# St. Louis sous vide



## hillbillyrkstr (May 9, 2017)

Had a few slabs of spare ribs that I St. Louis'd, and seasoned early Saturday. Was gonna let them sit in the fridge until early Sunday coated in rub then at the last minute I decided to sous vide one slab of them. I haven't seen this done by anyone I know so it was off to the internet for info.

The info I found online had a few times and temps. 145 for 36 hours, and 165 for 12 hours. I had 24ish hours so I chose a temp right in the middle (155). Now I had no idea if this was gonna work or not. Could be good, could be bad. But 24 @ 155 was the best educated guess I had.













IMG_8253.JPG



__ hillbillyrkstr
__ May 9, 2017





Slab of St. Louis sealed and ready for the hot tub.

I just used a commercial pork rub that I use when I'm out of my homemade rub. You can use whatever you like on your ribs. 

So rubbed ribs vacusealed and into the sous vide at 155. I didn't have time to let the ribs sit in the rub in the fridge since this was a last minute idea. 













IMG_8299.JPG



__ hillbillyrkstr
__ May 9, 2017





Cooler bath.

I only checked the cooler once about 18 hours in. Was just curious if I needed to add more water. I didn't. The cooler keeps the water level pretty good. 

I also seasoned and vacusealed the parts of the spare ribs I cut off when making them St. Louis style. Figured I'd add them to beans at a later date. 

I turned the sous vide down to 130 degrees after 24 hours because my other slab of ribs was on the smoker still. They still needed about 3 hours until I unfoiled them for the last step in the  3-2-1 method.













IMG_8286.JPG



__ hillbillyrkstr
__ May 9, 2017





Ribs out of the hot tube after 27 hours. 

So for the last hour of the 3-2-1 method I took the sous vide ribs and added them to the smoker with the other slab. 













IMG_8298.JPG



__ hillbillyrkstr
__ May 9, 2017





Both slabs finished and cut up. 

The sous vide, and then smoked ribs came out great! Super moist and meaty. Not as much smoke on them as the 3-2-1 ribs but that's to be expected. They still had good smoke flavor. 

The texture of the sous vide ribs was great! And they cleaned off the bone nicely when eating.













IMG_8307.JPG



__ hillbillyrkstr
__ May 9, 2017





Clean bones! 














IMG_8304.JPG



__ hillbillyrkstr
__ May 9, 2017





Here's the rest of the meat that I trimmed off one of the spares and cooked in the bath. I let the bag cool down and froze it just like that for later use. 

Well it's not as good as bears step by step but hopefully it helps someone that's looking to try sous vide cooking spare ribs. 

I might try adding a few hours on my next attempt just to see how it changes the texture. 

Thanks for looking.


----------



## gnatboy911 (May 9, 2017)

Looks great!  Thank you for the write up!  I wonder how it would change if you did smoke first, then sous vide, then maybe back on the hot grill to crisp up the outside....just thoughts.   My mind is always trying to find ways to use the sous vide to make tasty meals.  Points for sure!


----------



## Bearcarver (May 9, 2017)

Nice Job, Hillbilly!!
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






---
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





And an Awesome Thread !!
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





You figured your plan of attack exactly like I do---Take an average of the ones you find on the Web.

Bet they were Mighty Tasty!!
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Bear


----------



## shyzabrau (May 9, 2017)

gnatboy911 said:


> I wonder how it would change if you did smoke first, then sous vide, then maybe back on the hot grill to crisp up the outside....just thoughts.



I think that is probably the best way to go. Either the grill or the broiler for the finish.


----------



## gnatboy911 (May 9, 2017)

I did that method with a pork butt and got some pretty decent smoke on it.  Smoker till IT hit 150ish, then into the SV I think at 155 or 160 (should have written it down!) for 24 hrs.  It was very delicious.  Just didn't finish on the grill or anything with that one.  Just pulled it and ate it.


----------



## hillbillyrkstr (May 9, 2017)

Thanks everyone. 

Gnat normally I would have smoked first then into the sous vide but I knew I'd be smoking the other ribs the next day. The last minute decision to use the sous vide kinda threw a wrinkle into my plans.

I'd still do it this way again but I'd like to try smoking it first as well.


----------



## gnatboy911 (May 9, 2017)

Good deal, I understand that one!  Glad it was tasty.


----------



## SmokinAl (May 9, 2017)

The ribs look fantastic!

But I just can't bring myself to SV ribs.

There is just something about hanging around the smoker & smoking ribs that would be lost in the SV process.

I'm sure I will give it a try someday, but I would think that 2-3 hours of smoke & then finish them in the SV would be the way to go.

Then a little sauce & a couple of minutes on a screaming hot grill to caramelize the sauce.

I still had to give you a point!

Al


----------



## goliath (May 9, 2017)

there are some VERY GOOD pages on FB to help out with the Sous Vide recipes and techniques, i have been adventuring that way for awhile now. my best results have been smoke 1st, then sous vide BUT we all have personal preferences.

GOOD LUCK

Goliath


----------



## Bearcarver (May 9, 2017)

GOLIATH said:


> there are some VERY GOOD pages on FB to help out with the Sous Vide recipes and techniques, i have been adventuring that way for awhile now. my best results have been smoke 1st, then sous vide BUT we all have personal preferences.
> 
> GOOD LUCK
> 
> Goliath


As of 3 hours ago, I'm set up !!

YouTube has all the Cooking & Smoking & SV. 

I don't do FaceBook, but I used to be able to watch YouTube on my Direct TV.

Then about a year or so ago, DirectTV had some kind of Fight with YouTube, and they quit having YouTube available!!

But 3 hours ago, Bear Jr hooked me up with Amazon Fire Stick.

Now I'm back to watching YouTube on the Big Plasma TV.

This is so Cool !!

Bear


----------

