Sous Vide Short Ribs. After some testing, I figured out that 48 hours is the perfect time to sous vide short ribs if you want tender, fall-off-the-bone ribs. Then I sear them on my grill to get a browned crust. 48 hours of sous vide is a long time to wait, but it’s almost zero effort to get these amazing short ribs.
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Ingredients
4 thick-cut bone in short ribs. (Look for roughly 6-inch long, 2-inch thick short ribs)
2 teaspoons fine sea salt
½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
Instructions
Season the short ribs and seal them in a vacuum bag
Sprinkle the ribs with the fine sea salt and fresh ground black pepper. Put the ribs in a vacuum bag, and vacuum seal the bag.
Short ribs after sous vide, before searing
Sous Vide the short ribs for 48 Hours
Set a sous vide bath to 140°F/60°C. Put the bag with the ribs into the water bath and cook for 48 hours. (Try to go for at least 36 hours, or up to 72 hours).
Set the grill up for direct high heat cooking (450°F or higher)
Set a grill up for cooking on direct high heat, and clean the grill grate. For my gas grill, I preheat with all the burners on high for 15 minutes, then brush the grate clean with my grill brush. For charcoal, I fill a charcoal chimney with coals, light them, wait for gray ash, then pour the coals into a thick pile, about two coals deep, on one side of the grill.
Sear the ribs over direct high heat
Gently remove the ribs from the bag – they will be fall-apart tender – and thoroughly pat dry with paper towels. Put the ribs on the grill over direct high heat and sear, turning to a new side every minute, until the ribs are well browned on all sides, about 4 minutes. Serve and enjoy!
Equipment
Sous vide machine: You need a sous vide immersion circulator and a food storage container (or large pot) that can hold the steak with enough room to circulate the water. Sous vide bag: You need food-safe plastic bags for sous vide, and you need all the air out of the bag to cook efficiently. The best way to do this is with a vacuum sealer. I use gallon vacuum seal bags. If you don’t have a vacuum sealer, you can use freezer Ziploc bags for sous vide. Leave the zip-top of the bag open and slowly lower it into the water bath. The water will push all the air out of the bag as it is lowered. Zip the top of the bag right before it reaches the water level. Grill: I use my grill to get a good sear on my sous vide steaks. OR – Cast-iron pan or heavy-duty skillet: Don’t have a grill? A ripping hot cast iron skillet is also suitable for searing; sear the steak in a hot skillet for 1 to 2 minutes per side to give it a good crust. (A quality stainless steel pan, like an All-Clad fry pan, also works for searing. It doesn’t hold as much heat as stainless steel, but it’s close. And a stainless steel pan is a lot easier to maintain.)
72-hour sous vide short ribs falling apart on the grill
24 vs 48 vs 72 hour grilled short ribs
I love braised short ribs, and I love grilled, thin cut short ribs. Sous vide cooking lets me combine the two, by cooking the ribs at medium temperature (140°F), then finishing with a quick sear on the grill. The problem with cooking short ribs to tenderness at 140°F is it takes a LONG time. Suggested cooking times went from 24 to 72 hours in the water bath. Which one should I use? Why not all three? Three days ahead of time I set the water to 140°F. Then I dropped a bag of short ribs in the cooker every 24 hours, giving me a range of cooking times. How did it turn out?
24 hour short ribs were tough and chewy. Not long enough.
72 hour short ribs were too tender. The lines of fat holding the meat together melted; the ribs fell apart when I tried to flip them on the grill. But…the results were really, really tender.
48 hour short ribs were the winner. They were tender, but held together enough to sear on the grill. If you value tenderness over everything, and have the steady hands of a neurosurgeon, you can extend the sous vide time to 72 hours. But, don’t be surprised if the ribs collapse on the grill.
Short Ribs Q&A
What’s the difference between flanken cut and cross cut short ribs?
There are two major types of short rib cuts. Flanken cut and cross cut. Flanken cut short ribs are cut between the bone, so each piece has a long bone running along the bottom. (That bone makes a great handle). Cross cut short ribs, like it says in the name, are cut across the bones, so each piece has many short slices of bone along the bottom. Thick cut short ribs, like I call for in this recipe, are usually flanken cut, but not always. Both cook the exact same, so it doesn’t really matter which you get.
Why use the grill to sear sous vide? Why not sear in a pan?
I have good luck with the grill, but a ripping hot pan will also work. For my gas grill, I preheat for 15 minutes, then sear for 4 minutes, flipping every minute and rotating halfway through to get a crosshatch of grill marks. Charcoal browns even better, because it burns hotter than gas, but it’s also a lot of work for a quick sear. I light a chimney full and pack it in on one side of my grill, in a pile two coals deep. That’s real heat – it sears in a minute a side.
Tip: Cool down the ribs before searing
A searing tip from Modernist Cuisine at Home, thanks to reader JC. After sous vide cooking, before removing the ribs from the vacuum bag, cool the bag down with an ice water bath or by running cold water over it for a few minutes. That way, the exterior is cold before it hits the grill, making it even harder to overcook. Now, I have to admit, I usually don’t bother with this step; I make sure to get the ribs browned and off the heat quickly so they don’t overcook.
Sous vide safety – don’t go below 131°F
Sous vide cooking is safe at this long, low cooking time because the 140°F temperature is hot enough to pasteurize the meat, killing any bacteria. In fact, 131°F/55°C or above is hot enough to pasteurize beef. Don’t cook for these long cooking times – more than a couple of hours – at temperatures lower than 131°F, or bacteria on the surface of the meat will be able to grow. (I cook this recipe at 140°F because I prefer the texture when the short ribs were cooked to medium, not medium-rare.)
Can I make these Sous Vide BBQ Short Ribs?
Absolutely. While you’re searing them on the grill, brush them with a coat of your favorite BBQ sauce. (Or use my Homemade Easy BBQ Sauce recipe to make your own).
Here’s the recipe. This may be the shortest ingredient list I’ve ever posted. It has three ingredients, if you count salt and pepper as two of the ingredients. Simple doesn’t meant bland – these ribs are overwhelmingly beefy.
Sous Vide Short Ribs. After some testing, I figured out that 48 hours is the perfect time to sous vide short ribs if you want tender, fall-off-the-bone ribs.
4 thick-cut bone in short ribs. (Look for roughly 6-inch long, 2-inch thick short ribs)
2 teaspoons fine sea salt
½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
Instructions
Season the short ribs and seal them in a vacuum bag: Sprinkle the ribs with the fine sea salt and fresh ground black pepper. Put the ribs in a vacuum bag, and vacuum seal the bag.
Sous Vide the short ribs for 48 Hours: Set a sous vide water bath for 140°F/60°C. Put the bag with the ribs into the water bath and cook for 48 hours. (Try to go for at least 36 hours, or up to 72 hours).
Set the grill up for direct high heat cooking (450°F or higher): Set a grill up for cooking on direct high heat, and clean the grill grate. For my gas grill, I preheat with all the burners on high for 15 minutes, then brush the grate clean with my grill brush. For charcoal, I fill a charcoal chimney with coals, light them, wait for gray ash, then pour the coals into a thick pile, about two coals deep, on one side of the grill.
Sear the ribs over direct high heat: Gently remove the ribs from the bag – they will be fall-apart tender – and thoroughly pat dry with paper towels. Put the ribs on the grill over direct high heat and sear, turning to a new side every minute, until the ribs are well browned on all sides, about 4 minutes. Serve and enjoy!
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