Sous Vide Ribs 48 Hours – Competition Level Quality

Welcome to our latest sous vide ribs experiment, cooking ribs low and slow in a temperature-controlled water bath for 48 hours. #sousvide… Complete Setup-By-Step guide follows.

Cooking meats low temperature and over long periods of time, that usually means one thing, smoking meat BBQ style with a smoker. 

Jump to:

• Why It Works
• 🍽 What Is Sous Vide?
• 💭 Rib Tips
• 🔪 Removing Rib Membrane
• 🥘 Types Of Pork
• 📋 Sous Vide Ribs Recipe

Why It Works

Short answers: you cannot fail or mess up these ribs. Talk about easy planning for an upcoming party. Think of the rib recipe and technique as “Set It And Forget It“. #easyribs

The Sous Vide Effect –

– Have you ever been out to dinner and ordered something that blew your mind? Possibly thought to yourself, how in the world did they cook that piece of meat so perfectly?

• The Answer:  -Odds are, it was cooked using the Sous Vide method

🍽 What Is Sous Vide?

Sous vide (/suːˈviːd/; French for ‘under vacuum’), also known as low temperature long time (LTLT) cooking, is a method of cooking in which food is placed in a plastic pouch or a glass jar and cooked in a water bath for longer than usual cooking times (usually 1 to 7 hours, up to 72 or more hours in some cases) at a precisely regulated temperature.

The temperature is much lower than usually used for cooking, typically around 55 to 60 °C (130 to 140 °F) for red meat, 66 to 71 °C (150 to 160 °F) for poultry, and higher for vegetables. The intent is to cook the item evenly, ensuring that the inside is properly cooked without overcooking the outside, and to retain moisture.

💭 Rib Tips

When shopping for your ribs, you honestly can use any kind of ribs you like, even beef ribs work great. I suggest shopping with your local butcher shop, such a great way to support your community and find some prize cuts of pork.

To start, rinse the ribs under cold water. Please always rinsing your ribs off under cold water before preparing them.

🔪 Removing Rib Membrane

When cooking ribs, you want to remove the membrane from the back of the ribs. I like using the end of a spoon to work your way underneath the membrane. Once you get a piece exposed, use a paper towel for gripping and pull the membrane right off.

📹 Here is a video link to the starting point where I demonstrate how to remove the membrane. Starting Time: 1:33  – Click To Watch

Purchase the meatiest ribs with the thickest sides – No one wants a skinny Rib

Inspect the ribs next. Cut off anything that looks out of place. Usually there’s a piece or two on the underside that could be cut off.

The Sous Vide Bag -Two Options:

1.  Use a food saver machine to seal and remove the air.
2. Use normal Ziploc bags. Key reason: they’re cheaper and they work. No machines to remove the air needed.

Proceed by cutting the ribs in half. I like cutting them on the backside/rib side. It’s easier to see what you’re cutting into. #safer

Place the ribs in a large Ziploc bag or use a food saver machine and seal them removing the air.

Season the ribs with your favorite dry rub – I like the 2 Gringo’s Chupacabra Dry Rub – Also like adding a little bit of soy sauce as well.

If you signup for our newsletter you will get our secret BBQ Dry Rub recipe. Signup link at top of page

Set the sous vide machine temperature to 140 degrees to begin

Removing The Air From The Ziploc Bag

The Ziploc bag has the ribs located at the bottom of the bag. Holding the bag, lower it into the water making sure to keep the opening at the top away from the water. As the bag submerges the air is pushed out. Once the air is out, seal the bag. 

You can watch the process here: Short video – Click To Watch

Secure the bags to the opposite side from the sous vide machine. This ensure the bag will not come in contact with the sous vide machine motor/heating element. The bags could break open, filling with water.

Sous vide the ribs for 8 hours, then turn the temperature down to 130 degrees until 48 hours has lapsed. You can cook the ribs for 12 hours, 24 hours, 36 hours, 48 hours. They all work well. The longer cooking time equals a more tender rib.

🥘 Types Of Pork

When it comes to purchasing Pork here’s what the USDA has to say about it:

Pork is not graded with USDA quality grades as it is generally produced from young animals that have been bred and fed to produce more uniformly tender meat. Appearance is an important guide in buying fresh pork. Look for cuts with a relatively small amount of fat over the outside and with meat that is firm and grayish pink in color. For best flavor and tenderness, meat should have a small amount of marbling.

Common Breeds of Pork :

1. The American Yorkshire, a breed of the domestic pig, is the American version of the English Yorkshire. The American Yorkshire has smaller and more-floppy ears when compared to the English Yorkshire’s large, erect ears. American Yorkshires are the most recorded swine breed farmed for its meat in the United States. The breed was developed in Yorkshire, England, circa 1761. In 1830, the first Yorkshires were imported to the United States, specifically to Ohio, but because of their slow growth rate, they did not become popular until the late 1940s. At that time, many large pigs were imported from Canada and England for their ruggedness and favored carcasses. The breed then improved rapidly through selection. Today, the American Yorkshire pig is found in nearly every American state, with the highest populations in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, and Ohio. The modern Yorkshire is muscular with a high proportion of lean meat. The American Yorkshire data has been maintained with great diligence, including growth, sow productivity, and backfat formation, representing the largest source of documented livestock performance records in the world. The American Yorkshire can grow as big as 6.5 feet in length, but rarely longer.
2. Berkshire pigs are a breed of pig originating from the English county of Berkshire that is bred and raised in several parts of the world, including England, Japan, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. The Berkshire pig is not all black, but has white, including white socks from the “knee” down and typically a white blaze on its snout. Berkshire pigs are an average to large breed, with an average weight at maturity of 600 lb (270 kg). They are a short-legged breed. They have prick ears and a relatively short snout with an upturned nose.
3. The Chester White is a breed of domestic pig that originated in Chester County, Pennsylvania. It was formerly known as the Chester County White. The Chester White was first developed around 1815–1818, using strains of large, white pigs common to the Northeast U.S. and a white boar imported from John Russell Duke of Bedford, Bedfordshire county, England, referred to as the Woburn breed, brought by Captain Jefferies of Liverpool, England. In 1848, two breeders at a county fair, one from Delaware County and the other from Chester County, showed their two breeds. The judge decided to use the name, Chester County White. “County” was dropped and the breed became known as Chester White. By 1884, a breed association was officially formed, but competing organizations, sometimes for individual strains, continued to appear into the early 20th century.
4. The Tamworth, also known as Sandy Back and Tam, is a breed of domestic pig originating in its namesake Tamworth, Staffordshire United Kingdom, with input from Irish pigs. It is among the oldest of pig breeds, but as with many older breeds of livestock, it is not well suited to modern production methods and is listed as “Threatened” in the United States and “Vulnerable” in the UK by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust, as fewer than 300 registered breeding females remain. This animal is of ginger to red coloration and is thought to have descended from wild boars, via native pig stock of Europe. Principal populations today are in the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States, New Zealand, and Canada.