Pork Spare Ribs #2

Okay. This is it. This is the best plate of ribs I've ever had. It's very similar to my previous recipe but I thought I'd update it a bit.

Start with a package of pork spare ribs, or pork back ribs, pictured here.

Coat the ribs in dry rub. I like to use my homemade dry rub.

Vacuum seal, and refrigerate overnight or for a few days. I like to do this in the morning, or at least before 1 PM.

Heat the sous vide machine to 155°F and cook the ribs for 18 hours. I find it works well to start them cooking at 1 PM so they come out at 9 AM the next morning.

Chill for 30 minutes cold water in the vacuum bag so the meat can reabsorb the juices, then drain the bags. Pat dry.

Some of the best barbecue recipes use low heat and smoke for a very long period of time. This is hard to control, however, and can lead to dry meat if you're not careful. The sous vide takes care of this very well. Not to mention running the Bradley Smoker for 12 hours would use $ 18 in pucks!

Coat in barbecue sauce. I like my homemade barbecue sauce.

Put in the smoker for 1 hour at 150°F to 180°F. I used hickory. The smoker definitely adds a dimension missing when finishing off the ribs in the oven. It dries out the barbecue sauce perfectly and the ribs smell like they've been smoked the whole time!

The ribs are very tender, moist, and met my new metric for well-textured ribs: I did not need to floss my teeth after eating them!

Since I can't possible eat a rack of ribs by myself, I then separate and vacuum seal them into serving size.

The revelation this time was how I reheated them: In the sous vide at 155°F for 45 minutes from frozen to defrost and reheat. Then the magic: 45 seconds in the deep fryer at 360°F. I've known about the technique for a long time but never tried it. Sous vide to deep fryer is life changing. Seriously.

I used my standard frying setup .

2024-02-21

Made these again. This time I got two racks of ribs, frozen, 13.68 lbs. I got a great deal from Pine Ridge Grocery in Bainbridge, NY: @ $1.99/lb. = $27.22!

I separated one rack into 3 packages, vacuum sealed and frozen again (raw).

The other rack, cut in thirds, and coated in dry rub.

And vacuum sealed to be refrigerated for 6 to 24 hours. This batch was only about 6 hours.

The ribs go into the sous vide at 155°F and cook for 18 hours.

Out of the sous vide and chilling in cold water to absorb the juices.

Dried off and ready for sauce.

Sometimes I just my own homemade barbecue sauce but this time I used Stubb's spicy, which I also like and is far less work!

Out of the smoker.

Sliced. Sometimes I leave them in sections instead of slicing each rib.

Saved the little bit left over after portioning for sandwich (2.5 oz. with bones removed).

Vacuum sealed and ready to freeze.

Ready for the freezer.

One serving for dinner.