24-Hour Sous Vide Ribs
Published 3/22/2024
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24 hour sous vide ribs were one of the first ever sous vide recipes we came up with. It’s actually my husband Mark’s recipe and to this day, we make them almost every time we go to our cabin with a large group of people. They are THE best way to get ultra-tender, fall-off-the-bone ribs and everyone we’ve ever cooked these for raves about them.
These bbq ribs are rubbed with a smokey dry rub, cooked in a sous vide water bath for 24 hours, slathered with BBQ sauce, and then grilled to perfection.
Featured Comment
“I don’t think I’ve ever left a comment on a cooking website before but after making these ribs I felt obligated because they were so dang good. Followed the recipe exactly except I broiled it in the oven rather than grilling. The meat fell right off the bone. My very picky partner is already asking when I’m going to make them again. Thanks for posting this recipe!” – John A
Let’s Make The Best Ribs!
It is a treat in our house when it’s rib night. It’s an even bigger treat when we get to eat sous vide ribs. Fall -off-the-bone, flavorful, finger-licking-good pork ribs. I mean the ribs literally fall off the bone when you pick them up!
Now, there is a long debate over the best way to cook baby back ribs. Some people like them smoked, some like them grilled, and some like them baked. We like to eat ribs every way, but the very best way is Sous Vide Ribs…specifically 24-hour sous vide ribs!
24-HOUR Sous Vide Ribs — REALLY?
You are reading this correctly. This recipe is going to teach you how to sous vide your rack of ribs for a full 24 hours. Why 24 hours? Well, cooking your ribs in a perfectly heated water bath for 24 hours is going to ensure a few things:
- Cooked to perfect to medium – no fear, it’s impossible to over or undercook your ribs when you use this method!
- Fall off the bone tenderness – there is nothing worse than a chewy rib and let me tell you, these are so perfect and tender!
For sous vide ribs, it’s all about flavoring the meat, sous vide cook time, and then a final grill or broil to caramelize the bbq sauce. Let’s dig a little deeper!
First – Let’s Gather a Few Kitchen Tools/Essentials
Before we get started with this complex recipe, make sure to gather a few kitchen essentials.
- Sous vide – we have an Anova – the best of the best!
- Sous vide container/cooler (what we use) – you need to make sure you have something large enough to fully submerge an entire rack of ribs in water.
- Food saver – we recommend investing in a food saver if you plan on regularly using your sous vide.
- Food saver bags – make sure to find bags long enough to fit an entire rack of ribs.
How to Make Sous Vide Ribs
Step 1: Prep Ribs and Remove the Membrane
First things first, it’s time to prep your pork ribs! Take your rack of ribs out of the packaging and place it on a cutting board or baking sheet. Use a knife to remove the white membrane on the backside of the ribs.
Removing the membrane will make it easier to eat in the long run and it should peel up quite nicely once you get a hold of it. A quick tip- you can often times ask your butcher to remove the membrane for you, which would save you some time.
Step 2: Season ribs with Rib Rub
Next, it’s time to make a delicious spice rub. We used our favorite dry rub for pork because it is the perfect balance between savory and sweet, but if you like things even smokier, I suggest adding in some paprika!
Why dry rub your ribs before cooking sous vide?
- Using a spice rub adds so much flavor to your meat.
- The salt and sugar in our dry rub for pork will help to tenderize the meat during the sous vide process.
For this sous vide pork ribs recipe, we added spices before cooking sous vide and then AGAIN right before we grill them, so be sure to save 1/4 cup of your dry rub for the end of the recipe!
here’s a tip
To get the most bang for your buck with this dry rub, be sure to cover the whole rack of ribs (front and back) and massage the dry rub in with your hands!
Step 3: Package and Seal Ribs
After the ribs have been rubbed down with dry rub, it’s time to seal the ribs in an airtight bag before placing them into a water bath for 24-hours.
Because the ribs will be submerged in water, we can’t stress enough how important it is to make sure that nothing can get in or out of the bag you seal the ribs in. We used a Food Saver bag and Food Savor Machine.
If you don’t have a Food Saver, no worries! Ziplocs work just fine. Place the ribs into the bag and remove as much air from the bag as possible and then seal.
A large Stasher bag is also a great option for your sous vide. You make have to cut your rack of ribs into three to make them fit.
here’s a tip
Feel free to double bag your ribs if you’re nervous! It’s always better to be safe than sorry.
Step 3: Heat Water Bath + Cook Time
Now that the ribs are wrapped up nice and tight, it’s time to throw them into the sous vide water bath! We have found that the perfect temperature for our sous vide ribs is 152ºF. Ribs can be safely eaten once they’ve reached an internal temperature of 145ºF, but we like to increase the temp to break down the meat and to really tenderize it.
All you have to do is submerge the ribs in the water bath and set the timer to 24 hours and let them cook!
A Few Tips while your ribs cook
- Tin Foil –> Cover your pot with tin foil to prevent the water from evaporating. Trust me, it works!
- Check Water –> Check on your ribs ever 6-12 hours to be sure that water hasn’t evaporated. If it has, just pour enough hot water back into the pot to make sure the ribs stay underwater for the whole 24 hours.
- Clips –> Bag clips or clothespins make for an amazing tool for helping your bag of meat stay submerged. Clip them right to the side of the pot.
Step 4: Grill + Sauce
You’re nearly done! After 24 hours of sous vide cooking all you have left is crisping up the outside of your delicious ribs.
Preheat your grill to 450ºF. You want it to get super hot so you can get a quick sear on your ribs!
Carefully remove the ribs from the water bath and blot them with a paper towel to remove moisture from the ribs. We do this so that we can really crispy up the outside of the ribs!
From there add the rest of the dry rub to the ribs and paint on your bbq sauce.
Place the ribs on the grill and sear them on each side for about 5 minutes or until they begin to char.
Remember: at this point, you can safely eat your ribs as they’ve been cooked over the USDA approved temperature. This step is really to provide texture and to help caramelize the bbq sauce.
BBQ Sauce Recommendations
- Sweet Baby Rays
- Stubbs
- Wee Willy’s
Answers to your Questions
How long do I have to sous vide ribs? To get tender, juicy ribs, we suggest cooking your ribs in the sous vide for a full 24 hours.
Best temperature for sous vide ribs? The best temperature to sous vide ribs at is 152ºF. According to the USDA, ribs can safely be eaten with an internal temperature of 145ºF.
How to prevent your sous vide water bath from evaporating: The easiest way to prevent your water bath from evaporating is to cover the pot.
We suggest using tin foil because it’s cheap and easy. Don’t have tin foil? Use ping pong balls! This may sound silly, but we’ve done it and it works. Cover the top of the water bath with ping pong balls and the water won’t evaporate as fast.
24 Hour Sous Vide Ribs
Ingredients
- 1 rack of baby back pork ribs, St. Louis-style works too
- 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
- 3/4 cup pork dry rub*, divided
- 1/2 cup BBQ sauce, or more, to taste
Instructions
- First, fill a large pot or container with water (something large enough to submerge your ribs). We've actually found that a cooler works best because we typically cook multiple racks of ribs at once. Preheat your sous vide water bath to 152ºF by attaching your sous vide to the side of the pot.
- Next, prepare the pork dry rub by combining all of the spices together in a medium bowl and set aside.
- Then, remove rack of ribs from the package and place it onto a large baking sheet. Use a sharp knife to cut the rack in half. Then, flip the ribs over and remove the white membrane by peeling it back. Discard membrane.
- Generously season ribs with your dry rub. Use about 1/2 cup of dry rub at this point and save the rest for later. Use your hands to massage the rub into the front and back of the ribs.
- Transfer each half rack of ribs into 2 separate food saver bags and remove as much air as possible and seal. Submerge bags into the sous vide water bath and use 2 clips to attach them to the side of the pot. Cover pot with a piece of tin foil, leaving a hole for the sous vide to stick out. The reason we do this is to prevent evaporation overnight.
- Set timer for 24-hours. Make sure to check water level every so often to make sure that the water does not evaporate. If it does, just add more.
- Once the 24-hours is up, remove bags from water bath and then cut them open with a pair of scissors. Discard the juices and remove the ribs. Place ribs on top of paper towel and use an additional paper towel to blot any moisture out of them.
- Use around 1/4 cup more of dry rub to season the front and back of the ribs. Then, use a brush to apply a layer of your favorite BBQ sauce. You can use as much or as little BBQ sauce as you’d like.
- Preheat grill to 450ºF. Then, rub grill grates with olive oil or spray with nonstick cooking spray. Grill both sides of the ribs for 5-6 minutes or until you get a charred edge.
- Let ribs rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.
Tips & Notes
- If your ribs are cool when you start the grilling process, we suggest turning your grill to about 350ºF and heating your rack for 10 mintues before adding the sauce and turning the heat up to 450ºF.
- We’ve made this recipe with both baby back pork ribs and St. Louis-style pork ribs.
- Tin Foil –> Cover your pot with tin foil to prevent the water from evaporating. Trust me, it works!
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- Check Water –> Check on your ribs every 6-12 hours to be sure that water hasn’t evaporated. If it has, just pour enough hot water back into the pot to make sure the ribs stay underwater for the whole 24 hours.
Watch It
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Guide to Sous Vide Cooking
Want to learn more about sous vide cooking? Check out our Guide to Sous Vide where we’re sharing everything we know about precision cooking!
Hi, thinking about giving these a try but don’t have access to a grill. Would putting them under the broiler for a few minutes on each side be sufficient?
Although the recipe for this dish is quite complicated, I believe I will cook it successfully.
I like to smoke my ribs. I’ve tried them in the oven and crockpot, but they never came out as good as the ribs I smoke on my grill—until now! I tried this method using my normal dry rub. After 24 hours in the circulator, I added a sweet and spicy barbecue sauce (I never use sauce when I smoke them) and grilled them for 10 minutes on each side, and they were incredible. They were tender and so flavorful; I can’t wait to make them again!