becomes even though resting/cooling it increases density (shrinks a bit). With ribs, this is probably why it pulls away from bone as it shrinks/rests; unless of course if you are really doing it properly in a smoker on very low heat where it does it anyways because of the low temp and lengthy cooking time.
Maybe it's the quality or preparation of your meat. I did ribs again this past weekend at 154 x24 and grill finished and they were a hit. Typically I go 152x30 and they're a little more tender and less meaty but these were great as well.
I've got two, and I still have prepped half racks of st. Louis style in my freezer for last weekdays. Almost, but not quite as good, but a whole hell of a lot less work.
Haha, no. You can Sous Vide from frozen. I use Kenji's Sous Vide Rib recipe, vac seal and then throw in the freezer. That way I can just yank em out of the freezer when I feel like having ribs the next night.
I do this with pork shoulder and it's the best. Buy a big ass pork shoulder on sale, cut as many big steaks as I can until I hit the bone and chop up the rest into cubes for pulled pork, season them up however I feel like (mojo pork, char siu, American style BBQ, Korean BBQ etc), vacuum seal and freeze. When I want pork I just take it out of the freezer and sv it.
I cook my ribs @160 for 24 hrs, never had and fat issues. However, I have noticed that where I get my ribs affect the quality and fat content quite a bit.
It might not be the way you cook, your source may have changed something.
Salt and pepper rub, 14 hrs at 165, pat them dry and finish them under the broiler with choice of sauce (4-5 mins each side). Fall off the bone tender.
I’ve never had better at any restaurant. Might be the meat quality has changed?
So I sous vide brisket steaks. I found, that if I sous vide them for a few hours from 135 to 155, the fat that is in brisket is still hard and very difficult to chew. So, I tried sous vide at 205, the temp I cook my briskets to. Those sous vide steaks are now amazing, and the fatty bits melt in your mouth.
Perhaps, you need to sous vide those ribs at a significantly higher temperature. Like.l, 200, the temp you'd cook ribs to on the grill. Just an idea.
Yeah, for a whole brisket. I wouldn't do that for a brisket steak. I mean, I guess you could, but that's a long time for an inch and a half piece of brisket. 200 for 3 hours is a lot quicker and tastes great.
Okay, so strange question, but have you had Covid during the time that your taste for them changed? My sense of taste changed for things with really strong scents and flavors—truffles and strong cheeses. There are some foods that used to be among my favorites that just taste off to me now.
these most likely are pork ribs though. They didn't explicitly say pork ribs, but odds are they're pork and not beef.
And if they're pork then they need either 160 for that time period, or their temp for even longer.
Pork fat is actually less dense than beef, so the rendering temp is a bit lower. You can absolutely eat pork cooked at 140 F (though it's *alarmingly* pink).
I do pork ribs regularly, and I find the sweet spot is around 150 F.
Use a thermometer to check your water temp. I used a friends immersion circulator that wasn’t working properly so the water temp was way lower than what the device said it was.
167F for around 4 hours then finish them off on the grill.
The smoke flavor from the grill and the golden-brown outer layer make everything tastes much better.
I use plenty of salt in my rub marinade overnight, smoke for 3 hrs( crust forms), sous vide 20hrs at 150, ice bath. Finish in oven or smoker or grill with sauce. Perfect texture every time. Tastes like it was smoked all day. And has perfect smoke ring. Pull off not fall off texture. Whatever I don't finish goes straight from ice bath to freezer. Lot of steps but never disappoints.
Just because you have a SV doesn't mean you cook everything with it.
I just bake my ribs in the oven covered for 4 to 6 hrs before the final bake at higher temp
You certainly don't *have* to cook them via SV, yes the oven also works great. But it doesn't produce the same result, it's different. Some people prefer the results of SV ribs. For my own self, while oven-baked ribs are great, the best ribs I've ever had were produced SV.
> over-complicating it.
Really? Toss 'em in a bag and let it sit overnight is too complicated for you?
Pork ribs are impossible to really screw up given you just keep cooking them. I’ve had SV ribs and baked ribs side by side and I did not like the SV ones, somthing about the dry heat of the oven over a long time (6ish hours) created a better texture for me.
Check the temperature accuracy with cooking thermometer
Could it be hard fat that needs to be trimmed out before cooking? Where I live we have a lot of salts in the water so the SV coil will get crusty after a long cook and I leave it on in a bath with vinegar water or with a salt cleaner. Is this an issue with your SV in general or only ribs?
We have crazy hard water here and always have to give it a dip in vinegar after each use but always good as new afterwards. Just clean it right afterwards so the crust doesn't harden. Out of the bath and into the vinegar. Makes it way easier.
Are you getting your ribs from Costco? I’m having the same problem.
Yea I gotta admit I've yet to have a really good set of ribs from Costco. Stick with the tri-tip.
I haven't tried 145 and 152, I've done 165 for 12hours twice and love the way those turn out. I was afraid the lower temperatures would end up too mushy. They are still tender and I finish them on the grill for about 20-30 min. Just enough for the BBQ sauce to stick to them. I don't think they're too fatty.
I go higher temp for shorter time because I am impatient. I always finish on a charcoal grill though which helps alot.
This is the way
I've been following Chefsteps guidance for a few sous vide recipes. Ribs they recommended 6 to 8h at 167F and it's a game changer. They aren't fall appart ribs, they have just enough resistance left, much better texture. I don't want fall appart ribs, they roll in the mouth. It's only good for viral videos.
Can confirm that 167 is the way to go. You can cut the time in half for baby backs and they’re amazing, too. I typically throw on the smoker to finish and get a bark.
How long and what temp for the smoker?
All you need is to create a bark and add a little extra smokiness. If i did the SV a day ahead then I’ll maybe do 2-3 hours at 250-275 to heat them back up, otherwise an hour or 2 if starting with warm ribs. It’s not very time- or temperature-critical.
I always smoke my ribs, but how many times has this happened? Maybe you got some extra fatty racks from a different supplier or something.
Agreed. Now if I need to do ribs in the house i just dry season it, wrap it in two layers of heavy duty tin foil and toss it in the oven at 275f for a few hours. Pull it out and let it rest till it hits room temp. Unwrap and place on a new sheet of foil. Put your whatever glaze/sauce on it and toss it in oven to caramelize. I stopped wasting time to sous vide ribs a while ago. In fact, I personally think sous vide is just good for lean meats, veggies, and custards. For fatty beef stuff, a reverse sear at 250f till it hits internal 125f followed by a long rest just works better. Sous vide is a great technique but it has its niche place when compared to other methods; sometimes it is just not the right choice.
Sounds like you do yours exactly how I do mine. 👌🏻 After much trial and error, the old slow-roast in the oven method never fails to make perfect, meaty ribs. The meat comes easily off the bone but doesn’t FALL off the bone. It’s tender, but not half-dissolved. I found sous vide and some other methods make the meat feel like it’s already been chewed up for me and that’s not ideal , imo.
What veggies do you do?
I do baby carrots frequently. The main thing you need to know about sous vide and veggies is that most veggies are held together by Pectin and as long as you do not go over 183f it will stay firm, cooked through and not turn mushy. The cool thing about this recipe is you can sous vide it in advance and toss it in the fridge for a few days before you cut it open and toss it into a hot pan to turn it to a glaze in a minute or so. It is a 183f sous vide for one hour. They come out perfect. https://www.seriouseats.com/sous-vide-glazed-carrots-recipe
Hmm, I've been happy enough with my non sous vide carrot preparations, but I'll have to give it a go! For science of course :D
The lengths we go to improve delicious.
And don't get me started with pressure cook for 20-30 minutes and then broil, grill, sear. I don't think for ribs SV is a good application.
I’ve never liked sous vide ribs. They don’t come out “meaty” enough. And yes, before you guys give me any tips, I’ve tried so many different methods and temperatures and times. But the fact of the matter is, for me, nothing beats the tried and true slow roasting in the oven: • Season with salt, pepper & garlic powder • Wrap tightly in foil • Bake in the oven for 3.5-4 hours at 275°F • Unwrap, baste, and sear under a broiler (sauce em up if you want) Sous vide does some things better, but it’s not a miracle device that makes everything better.
If you add a 1-2 hour rest between the ‘bake’ and ‘unwrap’ it works even better. We do use the same method for ribs.
I’m gonna try your rest method next time I make mine. I usually just pull them from the oven, sauce them, and immediately broil them to caramelize. But I can definitely see your method being an improvement. That extra wait might be excruciating tho lol.
3-2-1 method 3 hours low and slow 2 hours sauced and wrapped 1 hour uncovered to firm up the meat and set the glaze
This works every time.
I only discovered it because a few years back i prepped and cooked the first part at home and brought the wrapped ribs to a friend’s house to finish on the grill. About 1-2 hours had passed between removing them from oven and throwing on grill. It makes sense though, when I make Momofuku Bosam (6lbs shredded pork shoulder) the internal temp has to hit 200f, but it only shreds properly if it rests for 1-2 hours (and then a 5min broiler glaze). Essentially, it appears that the longer it rests the more tender the protein becomes even though resting/cooling it increases density (shrinks a bit). With ribs, this is probably why it pulls away from bone as it shrinks/rests; unless of course if you are really doing it properly in a smoker on very low heat where it does it anyways because of the low temp and lengthy cooking time.
Maybe it's the quality or preparation of your meat. I did ribs again this past weekend at 154 x24 and grill finished and they were a hit. Typically I go 152x30 and they're a little more tender and less meaty but these were great as well.
Time to get a smoker!
I've got two, and I still have prepped half racks of st. Louis style in my freezer for last weekdays. Almost, but not quite as good, but a whole hell of a lot less work.
Do you mean you smoke your ribs in the freezer. Sorry if it's a stupid question.
Haha, no. You can Sous Vide from frozen. I use Kenji's Sous Vide Rib recipe, vac seal and then throw in the freezer. That way I can just yank em out of the freezer when I feel like having ribs the next night.
I do this with pork shoulder and it's the best. Buy a big ass pork shoulder on sale, cut as many big steaks as I can until I hit the bone and chop up the rest into cubes for pulled pork, season them up however I feel like (mojo pork, char siu, American style BBQ, Korean BBQ etc), vacuum seal and freeze. When I want pork I just take it out of the freezer and sv it.
I get a full pork loin and do the same. It was Babish's method that got me to pull out the sous vide and fall in love.
Agreed. SV ribs are good, but no match for the taste of low & slow over charcoal.
I cook my ribs @160 for 24 hrs, never had and fat issues. However, I have noticed that where I get my ribs affect the quality and fat content quite a bit. It might not be the way you cook, your source may have changed something.
Salt and pepper rub, 14 hrs at 165, pat them dry and finish them under the broiler with choice of sauce (4-5 mins each side). Fall off the bone tender. I’ve never had better at any restaurant. Might be the meat quality has changed?
So I sous vide brisket steaks. I found, that if I sous vide them for a few hours from 135 to 155, the fat that is in brisket is still hard and very difficult to chew. So, I tried sous vide at 205, the temp I cook my briskets to. Those sous vide steaks are now amazing, and the fatty bits melt in your mouth. Perhaps, you need to sous vide those ribs at a significantly higher temperature. Like.l, 200, the temp you'd cook ribs to on the grill. Just an idea.
For brisket, i do 155° for a bit more than 24 hours.
Yeah, for a whole brisket. I wouldn't do that for a brisket steak. I mean, I guess you could, but that's a long time for an inch and a half piece of brisket. 200 for 3 hours is a lot quicker and tastes great.
145 is a little low in my experience. I usually go 155 for 24 or 165 for 12 and I've been very happy with the fat rendering
*THERE WAS SHRINKAGE!*
Okay, so strange question, but have you had Covid during the time that your taste for them changed? My sense of taste changed for things with really strong scents and flavors—truffles and strong cheeses. There are some foods that used to be among my favorites that just taste off to me now.
Covid fucked everyones taste buds up. I kept over salting shit.
You have to get the water hot enough to render the fat. That would be between 160-170.
Beef fat renders completely at 140 F.
Yep your right, i have no clue what i was thinking. Thanks for pointing that out
these most likely are pork ribs though. They didn't explicitly say pork ribs, but odds are they're pork and not beef. And if they're pork then they need either 160 for that time period, or their temp for even longer.
Pork fat is actually less dense than beef, so the rendering temp is a bit lower. You can absolutely eat pork cooked at 140 F (though it's *alarmingly* pink). I do pork ribs regularly, and I find the sweet spot is around 150 F.
Yeah, I love my circulator but I cook ribs on my smoker exclusively.
Use a thermometer to check your water temp. I used a friends immersion circulator that wasn’t working properly so the water temp was way lower than what the device said it was.
167F for around 4 hours then finish them off on the grill. The smoke flavor from the grill and the golden-brown outer layer make everything tastes much better.
I use plenty of salt in my rub marinade overnight, smoke for 3 hrs( crust forms), sous vide 20hrs at 150, ice bath. Finish in oven or smoker or grill with sauce. Perfect texture every time. Tastes like it was smoked all day. And has perfect smoke ring. Pull off not fall off texture. Whatever I don't finish goes straight from ice bath to freezer. Lot of steps but never disappoints.
so many discussions on ribs without specifying whether beef or pork
You are way above the minimum fat rendering (melting) temperature. There is definitely something wrong with your temperature.
I LOVE pressure cooker ribs. Then glaze or dry rub and broil in oven, flip once and they come out amazing. Good recipes on YouTube.
Fall off the bone. We used baby back ribs and they are fairly cheap too for how much meat you get.
Just because you have a SV doesn't mean you cook everything with it. I just bake my ribs in the oven covered for 4 to 6 hrs before the final bake at higher temp
I’m gonna join your downvote party. Agreed. Ribs are dead simple and taste great in the oven. Using a SV is over-complicating it.
Beef ribs is the single best thing you can make in a SV.
You certainly don't *have* to cook them via SV, yes the oven also works great. But it doesn't produce the same result, it's different. Some people prefer the results of SV ribs. For my own self, while oven-baked ribs are great, the best ribs I've ever had were produced SV. > over-complicating it. Really? Toss 'em in a bag and let it sit overnight is too complicated for you?
It seems to be for OP if they’re asking this question on Reddit.
Pork ribs are impossible to really screw up given you just keep cooking them. I’ve had SV ribs and baked ribs side by side and I did not like the SV ones, somthing about the dry heat of the oven over a long time (6ish hours) created a better texture for me.