Sous Vide Beef Short Ribs

After reading other’s reviews I decided to do the 72 hour, but at 138f. I thought the ribs were great, wife did not. The fat had barely rendered which I don’t mind (think medium cooked rib-eye steak) she likes melted fat. Next time I’ll try 142f-144f for 72. The overall recipe tastes really good but have to agree w/others temp is too low even for 3 day cook.

SOMETIMES, if the beef was not hung 10 days before it was cut & wrapped, it will be tougher. If you shop at a market, you will not know how long that beef was hung in the cooler. Short hangs are tough. I raise my own cow, had a butcher short hang my beef once, and he lost my business for that very reason. My new butcher is pleased to do a 14 day hang for me, and that makes all the beef tender. Grass fed beef is also known to be TOUGH, but it is also LEANER than grain fed cows. The longer hang in the cooler is the only tenderizer that adjusts that. Hope this helps some of you, facing off with tough results. Sometimes, you just got to know where it came from!

Did the 72 hr method. Followed to a T. Won’t do it again. Meat tastes great but was tough than expected, will return to other methods

Did the 130/72, and it was everything good that short ribs can be, i.e. tender, juicy, and solo tasty. Next week I’m going to try 140/24 and search on a grill for a pool party.

Did the 24 hr version. Absolutely awesome – among the best beef I’ve eaten. The recipe is a keeper!

130 F is too low for the 72 hours. Modernistcuisine says 72 hours at 144 or at lowest down to 136. But 130 is too low.

I’m a sous vide newbie, but the 72 hour bath didn’t produce the results I expected. My ribs were flavorful and very juicy but *so* chewy; like chew, chew, chew and then just bite the bullet and swallow. Would definitely try again, but maybe at the higher temps / shorter time. Thank you for the recipe!!

I am preparing these ribs for a wedding reception for 50 people. Do you have any advise on how to do so many ribs at one time? I really appreciate anything you can help me with. They want the rib served with a Merlot sauce.

So I found this website on a search for a Sous Vide short rib recipe. Noticed the high rating and thought I would give it a try. Used boneless short ribs. Chose the 72 hour variety. Followed recipe religiously. Meat was tasty enough but definitely not tender. Big disappointment. The juice came out looking very unpalatable as in chunky with an unpleasant texture. Followed recipe correctly for that. Some of the meat seemed overcooked and dry. Did about 72 hours at 129 F. Could have been bad quality meat but no way to know.

OMG! This was amazing! I was on a time crunch, and could only cook the ribs for about 23 hours. So I cooked them at 165, as recommended, in a vacuum-machine sealed bag. After 23 hours, I took them out and patted them dry. I then passed the juices in the bag through a colander (as recommended) to get the chunks out, then reduced the juices until a thick consistency. This took about 30-40 minutes (worth every minute!). During the time, I put the rib meat back into a new vacuum bag, and back in the water bath at 165 (it has just fallen off the bone, so I kept the bone for my wife to make bone broth).

I now had some chill time to make the French fries, and loved the fact that I had everything on cruise control, with the sauce reducing, and the rib meat kept hot at 165 degrees,

Then placed the rib meat into the reduced sauce, put the fries in a heated dish, added cheese curds, the covered it with short rib in the reduced sauce.

Everyone said it was amazing, and by far the best short rib poutine they had ever had. Thanks sous-vide guy!

Josh,

I followed your recipe and completely agree with your assessment. Best rib recipe I have ever made.

– Season the meat first (whatever rub you want)
– 3-4 hours cold smoke
– Sous vide at least 24 hours at 160-165 (I ended up doing almost 27 hours)
– Remove from bags and PAT THE MEAT DRY (Don’t forget this part – really important)
– Blow torch the surface of the meat for a nice crust/bark. Don’t be scared to give it a good crust. This is important!

Meat smells incredible and tastes as good. Texture was great and the meat melts in your mouth like butter. Will definitely use the recipe again.

Comments: I have done similar recipes without the cold smoke, but for longer periods of time at lower temps. I don’t feel like the fat renders out as well at these lower temps. Having said that, if your ribs have big chunks of fat on them, I would trim that down prior to starting. You want some fat, but that really hard, thick fat doesn’t render well at any temp. Hope this helps. Good luck!

I cooked the ribs at 130 for 72 hours. Unfortunately they came out a very rare and fatty mess. Could be that the ribs (bought at Whole Foods) were unusually fatty, but I suspect the outcome was due to a combination of fatty ribs combined with the 130 temp, which was not high enough for the fat to render into the meat. Think 48 hours at the higher heat would be the best bet. While 130 for 72 may work for much leaner ribs, it’s really hard to know just how lean your ribs really are unless you buy and cook them all the time.
So I would first try the 24 and 48 hour versions to avoid what I experienced.

did 48 hours at 135 and came out incredible! Gonna go for 72 hours next. Curious if i can add more to the bag, like red wine to mimic a braised beef?

I cold smoked the ribs for 3 hours with a smoke tube before vacuum sealing and cooking for 24hrs in the sous vide then seared with my torch… hands down the best beef ribs I’ve ever had

Not my favorite sous vide. Did 72 hours. The meat smelled funny and had a funky texture. I have had great results from doing chuck roasts for 48 hours so I was really disappointed.

I followed the 72-hour recipe to the letter and felt the inside texture was a bit too soft for my liking. I am going to try the 24-hour method next.

Question for better cooks than I: is it possible that using sous vide for short ribs should be done at a little higher temp than 130 degrees so that more of the fat can be released? I’m new to this technique. Thanks in advance.

I tried cooking short ribs to 130 for 72 hours. Then I used a blowtorch with a searzall attachment to blacken the top of each rib. It turned out really well. The meat was tender and juicy, and my wife, who usually wants her steaks so rare they are still mooing, was happy with the pink center of each rib. Really a terrific idea to sous vide at the lower temp.

I did huge beef Ribs for 72 hours. Pan seared in cast iron with bacon grease. A MAZE ING!!!!!

Did the 72 hour and they turned out insanely tough. Basically like a tough corned beef. Juice also just turned to brown paste when heated. Would not recommend. Used Whole Foods short ribs so it shouldn’t be a materials issue

I sous vided a two bone Rib roast for 24 hours at 132 degrees and refrigerated the left overs. Then, I cut the bones off and threw them on the gas grill. Lots of smoke from the remaining fat. Slathered my favorite BBQ sauce on them and let me tell you…….. SHUT UP!! Perfect refined Caveman food. The meat was still med rare and I enjoyed it immensely.