Skip to main content

The Manual may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site.

Why you should sous vide your baby back ribs this summer

Once you make your baby back ribs this way, you'll never go back

Summertime is coming, and that means ribs. Sweet and spicy, fall-off-the-bone, savory, meaty, delicious ribs. And while you may already have your grilled or baked ribs mastered, we bet you haven’t yet tried sous vide ribs.

Before you roll your eyes at the idea of something as primitive and macho as ribs being prepared in something as modern and geeky as a sous vide machine (how dare you), hear us out. You’re going to want to try this the next time you get that delivery from .

Related Videos
ChefSteps

Sous vide ribs are more tender (and customizable)

We’re sure your grilled or baked ribs are tender. But not like this. Really.

When food is cooked in a sous vide machine, it cooks in its own juices, creating not only an incredible taste, but also a fall-off-the-bone tender texture to your ribs.

And if you prefer a snappier rib with a bit of bite, you can get that, too, with a slight temperature adjustment.

Sous vide ribs come out perfect

Ribs cooked in a sous vide machine are not only more flavorful, but they’re perfectly tender every single time. How often have you said to yourself, “I can’t figure out why they were so much better last time!”? It’s a frustrating feeling, to be sure. This is because, with a grill, or even an oven, temperature is unpredictable. That unpredictability can also be terribly annoying with smokers, having to time everything and cross your fingers that they’ve smoked just the right amount. There’s no hope for consistency.

With a sous vide machine, you get the exact same temperature and cooking environment every single time, so once you master perfection, you have it mastered forever.

Sous vide ribs can be dry rubbed (or sauced – or both!)

If you’re wondering how your sous vide ribs go from a water bath to your plate, there is another step in the process that works for any variety or flavor of ribs you’re making. After removing them from their bag, the ribs are finished in the oven. This step not only gives the ribs a beautiful bark, but also gives you the opportunity to slather them with your flavoring of choice, be it a sauce, a rub, or both!

Sous vide ribs don’t require a smoker

As fun as the show is to watch, we just don’t all have the time or space to be BBQ Pitmasters, complete with backyard smokers the size of trucks. Unless you’re smoking meat all the time, a smoker can be sort of a cumbersome, complicated appliance — not to mention expensive.

When you make your ribs in a sous vide machine, you can still get all the flavor with none of the heavy machinery. In fact, you don’t even need a high-end, fancy version of a sous vide machine! A simple thermal immersion circulator will do the trick. Just pop your ribs in a zip-top bag, submerge them in a large pot of water, and let the immersion circulator work its magic.

Sous vide ribs recipe

Smokin' Indoor Ribs

(From ChefSteps)

Ingredients:

  • 150 grams salt
  • 5 grams Prague powder #1
  • 150 grams molasses
  • 75 grams liquid smoke
  • 2 racks baby back ribs
  • 100 grams paprika
  • 50 grams yellow mustard seeds
  • 30 grams garlic flakes
  • 25 grams black pepper
  • 10 grams onion flakes
  • 10 grams cumin seeds
  • 200 grams brown sugar

Method:

  1. Preheat sous vide machine to your desired temperature. For a snappier rib with a bite, set temperature to 162F. If you prefer a fall-off-the-bone texture, set it to 185F.
  2. Mix salt and pink salt together in a bowl, making sure they’re fully combined.
  3. Combine molasses and liquid smoke in a bowl.
  4. Remove the membrane of the ribs. This is the thin, translucent membrane on the concave side of the rack. Use a paper towel to avoid slipping fingers, grip the membrane, and pull backward to remove.
  5. Season the racks with one percent their weight in salt mixture. Apply evenly, coating every surface. Rest for 10 minutes.
  6. Using a basting brush, generously cover every surface of the racks with the liquid smoke mixture.
  7. Put the ribs into a zip-top bag and cook for four hours. Be sure to only use one bag so that everything cooks evenly.
  8. In a spice grinder, blend together salt, paprika, mustard seeds, garlic flakes, black pepper, onion flakes, and cumin seed.
  9. Combine spice mixture with brown sugar and thoroughly combine.
  10. When it’s time, remove the bags from the water and allow to cool slightly. At this point, you can refrigerate for several hours or overnight and finish them later.
  11. Preheat oven to 400F.
  12. Brush ribs all over with the liquid smoke mixture.
  13. Dust the ribs all over with rub, taking care to get it in all the cracks.
  14. Place ribs on a sheet pan and bake until bubbly, about 5 to 10 minutes. If you prefer, you could also finish them on the grill.

Editors' Recommendations

Is erythritol harmful? What a dietitian says new data means for your Keto diet
Erythritol is common in many keto foods - what does that mean for your health?
erythritol in keto diet advice

While sugar substitutes have been around for more than a century, they didn't really become mainstream here in the United States until around the mid-70s. According to Carolyn De La Pena, professor of American Studies at UC Davis and author of Empty Pleasures: The Story of Artificial Sweeteners from Saccharin to Splenda, between 1975 and 1984, Americans increased their consumption of artificial sweeteners by 150 percent. This timeline makes sense when you take into account that the late seventies coincided with the start of our crazed diet culture and the revolving door of fad diets.
One such diet that doesn't seem to be going anywhere, however, is the Keto diet. Still hugely popular among Americans trying to shed a few pounds, Keto focuses heavily on limited or no carbohydrates. Because sugar contains carbohydrates, followers of Keto have turned to artificial sweeteners to satisfy those late-night cravings - sweeteners that, more often than not, contain erythritol. Erythritol in particular has become hugely popular because it's much better for baking than other sugar substitutes, has less of an artificial flavor, and will keep the eater in Ketosis, which is key for losing weight on the Keto diet.
A new study has made waves recently because its findings indicate there's a link between erythritol and higher rates of heart attack and stroke (though the study did note that only an association was found — not causation. So should you be worried?
We asked Dan LeMoine, RD, the award-winning author of Fear No Food and the Clinical Director at Phoenix-based Re:vitalize Nutrition, what he had to say about erythritol, including its benefits and potential health risks. "Artificial sweeteners are still sweeteners. While many are non-nutritive or zero-calorie, we tend to view them similarly as we do regular sweeteners or sugars — moderation is key. While many have amazing implications on weight loss – being low to no-calorie options and having little impact on blood sugar, some have their downside," he says.

While some of that sugar substitution has been good for waistlines and health issues that come from obesity, it seems to be causing more and more concern when it comes to other potential health issues. "For example," says LeMoine, "some research indicates the popular sweeteners stevia may have negative effects on the gut microbiome. And the recent study showing correlation between the sugar alcohol, erythritol, and heart attack and stroke."

Read more
Feeling adventurous? 5 of the weirdest cocktails from around the globe
Would you order a cocktail with a pickled human toe? You can in Canada, apparently
unusual and unique cocktails sourtoe cocktail

We all love a good cocktail, but it's easy to tire of the classics. There's nothing wrong with a perfectly frosty, salted-rimmed margarita, or a warm-to-your-bones, cherry-topped old-fashioned, but sometimes, you just want something new. Something that makes you think. Something that, perhaps, gives you a chuckle. These are those cocktails.
Pig's Blood Piña Colada (USA)

Back in 2014, bartender Jason Brown of Chicago's Kinmont restaurant and bar, concocted this cocktail after listening to a Werewolves of London lyric about a werewolf drinking a pina colada. His creativity sparked, and the "Werewolves of London" cocktail was born.

Read more
These foods high in melatonin will help you sleep better
Get a better sleep naturally by eating these 9 melatonin foods
Hands holding wine grapes.

Getting a quality night's sleep becomes more and more of a challenge as we age. Some of us have tried blackout curtains, sleep masks, weighted blankets, or any number of supplements promising better rest. If you're looking for an all-natural solution, though, melatonin is the way to go. Melatonin is a hormone produced naturally in the pineal gland in the brain. Among several functions, melatonin plays a key role in regulating the body’s circadian rhythms, or sleep-wake cycles. Accordingly, the pineal gland produces more melatonin when the sun goes down, and levels dip at daybreak. Foods high in melatonin or even melatonin supplements are a popular way to increase the concentration of melatonin and possibly improve the quality and quantity of sleep.
Melatonin supplements are typically non-habit-forming and safe for adults and children in doses of around 0.5 to 5 milligrams. However, melatonin supplements may cause drowsiness, nausea, and dizziness, and they can interfere with certain medications.

Fortunately, if you’re looking to support your body’s own natural melatonin levels but you don’t want to rely on supplements, there are several sleep-aid foods that contain melatonin. Adding any of these foods high in melatonin to your dinner plate or bedtime snack routine may help regulate your sleep patterns over time and help you get more restful sleep. Though little nutritional data exists about the specific concentration of melatonin in different foods, the following foods are known to be particularly high in melatonin.

Read more