BBQ-Short-Ribs Sous-vide
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OP 4/2012- Every 2 months or so, I make a special trip down to my favorite butcher shop in Yelm WA called Stewart's Meat Market. This trip is special because I usually order some type of meat. This last trip was extra special because I special ordered Veal Plate, aka Veal Belly (22 lbs worth). They were nice enough to accept my special order. This is not something they usually carry. In a future blog, I will describe how I will transform the belly into Bacon. Sorry I got sidetracked this blog is about BBQ-Short-Ribs.
BBQ-Short-Rib is one of my favorite ribs to eat and prepare!! I would generally cook these babies Low and Slow on my Weber Smokey Mountain at 225f degree temp until fork-tender, but I wanted to make these ribs using the Sous-Vide cooking method. One of the obstacles you run into when you cook Ribs the traditional way is being able to tenderize them without overcooking. To make Short-Ribs tender and break down (or dissolve) that connective tissue, you need to cook them low and slow and bring internal temp up to 180-190, which makes them way beyond Med-Rare. Sous-Vide will allow me to cook them Med-Rare and still render them succulent and tender.
Here is an excellent article on it by Amazing Ribs. Since I like my meat on the rare side and I, of course, want them to be tender, I usually have to compromise on the pink. Theoretically, cooking them Sous-Vide, which is a very low cooking temp will help dissolve all the connective tissue and keep the ribs nice and pink.
OK, so how do I pull this off? I searched the web for advice and came away with a plethora of recipes and techniques. Temps ranged from 131-166 and a slew of cooking times. Some suggested BBQ, the Ribs, first than Sous-Vide than back on the grill for a fast sear.
I decided to do it my way!!!!! I used a dry Rub before Vacuuming. I will cook them in a water bath at 131f degrees (55c) for 48 hours, submerge in ice-bath to cool off than refrigerate overnight. The Following day I will reapply rub, maybe add some BBQ sauce and smoke them for about 2.5 hours at a temp of 200-225 degrees. Putting the Ribs on cold will keep the overall temp way down, and they should be succulent, caramelized, and remain pink.
Vacuumed sealed and untrimmed.
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| All trimmed up and ready to go |
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| 131 degrees set 48 hours |
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| In the water bath |
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| After a 48-hour water bath |
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| BBQ Rubbed & BBQ Sauce |
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| WSM 22.5 at 225f degrees 2.5 hours. |
- Note: Ribs were refrigerated 24 hours after a 48-hour water bath. Refrigerated meat does two things.
- Temp of meat will not rise much after 2.5-hour smoke
- Cold and wet meat will take on more smoke
Final thoughts:
- They were ok and not fabulous.
- Collagen did not break down enough.
- Cooking at 131 degrees for 48 hours was great but will try 60 hours next time or 149f for 48.
- Some people suggested BBQ first than Sous-Vide, but they're wrong.
- An advantage to Sous-Vide was I was able to have Medium Rare Ribs. The traditional way of cooking them would have required an internal temp of 185-190 to break down all connective tissue.
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