Success! but with just a tad less rub....

I made a rack of baby back ribs, and they turned out very good, I just feel they could have used a little less rub.
After looking at various recipes, checking out the temps and times, I settled on 150* for 24 hours.
I made a rub, loosly using a recipe for the amounts of spices so I’d have enough to cover the ribs.
I cut the rack in 1/2, and removed the membrane. I then put some grainy dijon mustard on the bone side of the ribs, bad idea, as it wouldn’t spread. So I switched to yellow mustard, that spread much better. I did this to make the rub stick to the ribs. I then coated the ribs with the rub. I mean coated. I should have used a lighter hand with the rub, but they still turned out really good.
Into the 150* water bath they went, using a rack to hold them on their sides.
Over the lid I used foil to help seal the unit, and wrapped a kitchen towel around the circulator to help decrease evaporation.
The cooking started at 4:30pm Wednesday. To be done between 1:30-4:30 Thursday. I let it go the full 24 hours.
When done, I patted the ribs dry, and wiped off the spice rub from the bone side of the ribs, as I was afraid there was too much.
Q sauced the bone side and seared using my Searzall (first time using it!) Flipped, sauced and seared the other side, put some pickled jalapenos on and heated them.
When I sliced the ribs they were, I think, almost what some refer to as the type that is preferred in competetive cooking, tender yet not falling off the bone.
I served them with oven roasted smashed potatoes.
I think I may be getting the hang of this way of cooking! I do know I really like it!
Now, what to cook next…hmmmmm…

…to add…I would have liked a smokey flavor (even though I used smoked paprika and smoked sea salt in the rub, I couldn’t really taste it). I’ve been looking at those indoor smokers that use a hose that can be inserted into a fresh large zip bag with the sous vide cooked food in it. Instead of a buying a cloche.

Nice, I still haven’t mastered ribs yet so I’ll have to try this out. I’m surprised the smoke flavor didn’t come through, maybe some liquid smoke would push that flavor forward? I have a Traeger but the lowest temp is 180 F so I don’t know if it would try it out after the SV. Then again, experimenting is half the fun. :smile:

Oops, meant to say the Traeger might “dry” it out.

I watched a Sous Vide Everything episode where Guga smoked the ribs before he sous vide. They looked like they came out nice and tender. A Traeger is something I’ve been wanting since I saw a commercial. I went to Home Depot to get some painting supplies when I was stopped in my tracks. There on the floor by all the gas grills was a Traeger. I floated over to it and just stared, lol. I looked at the price, and even though I could afford it, it seemed excessive. I don’t have a carport or other covers so I’m afraid of my investment getting ruined. I live in the southeast, and it rains here. A lot.
Back to the ribs. The recipe where I found the temp of 150* he cooked his ribs for 21 hours. The small end of the rack of ribs that I cooked was a tad, just a tad dry. So I think I could have pulled them out of the water an hour or two before I pulled the other (larger) half of the rack out. They were still good.
Good Luck!

I’ve used liquid smoke in the past and it worked amazingly well. 1/2 rack in each freezer bag. I use 4 drops of liquid smoke per bag.

I do need to spend some time sometime soon to experiment myself with smoking and sous vide to produce a more tender result with real smoke. :slight_smile:

You could also try cooking the ribs in 2 bags. Cut off the smaller ribs and cook them separately with any meat flap you trim off. You could try pulling this bag a little earlier than the larger ribs. Also note what kind of pork ribs you are using. Some cuts have more meat than others and the cook time my be impacted.

Jen, what are you thinking?
Heat and moisture are they enemy of solid state electronics. Keep your Anova cool and dry to have a long and happy relationship.

You might want to cover your container during a cook, but not your circulator.

Cosider floating ping pong balls on the surface of your vessel to reduce evaporation but still allow easy access to the contents.

You aren’t adding any flavour to your ribs by searing the bone side and go lightly with the torch on the thin end.

You might be surprised how well a Traeger holds up outside. I live in Alaska and mine has been fine for 3 years now. I don’t even have a cover for it…mostly because I’m too lazy to go out and buy one. Although I’m sure I get more snow than rain compared to you so I don’t know how it would with that but it seems pretty solid. You’re right about the cost though, it’s high up there. I’ve heard good things about Green Mountain grills which but I’ve never seen or used one. Personally I don’t mind spending large amounts of money on cooking products like Wusthof knives or carbon steel pans but I’m kind of a snob. Specifically a snob with no money… :joy:

chatnoir, let me clarify. I wrapped a washcloth sized towel around the bottom of the Anova, where the hole of the cover is.I didn’t cover the whole thing. Sorry for the confusion.

FlashRodgers…champaign tastes with a beer budget, lol. In my opinion, buying the better kitchen stuff pays off in the long run. Buying the cheaper inferior stuff, ya just end up spending the same amount of money by replacing the cheap stuff with more cheap stuff. Could have bought the good stuff in the beginning.
I’ve never heard of Green Mountain grills, I’ll have to check them out,

fischersd, I’ve been looking at thoae portable electric smokers, the types with a hose that is inserted into a zip bag with the cooked food, or a cloche, a dome that covers the food. I saw one on Amazon that is $40.00. with 5 star reviews. From what I understand, the already sous vide cooked food will get smokey flavor in 3-5 minutes!

Check out this indoor BBQ rib recipe from AmazingRibs. Quite a bit of good info here about trying to replicate the flavor of ribs cooked in a smoker. (Many of the ideas mentioned above are listed)

Thanks, tooold, that’s an interesting site! Lots of great info

That’s alright, as long as you appreciate how delicate the electronic bits can be in these appliances that are made for a competitive price.