Sous Vide BBQ Ribs
Cross section of the sliced pork ribs after being blasted in my Gozney oven at 700 degrees.
This recipe is for the boys and girls that don’t have access to a fancy smoker but want to eat BBQ this summer.
At this time, my husband and I have not settled on a grill/smoker. Do we get a fancy pellet combo machine like a Traeger? Or do we just go out school with a Weber charcoal grill. The arguments are heated so I welcome any recommendations from friends and followers. Regardless, I was challenged to create a summer grilling recipe without having access to a grill. I think this recipe can be made even without a sous vide machine so long as you are baking the ribs SUPER low and slow, chill them completely before blasting on high heat in the last few minutes, you should get the same, delicious result. If you’re using an oven, bake at 275 degrees for about two and a half to three hours.
The base recipe I referenced was from Serious Eats. There were a couple of tips that I found incredible helpful:
Do not use a wet marinade on the pork ribs. Stick to dry rubs that contain a decent amount of salt and sugar. This will help penetrate the meat, dissolve muscle proteins, and result in a tender, juicy rib
Use a bit of liquid smoke. Even though it has gone out of fashion, I believe a tiny drop of it makes a huge difference especially when you’re unable to access a real smoker
Thank you to Dartagnan Foods for sending me two racks of Kurobota Heritage Pork Baby Back Ribs, also known as Berkshire Pork. These ribs are exceptionally exceptionally tender, well-marbled, flavorful and a world apart from the average commodity pork. What a difference makes high quality pork makes in BBQ’ing.
Ingredients for BBQ Rub
1/3 dark brown sugar
1/3 cup Hungarian or sweet paprika
3 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon oregano
2 tablespoon Anything Rub, Traeger
2 tablespoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon white pepper
Ingredients for Ribs
2 full racks of ribs, average 2.5 lbs each, Dartagnan Foods Berkshire Pork Baby Back Ribs
3/4 teaspoon liquid smoke
1 cup BBQ sauce of choice
Special Equipment
Sous vide machine or immersion circulator like Anova Nano Sous Vide
Vacuum sealer like Foodsaver
Food safe vaccum sealer bags
Large plastic tub for sous vide
Serves 8
Directions for the BBQ Rub
Remove the papery silver skin from the back of the ribs. Then, breakdown each rack of ribs into more manageable half racks.
Mix all of the ingredients together for the spice rub. Apply generously to all of the ribs.
Directions for the Ribs
Bring a large tub of water to 145 degrees using a sous vide machine or immersion circulator. I use an Anova Nano Sous Vide. You can cook the ribs at this temperature for 36 hours; 165 degrees for 12 hours; or 145 degrees for 12 hours and 165 degrees for four hours.
Place two half racks of ribs into the plastic bags. Vacuum and seal shut. Repeat for the other two half racks of ribs. Submerge both packages into the water bath.
After the cooking, remove the bags from the water bath. Cool the ribs in the fridge for at least an hour. Transfer the cooking liquid from the bags into a small sauce pot. Bring to a boil and reduce by half. After reducing, add the BBQ sauce to the pan. Continue to cook on low heat for ten minutes.
Next, bring an oven to broiling temperature or grill to 500-700 degrees. Liberally brush each rack of ribs with sauce. If you’re cooking above 500 degree, cook for five minutes or until the sauce has caramelized; if you’re cooking in an oven at 500 degrees cook for ten minutes. Turn off the heat of the oven or grill and allow the ribs to sit in the oven to heat through for another five minutes. Transfer to a cutting board and slice into individual ribs. Enjoy with bread & butter pickles!