Seriously. All my friends who have smokers have publicly stated that my sous vide ribs are way better. I do a bunch of them at once and then throw them in the freezer for whenever I feel like it.
I actually use the recipe that came with the Anova app and it’s great.
Don’t forget to add liquid smoke to the bag. 🙂
by TheDangerist
22 Comments
Can you please share the recipe?
Kroger accidentally delivered a rack of ribs with our last order and I was about to start looking up recipes. Pumped to give them a try.
What temp and gow long in the bath? Thanks
I agree – pork in general really transforms in the sous vide.
I like cooking pork to eat bbq-style ribs, or I’ll also take all the meat off the bones (and remove cartilage) for the best pork tacos. Enjoy!
I sous vide once a week, usually. I use a dutch oven.
Sometimes I get an air bubble in the bag and it will float one side up a little. When this happens I usually use a coffee mug to hold it down.
Using your enclosed cooler how do you guarantee that the meat is underwater the whole time?
Or am I over thinking it and it’s okay if then meat floats up a little?
Looks great. Thanks
Smoke them for an hour, skip the liquid smoke, then into the bath.
I did a batch this way and repeat whenever time allows.
I’ve done both, smoker definitely beats the sous vide on its own when executed right.
Your friends just didn’t smoke them right. I’ve done it both ways and a sous vide is definitely going to be easier to achieve a consistent amazing rib, but smoking let’s you add more love to it and what has more love is usually better. Smoking definitely is trickier though.
Guess your friends suck at smoking.
This is sacrilege. Look into the 3/2/1 technique
Kenji’s classic recipe and article updated in February: [https://www.seriouseats.com/sous-vide-pork-ribs-recipe-food-lab](https://www.seriouseats.com/sous-vide-pork-ribs-recipe-food-lab)
I made them a few months ago. Absolutely delicious but they were almost too rich? Similar to eating confit pork belly. Still enjoyed them.
I was looking forward to seeing a picture of the finished product.
Liquid smoke is a big no no, no matter how you use it. All you’re doing is the same thing just using a different method. I’m glad they are tasty, but bbq it is not.
You could smoke them to 140, then sous vide and have a much better product. Then you’ll have the flavors you’re shooting for and that’ll pass as smoked meat.
I question the judgment of your friends.
I’m sorry. I’m an avid proponent of sous-vide, but I’m also a backyard smoker. There is no way sous-vide ribs are better than a *properly* smoked rack of ribs!
When I smoke, I do extra racks, but then vacuum seal and freeze them for later. They get heated up in sous-vide. But you will never catch me saying sous-vide ribs are better than smoked ribs, because that would just be a lie.
Im more jealous of your party stacker.
Ribs end up tasting like roast to me when I did it this way. It was fine but more like bbq potroast.
Kansas City joins the chat and guarantees that you and your friends have never had good ribs.
I prefer old school but that’s if somebody else is smoking them. My wife and son think the sous vide pork ribs are the best they’ve ever had. I use a generous coat of Hard Core Carnivore Black Beef rub, add a little liquid smoke. 165 for 24 – 72 hours. Then they come out, get patted dry, coated with Lillie Q smoky bbq sauce, then popped under the broiler.
I think spare ribs are the best, or St. Louis, but back ribs are good too.
165 for 24+ hours is the key. They’re beautifully tender, almost buttery without falling apart like so many ribs are served now — like when people show how they’re so mushy you can slip the bone right out.
They are fantastic even before you consider how little work goes into them. When ribs are on sale I’ll buy extra and take them out of the sous vide bath and freeze them right in the bag. They’re quick to reheat and they’re about as good as the ones that were never frozen.
I’ve cooked for pretty much my whole adult life (40 years in the restaurant business). Owner operator much of it. I am a fan of classic, traditional, nostalgic, tried and true and cooking just a certain way because that’s what I like to do. However, industry innovation and techniques are always evolving. I would say I’ve used sous vide cooking for about 15 -20 years and definitely think the product comes out better than most traditional methods. Ribs included, in reality almost anything dealing with pork, sous vide seems to do a better job. I do feel like searing or smoking proteins after sous vide cooking is necessary and in most cases becomes indistinguishable from traditional methods. The big advantage with sous vide, especially with pork ribs and most other proteins is they will be juicier than just smoking the meat. Taste texture and what people enjoy is all that matters, the end result! How you get there is not really as important. It’s all about what you and the folks eating like.
I’ve done both and feel they taste better done in the smoker.
I did 3 racks of ribs on the smoker, ate 1 and the other 2 were vacuum sealed and frozen. The frozen ones were reheated sous vide, I think i did 165 for an hour, then put in the broiler with BBQ sauce. They were great.