Baby Back Ribs vs St Louis Ribs

(Failed) #1

I’ve been eating a lot of baby back ribs, thinking that was the best cut for me. Couple of days ago I got St. Louis style ribs instead because they’re the same price per pound and the butcher said they have more fat on them.

Wow! They don’t have all that much more visible fat, but all of the meat is just saturated with fat, or at least the ones I had are. Absolutely delicious and the very best cut for me, since I have trouble getting enough fat/calories.

I put them in the sous vide for six hours at 185°F / 85°C then sear them with a heat gun. I only put salt on them. You could add seasoning before you put them in the sous vide bag though.

For dinner tonight I had an unopened bag of a rib section I had sous vided yesterday then refrigerated. I took them out of the refrigerator (and out of the bag, lol) put them on a rack and used the heat gun on them to sear the outside. The searing heated them all the way through and they had none of that leftover, warmed up flavor I detest.

(Bob M) #2

What heat gun are you using?

(Failed) #3

Wagner Furno 500 with the flare nozzle.

It takes about 10 mins to sear a steak or a section of ribs, about the same times as a cast iron skillet (when you include the heat up time for the skillet), and 0 smoke or splatter.

I tried a butane brûlée torch, but the food always tasted odd. And the hand-held propane torch I tried caused the smoke alarm to go off and sputtered and died frequently.

(Doug) #4

Yeah, Dee - there is usually a BIG difference. St. Louis cut ribs/spareribs and “rib tips” can have a daunting amount of fat, even for those of us who look forward to it. :smile:

(Dirty Lazy Keto'er, Sucralose freak ;)) #5

Dee, first off, I trust you that these were awesome. But 185 for only 6 hrs seems really hot (hotter than I’ve ever SV’d anything) and really fast.

When I did Baby Back ribs for the first time, I went with 150 F for 20hrs, and they were the best ribs I have ever cooked, or eaten ! Can’t imagine doing any other time or temp…

Doing them again this week, in fact :slightly_smiling_face:

(David Jackson) #6

20 hours?

Man, as a competitive barbecue cooker, I can’t even wrap my head around that. That’s out of the safety zone, and almost a whole day. There’s nothing safe about that

If it works for you, swell, but I couldn’t begin to offer that to anyone to try.

(Failed) #7

When I saw your earlier post in another thread of 20 hours I was shocked at how long it was, LOL.

I use a Joule sous vide device and the 2 cooking times/temperatures that the app recommends and I use are 167° 75°C for 4 hours or 185° 85°C for 6 hours. They both produce tender, fall-off-the-bone ribs.

They also have a selection called Country-Style Braised Spareribs that have a cook time of 24 hours. I don’t see the point in trying it since the ones I’ve been doing are absolutely perfect.

(Full Metal KETO AF) #8

Are you talking food born illness safety zone? Sousvide is quite different from BBQ and I can assure you it’s perfectly safe at long cook times, I have cooked meat as long as 50 hours. :cowboy_hat_face:

(Dirty Lazy Keto'er, Sucralose freak ;)) #9

Apparently you haven’t looked much into Sous Vide ? People cook stuff all the time for 48-72 hours. Guga over at Sous Vide Everything, did an experiment where he cooked one steak for 2 hours, and one for a week ! Yes, 168 hrs ! Then they did a taste test. The crazy thing was, the 168 hr steak was actually quite good, although the said it made it taste more like a roast, than a steak :grinning: lol

(Dirty Lazy Keto'er, Sucralose freak ;)) #10

Hey Dee, this was a very in depth article for beef ribs, but I would have to imagine that pork Baby Back Ribs ribs would be just as flexible, with times and temps…

(Dirty Lazy Keto'er, Sucralose freak ;)) #11

I’m actually starting a big hunk of Beef Brisket tomorrow, and SV’ing it at 133 F, for 30 to 40 hours.

I usually set my machine for quite a bit longer than I actually expect to cook it, so just in case I’m too busy to get to it, it will be ready when I am :slightly_smiling_face:

(Failed) #12

That looks interesting. I do like what I’m already doing, though.

(Failed) #13

Here’s an article from Douglas Baldwin giving the times and temperatures it takes to pasteurize foods.

http://douglasbaldwin.com/sous-vide.html#Table_5.1

(Dirty Lazy Keto'er, Sucralose freak ;)) #14

I can’t see myself ever going below 131 for any meats, and I usually cook at the longer end of the scale for tenderness, so I feel like my SV’s should always be safe.

Someday, just for fun… OR, if I’m pushed for time, I might try a shorter, hotter cook on ribs, and see what I like best. But I’m telling you, 150 for 20 hrs is amazing :slightly_smiling_face:

BTW, I learned this time here

(David Jackson) #15

That guy is a hack, fyi. I can’t beleive how many people invest in him.

I stand by my statement regarding ribs.

Hunks of beef are a different subject matter.
All the best to you

(Doug) #16

Chris, that has been exactly my experience - the longer-cooked beef gets softer, more “fuzzy” and pulls apart a little, rather than being cut as cleanly by a knife; more “roastlike” indeed. My wife and I preferred the longer-cooked (48 hours versus 24) chuck eye roll we did last, despite the more roastly flavor.

(Dirty Lazy Keto'er, Sucralose freak ;)) #17

I think those guys are great. They have been spot on about a lot of things. Baby Back Ribs, for one. Sure everyone has different opinions… Like, I think 129 F for steaks (their favorite) is too rare. But I do believe that most of the times and temps they suggest will get you close, then you can adjust from their to get your exact times and temps dialed in “for you”.
Also, they have tried some stuff that came out horrible… And they said exactly that… This tastes horrible !

I like that they do a lot of side by side taste tests / experiments (with control cooks), and tell you straight up what worked, and what didn’t. Most other YouTube’ers could benefit from that.

(Dirty Lazy Keto'er, Sucralose freak ;)) #18

Yep. Me too, although my longest cook has only been about 48 hrs for a pork shoulder.

#19

To much work to learn a new method when I just perfected it with a pellet smoker. But I’m willing to come over and eat yours :running_man:

(Steve) #20

St Louis all the way over back ribs! When buying, look for darker meat and the flop when you pick it up at the end.
Just make sure that they haven’t used brine or phosphates to make them tender. It should say on the package if you buy them in a cryovac package. I can taste that stuff a mile away. We used to inject skinny briskets for pit testing and I could double the size of the brisket with a phosphate injection. It would squirt juice after an 18 hour cook.
For sous vide side ribs or St. Louis style, my last few cooks have been 165* for 12 hours. I start them in the morning and they are finished by dinner time.