Recipe for cross rib sous vide
One of the things I love most about sous vide is that you can make cheap (and in some people’s view “low quality”) cuts both tender, juicy, and delicious. Here, I used the method on beef short ribs – a cut I thought seven years ago was only good for making soup! Glad I learned better!
Here, I will walk you through the sous vide method for short ribs and explain how to achieve a delicious result using sous vide.
Where are the short ribs located?
Short ribs correspond to pork spare ribs. The short ribs are cut from the upper, middle part of the brisket and are a fatty cut full of flavor, juices, and richness.
It is also a cut with a fair amount of tendons and connective tissue, which is why the meat needs to be well tenderized before it becomes truly delicious.
Tenderizing short ribs in sous vide
The meat requires long cooking times, which is why it has traditionally been used mainly for soups and stews. It can also be grilled, but in that case, it still needs to be boiled for a good hour first.
Short ribs are perfect for sous vide because the meat becomes both tender and delicious, and the cooking method allows the flavor and juices to stay inside the meat rather than leaking out into a surrounding liquid.
Sous vide time and temperature for short ribs
When cooking sous vide, the only critical factors are how long you cook the meat and what temperature the water has. That’s all you need to pay attention to. After that, the meat takes care of itself.
The cooking time you choose depends on how much you need to tenderize the meat. As mentioned, short ribs are a cut with a fair amount of connective tissue, fat, and tendons, so they need a relatively long time in the water bath.
The temperature, on the other hand, depends on personal preferences. If you prefer it well done, the temperature should be between 60 and 64 degrees Celsius. If you prefer it medium, it should be between 56 and 59 degrees, and if you prefer medium rare, like myself, the temperature range should be 53 to 55 degrees.
Sous vide short ribs sear
One thing to be prepared for if you are not used to cooking meat sous vide is that it looks a bit gray and unappealing when it comes out of the water bath. This is only because it hasn’t been seared.
Sous vide-cooked meat is usually seared after it has been in the water bath, but short ribs are one of the cuts that you sear before the water bath – if you even want to sear it at all.
You can sear meat in various ways. I usually use a regular frying pan, but sometimes I use a griddle plate – typically if I’m handling a very large cut. Otherwise, the meat can also be grilled if it’s grilling season. If I’m dealing with a very uneven cut, a blowtorch is also ideal.
Which method you use depends on the particular cut and your personal preference.
I also usually sear with ghee because it gives the meat a delicious nutty flavor from the butter while having a higher smoke point than butter alone. You can also use a 1:1 mix of butter and oil if you don’t have ghee.
Short ribs sous vide recipe
Cross Rib Sous Vide
Equipment
- Sous Vide
Ingredients
- 1 pcs. Beef Shortribs mine was about 1.2 kg
- Salt and Pepper
Instructions
- Trim the meat, meaning remove the sinews/membranes on top of the meat. This can be done advantageously with a spoon.
- Season the meat well with salt and pepper on all four sides.
- Optionally, give the meat a crust on all sides. This is optional, and I don't usually do it myself. I generally do it with pork, but not veal or beef.
- Vacuum seal the meat.
- Cook it in the water bath for 48 hours at the desired temperature. The desired temperature depends, as mentioned, on how you prefer the meat. I gave it 55 degrees Celsius (131 degrees Fahrenheit).
- Take the meat out of the water bath and unpack it from the bag. Now it's ready to serve. The meat can advantageously be used for barbecues, where it should be coated in a delicious barbecue sauce.