Cooking Ribs in advance and reheating

[CharliefromLI]

Cooking Ribs in advance and reheating

We have a busy memorial day weekend coming up & I would love to cook some ribs for a BBQ on Monday afternoon but I won’t be home to fire up the smoker that day. The only day I have free to cook is Friday (3 days prior to event).

I have done pulled pork in advance, and reheated well, but I have never done ribs to serve for guests in advance. Is it possible to serve good quality ribs that were cooked in advance? Is three days in the fridge too long? Will they get mushy or dry out? Should i freeze for two days and then thaw and reheat?

I vacuum seal, freeze,  and reheat by simmering all the time to serve myself but never for guests. The simmer in bag reheat isn’t the most appetizing view even though we all know it works well.

Any recommendations?

*Cross posting on WKC and TVWBB to get the most info from all the pros.*

[austin87]

Once they are cooked dont freeze them. I would put them in a big foil pan. Reheat them covered in an oven or grill at 250 degrees or so. If you have the space and time, throw them on a grill and sauce them up just before serving.

[1buckie]

That's a tough one......this is why you almost never get really good ribs in a restaurant setting.....they are very hard to hold & have come out right.....

With a humidity controlled holding box, maybe then.....

Here's what you can try:

Cook most of the way to done (just shy of a real good bend test)
Let them cool some (to stop the cooking) & Saran wrap, then foil wrap & re-fridge

Re-heat, maybe in the foil (you could use foil only to hold, just to simplify that step later) @ 275 for a decent time until they're finished, pull out or open up foil for the last part of the time so a LITTLE of the excess moisture takes off....sauce at that time if you'd like.....


Mushy would occur when freezing & thawing & as long as the fridge is pretty cold, 2~3 days should be OK.......

[demosthenes9]

Yep, yep, both ways work.  Pan them or wrap individually.  Might spritz with a tad bit of Apple Juice or water.   Make sure they are sealed up whether in a pan or individually wrapped.  250 to 275 in oven or grill to heat back up.  Be careful here not to over do it.   If you go for too long, the steam will turn them to mush.   Remove from foil and finish on the grill to firm back up, or stick them back in the oven uncovered.   

[mike.stavlund]

I think you'll get better results from the previous posters, but in case you get in a bind, I thought I'd tell you about my recent experience.  I cooked up a bunch of baby backs (half racks) and wrapped them in butcher paper for the final hour or two of cooking.  Pulled them all off, let them cool down for about an hour, then put them in ziplocks to go in the fridge.  For several days afterward, I'd pull out a half-rack (still wrapped in paper) and put it in the microwave, for maybe a minute or two (watch them closely).  The butcher paper keeps them more moist, and the results are good (I mean, they won't be the best ribs you've ever eaten, but your friends will be seriously impressed).  I got the best results by leaning two half racks against each other and microwaving them that way. 

[demosthenes9]

I think you'll get better results from the previous posters, but in case you get in a bind, I thought I'd tell you about my recent experience.  I cooked up a bunch of baby backs (half racks) and wrapped them in butcher paper for the final hour or two of cooking.  Pulled them all off, let them cool down for about an hour, then put them in ziplocks to go in the fridge.  For several days afterward, I'd pull out a half-rack (still wrapped in paper) and put it in the microwave, for maybe a minute or two (watch them closely).  The butcher paper keeps them more moist, and the results are good (I mean, they won't be the best ribs you've ever eaten, but your friends will be seriously impressed).  I got the best results by leaning two half racks against each other and microwaving them that way.

You have to be careful with taking the microwave route as there are so many different ones and they  all seem to handle reheating differently.  Some have magic fuzzy logic that can set things automatically, others have "reheat" functions that let you specify types of food, like meat, pasta, poultry, etc.   Others have power settings that can be adjusted, though this will differ from one unit to another.  For example, I might reheat on pwr level 3 while someone else uses pwr level 7, etc.

[mike.stavlund]

I think you'll get better results from the previous posters, but in case you get in a bind, I thought I'd tell you about my recent experience.  I cooked up a bunch of baby backs (half racks) and wrapped them in butcher paper for the final hour or two of cooking.  Pulled them all off, let them cool down for about an hour, then put them in ziplocks to go in the fridge.  For several days afterward, I'd pull out a half-rack (still wrapped in paper) and put it in the microwave, for maybe a minute or two (watch them closely).  The butcher paper keeps them more moist, and the results are good (I mean, they won't be the best ribs you've ever eaten, but your friends will be seriously impressed).  I got the best results by leaning two half racks against each other and microwaving them that way.

You have to be careful with taking the microwave route as there are so many different ones and they  all seem to handle reheating differently.  Some have magic fuzzy logic that can set things automatically, others have "reheat" functions that let you specify types of food, like meat, pasta, poultry, etc.   Others have power settings that can be adjusted, though this will differ from one unit to another.  For example, I might reheat on pwr level 3 while someone else uses pwr level 7, etc.

Oh, absolutely be careful with the microwave.  That's why I gave such vague estimates for time... YMMV.  :-)

[Troy]

same thing as pulled pork.

when your ribs are done, vacuum seal them.
You can freeze or store in fridge.

Reheat in a pan of hot water until they're up to eating temp.

Do it right and they taste like they just came off the smoker.

[jdefran]

@CharliefromLI What did you end up doing? I smoked some ribs yesterday (took them off about an hour short of finishing) and plan to throw them on a friend's gasser on low heat to finish up. I can report back with results if interested.

[CharliefromLI]

@jdefran definitely post the results. Due to work travel, Our plans changed so smoker for us this weekend, but the WSM will be fired up soon.

[jdefran]

@CharliefromLI According to others the ribs turned out great. I thought they were good but I think they could have stayed on longer, I heated them around 250 on my friend's Genesis for an hour. When pinched for time I feel confident this technique will be sufficient and be representative of your BBQ skills.

[CharliefromLI]

@CharliefromLI According to others the ribs turned out great. I thought they were good but I think they could have stayed on longer, I heated them around 250 on my friend's Genesis for an hour. When pinched for time I feel confident this technique will be sufficient and be representative of your BBQ skills.

I find im usually my harshest BBQ critic too. Good to know it worked out.

[1buckie]

Yeah, glad it worked out well.....those situations can be a bit nerve-wracking......
(Am I on track here? is the common question.....drives me buggie sometimes)

[CharliefromLI]

i have learned what i like vs what my wife likes vs what "the crowd" likes are three different things so you just learn to adapt accordingly.