Can I cook baby back ribs more than 12 hours?

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Jennifer Murphy

Senior Cook
Joined
May 18, 2014
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146
Location
Silicon Valley, CA
The local market has packages of baby back ribs marinating in a sweet sauce in an airless, air-tight bag -- perfect for cooking in the sous vide.

I checked a couple of websites. The general recommendation seems to be 12 hours at 165°. But if we want to eat around 5:00 or earlier, it means I have to get up in the middle of the night to start it cooking. ?????

Can I start it late the night before, say around 11:00 pm? If it cooked until 5:00 pm, that would be 18 hours. Would I have mush?

I could turn it off when I get up and restart it a few hours later.

What are my options?

Thanks
 
I googled a couple of recipes and there are various times at different temperatures. 12 - 24 - 36 - 48 hours are all mentioned. I did not read in depth to find the temperatures set but from what I did read they changed the temp somewhere along the line.
Have also read you can start them, cool them, and finish days later.
Think you have lots of options out there just find one that best suits you.

Sorry, but other than that, I guess I'm of no help. I should mention I don't even have sous vide equipment.
 
I'm fairly new to Sous Vide. But without checking I would say 12 hours is to long. But I don't want fall off the bone baby back ribs. I want the meat to stay on the bone but still be very tender.
I like the idea presented above. Immerse them at your leisure. Then cool and refrigerate until you need them. A few minutes under a hot broiler or on the grill will bring them back to life.
I also have no idea if the store vacuum bag is okay for the immersion?
 
12 hours is fine with sous vide. BUT----- you can NOT turn it off part way through and just leave it in the water overnight. The temperature will drop to unsafe levels and bacteria can grow quickly in the low oxygen (anaerobic) environment . I would cook them the day before as instructed for 12 hours, then chill them overnight in the fridge. The next day, put them back in the water for a shorter time (30-60 minutes) just to bring them back up to temp, and finish on the grill or in the oven as planned.

Many of the vacuum sealed packages are actually fine for sous vide, but unless you can tell the difference in the various plastics (I can't), it's safer to repackage. (That said, I often use the package things come in)
 
After trying several recipes and various lengths of time...I found our favorite is a 24-hour recipe. We like the end result best of all the recipes and bonus!, you don't have to get up in the middle of the night! Here's a link to the print image recipe: 24-Hour SV Ribs - if you want to get the "rub" recipe and read the full Blog page, scroll to the bottom of the page for the link. I use a rub mix from Myron Mixon, but use any that strikes your fancy!
 
I've never done ribs (or other BBQ items) sous vide, but I agree that you can go longer than 12 hours with ribs. Are you going to toss them on the grill after sous vide to put some browning on them?

CD
 
I've never done ribs (or other BBQ items) sous vide, but I agree that you can go longer than 12 hours with ribs. Are you going to toss them on the grill after sous vide to put some browning on them?

CD
Many sous vide items require "finishing" on a grill, skillet or broiler. For ribs, I usually use the grill to put some grill marks on them. But, if the weather doesn't permit it, then I use the broiler for them.
 
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