# Reheating smoked rib temps in SV



## old golfer guy (May 21, 2019)

I have smoked BB ribs in the freezer. After defrosting at what temp and for how long would you SV? I have done this at 120 buy thought maybe 140 to 160 might be OK.
Any thoughts?
Thanks


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## Jonok (May 21, 2019)

If they’re already cooked, I don’t see why you shouldn’t just crank it up to 200 or so.
They were probably at that temp when you pulled them, and if you’re just reheating and not holding, I don’t see any problem.

I am awaiting, with some trepidation, the further responses from people who SV more than I do


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## oldsmokerdude (May 21, 2019)

I would personally reheat at 140 for an hour or so if already thawed. You can go longer on the time, up to a couple hours without damage. That said, there is no reason you have to defrost first, just toss the frozen ribbies in the SV and add another hour or so.


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## Bearcarver (May 21, 2019)

It should depend on what you cooked them to before.
If I cooked a Steak to 140°, I will reheat it to 140° or less, because if I go higher, it will cook it more than it was before.

I never reheated Ribs, but if I already cooked them to 195°, I would say it would be OK to reheat in the SV to 195°, but I wouldn't need it that hot to eat it, and I don't want to cook it again, so I would just heat it to a Temp that I'm comfortable eating---140°, 160°----You call it. Anything lower than 195° shouldn't hurt it a bit.

As for time---Depends on how thick it is: One hour should be enough for a 3/4" thick steak.
Maybe 1.5 hours for a 2" Steak or chop.

You can experiment with how long you want.


Bear


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## Jonok (May 21, 2019)

I often reheat pulled pork or sliced brisket from frozen in the vacpac in a crockpot half full of simmering water.  It seems like 45 min or so is usually enough to thaw out and warm to serving temp a 2# bag, but YMMV.


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## bregent (May 21, 2019)

Even though the ribs were probably cooked to a temp near 200, heating again to a high temp will cook them more, possibly changing the texture and driving out more moisture. I did a test a few years ago, reheating one bag of pulled pork at 200F on the stove, and another at 160F in a Sous vide bath. There was considerable more liquid in the bag that was reheated at 200F. 
As Bear suggests, there is no point heating it any hotter than you'll be eating them at. SV transfers heat so effectively, even running at 140F will heat them up fast. The other issue is the plastic - although it's food safe, in my opinion the higher the temp the more likely something will leach out of it.


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## Jonok (May 21, 2019)

From the company website:

FoodSaver® Bags and FoodSaver® rolls are simmer safe for sous vide cooking.Simmering is a food preparation technique in which foods are cooked in hot liquids kept just below the boiling point of water (which is 100 °C or 212 °F.

An article from somebody who is very concerned about safety of plastic bags:

https://nomnompaleo.com/post/12463202060/cooking-sous-vide-plastic-safety


An article about “the best way” to reheat frozen cryovac barbecue:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.texasmonthly.com/bbq/the-best-method-for-reheating-barbecue/amp/

I knew everybody would have strong opinions, that’s why I like you guys.


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## dr k (May 21, 2019)

Jonok said:


> From the company website:
> 
> FoodSaver® Bags and FoodSaver® rolls are simmer safe for sous vide cooking.Simmering is a food preparation technique in which foods are cooked in hot liquids kept just below the boiling point of water (which is 100 °C or 212 °F.
> 
> ...


vacuumsealersunlimited.com one of our SMF sponsors has bags and rolls at a fraction of foodsavers $ and thicker more durable. I just picked up two 11"×50' jumbo ultra rolls for $36 to make my own custom bags and I have been using them since 2014. Lisa makes their own product now which dropped pricing from 2014 and they have discount codes you can ask her for before buying. There's a 15% sm519 this month and this is a quote from her site:
We only use USDA approved materials in all of our bags and rolls.  Everything we sell is BPA and pthalate free.  

Save some money and check out the site.


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## chopsaw (May 21, 2019)

Some of the guys have you covered , just FYI , I did 180 and it was to hot . I now use 140 for PP and ribs reheat .


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## Jonok (May 21, 2019)

The upshot from the gal that wrote the article about cooking in plastic is that, even though many plastics are considered safe, some of them leach estrogen-like compounds at temp, but the Foodsaver bags were made without any plasticisers and did not. I don't know what the VSU bags are made of.  If it's the same stuff, that's awesome!


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## dr k (May 22, 2019)

Jonok said:


> The upshot from the gal that wrote the article about cooking in plastic is that, even though many plastics are considered safe, some of them leach estrogen-like compounds at temp, but the Foodsaver bags were made without any plasticisers and did not. I don't know what the VSU bags are made of.  If it's the same stuff, that's awesome!


was able to confirm, for example, that Jarden’s FoodSaver bags are made from polyethylene glycol and nylon, and don’t contain BPA, phthalates, or other plasticizers with EA-leaching additives. VSU mentioned BPA and Pthalate free and I found:
made from a rugged poly/nylon. 
The next step is to call or email them if you need more info. Their ph # and email is plastered all over every page asking people to contact them for further info.


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## Jonok (May 22, 2019)

Thanks!
I’ll definitely do that because the food savers are spendy.


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## old golfer guy (May 22, 2019)

You folks are the greatest! I'm going to try 160 for about an hr this time.
Will look into the bags also.
Thanks


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## Bearcarver (May 22, 2019)

old golfer guy said:


> You folks are the greatest! I'm going to try 160 for about an hr this time.
> Will look into the bags also.
> Thanks




Yup---160° would be my recommendation for something that had been cooked to high temps, like 190° to 205°.
I would not do 140° for them, because when I SV some meats to 131° or 140°, it gets cold even before I get it sliced.

Other things that were cooked to 140° to 160° should be SV'd to just a couple degrees less than the original cook.

Bear


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