Go Back Email Link
Sliced sous vide ribs on a white plate beautifully golden brown and caramelized with BBQ sauce

Sous Vide Ribs

Steven Pennington
Looking for the best way to cook ribs? Look no further than sous vide! This cooking method involves sealing your food in a plastic bag and then cooking it in a water bath at a consistent temperature. This results in evenly cooked, succulent food that is full of flavor
Print Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 2 days
Total Time 2 days 10 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine French | American
Servings 4 People
Calories 494 kcal

Suggested Equipment

Ingredients
  

  • 1 Rack Baby Back Ribs 0r Spare Ribs
  • 4 Tablespoons Dry Rub Signup for our newsletter to receive our secret BBQ Dry Rub
  • 3 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
  • 1 Tablespoon Sea Salt

Instructions
 

How To Make Sous Vide Ribs

  • Fill a large temperature-safe water tub 80%.
    Secure the sous vide machine to the temperature-safe tub. (see machine manual)
    Set the temperature to 140 degrees and turn the machine on.
    Tip: The machine is on when the water begins to circulate.
    set the sous vide machine temperature to 140 degrees
  • Rib preparation: Start by rinsing the ribs off under cold water. Pat them dry with a paper towel.
    Inspect the ribs and cut off anything that looks out of place. Fat hanging, etc.
    Check and see if the membrane has been removed.
    The membrane is the silver skin on the underside of the ribs.
  • Removing the rib membrane: use the back of a spoon handle. Position it underneath the membrane right by the edge of a rib. Move/position it underneath the surface of the membrane.
    Then grab a paper towel get a grip on the membrane and pull it back away from the rack of ribs.
  • Season the ribs: season the ribs once you get them in the bag. You'll waste nothing this way. Then close the bag and shake.
    I do not encourage adding liquid smoke to the bags as it is very strong ingredient. You can add a small amount to your bbq sauce.
  • Sealing the ribs: two options.
    1) use a food saver machine and seal and remove the air.
    2) place the ribs in freezer zip lock bags. With the bag open, lower the bags into the water bath making sure zero water enters the bag.
    The air in the bag will leave the bag from the pressure of the water. Once the air is removed, seal the bag.
  • Secure the bag using a clip to the end of the temperature-safe tub. Secure the bags to the opposite end away from the machine.
  • Key step: after 8 hours, lower the temperature to 130 degrees from 140 degrees.
    Cook for an additional 12 hours. Or so, you can easily do 12 hours, 18 hours, 24 hours, 36 hours, 48 hours. No problem.
  • Finishing The Ribs:
    To finish the ribs, place them on a roasting rack. Paint on some of your favorite BBQ sauce and place the ribs under the broiler and give the ribs additional texture.
    The caramelizing of the BBQ sauce is one of the best parts.

Video

Notes

  1. Be sure to remove the rib membrane, or risk having a chewy rib on the meat next to the bone on the bottom half.
  2. If you season the ribs aggressively the ribs will taste over powered and the flavor of pork ribs will be lost. You can always add more season after the sous vide cook. I like adding BBQ sauce and putting the ribs on the smoker for a while to get some smoke flavor.
  3. Putting the ribs under the broiler in the oven with BBQ sauce to get some texture. Keep an eye on the ribs. The sugar in the BBQ sauce wants to caramelize, but will burn very fast. Takes about 5 to 7 minutes. I keep the oven cracked so I can see what's happening. The BBQ sauce will start to bubble and begin to brown. Stop short of over browning and becoming burnt.
Keyword sous vide ribs, Sous Vide Ribs 24 Hours