32 Comments

    1. There is some juice that lands in the bag, but it is true that most of the juice stays inside the meat! We use some good beef stock to make a jus.

    2. Buy oxtails, roast them with veggies the old fashion way. You will have your drippings in the bottom of the pan and oxtail bones for onion soup. Win win.

    3. I use the bones from the roast to make the stock/jus. You can make a nice stock with 3 rib bones and the trimmings. I use a searzall/flamethrower to get the char, though searing all sides in a large cast iron skillet with tallow also does a decent job.






  1. Thanks for the article. Can you please clarify this “The calpains deactivate when they reach 105°F (40°C), while the cathepsins don’t shut off ’til they reach 122°F (50°C)”. Are you saying the longer the meat cooks from the start until 122, the more tender the meat becomes or are you saying the longer the meat cooks BETWEEN 105 and 122, the more tender the meat becomes?

    Always enjoy the articles!

  2. Will I have any negative effects if I put it in a 500° for 10 minutes at the end to get a sear over more of the roast? or is the broiler method better?

  3. What is sous-vide tape?
    I would assume that using this sous vide tape keeps the meat bag sealed when the probe is inserted.
    Did I not see that picture?
    Thanks,
    Steve Rose

  4. I have had nice results by taking the still-vacuum-sealed roast out of the circulator bath and dropping it in an ice bath to cool the surface layer for 5–6 minutes prior to broiling or searing.

  5. Been a big fan for a long time, Chef Martin – and once again you’ve changed my life by introducing me to sous vide tape! The container I use is too small to fit this and I’ve been meaning to upgrade. Any chance you can share what container you’re using here (or the dimensions)? Thanks!






    1. Noel,
      I’m flattered! I’m using a basic plastic container box with the lid removed. It’s 12″x9″x9″, making it about 4.2 gallons. The vessel I’d recommend is a Cambro that is 18x12x9. You can pick them up at nearly any restaurant supply store. A five-gallon pot would also do great, if you have one!

    2. I use a large stainless steel insulated iced drink presentation container and two bags of the sous vide, insulation balls to cover the top of the water.

  6. I’m used to clipping Sous Vide items to the side of the vessel.

    The picture doesn’t show it, but I’m guessing with this much weight, it’s just sitting on the bottom…or do you prop it up for circulation?

    1. With the fat content of this cut, it kind of floated in the middle, so circulation wasn’t a problem. The biggest problem was finding a vessle big enough for the meat and enough water to circulate!

    2. My wife just bought me some magnets to keep the bag from moving around. A couple inside the bag, a couple outside the bucket and it’s locked in.

      She upgraded me big time this Christmas! A circulating sous vide pump, purpose made bucket, and silicone bags. I was using 1 gallon ziplocs and a small cooler soI had to constantly monitor the water temp every hour or so. The rubber coated permanent magnets are great, perfectly locks it into place.

  7. Don’t let the 18 hour sous vide stop you from trying this recipe. The beef is perfectly cooked and very tender. I will not hesitate to cook again.
    I seared my roast over lump charcoal on my PK Grill, sear time was around 10 minutes.






  8. I have started using a steam oven to Sous vide versus water bath. Are there any issues that I should consider using this method?

    1. I’d use the waterproof thermometer in the oven as an air probe to make sure the temperature is where it should be. Otherwise, it should be fine. It will take longer, though. The lack of direct water contact will slow the cook down.

  9. We tried this method out with a two-bone sized (3 lb. with bones removed) fresh prime rib. Tied with string to round it before bagging. The method worked well in the end. However, we got a surprise, time-wise. The Smoke temp alarm, set at 133 F, alarmed at only 4 hrs into the cook. Since we anticipated a much longer cook, we had started at midnight. So it was an early morning 4 am pull from the water bath! Tossed it in the fridge and returned to zzzz. Put it back into the sous vide 1pm next day, water temp 125 F. Took 3 hrs for the prime rib to get to 125 F internal, then pulled and seared it on a preheated 600 F pellet grill, turning it on all sides, for a few minutes. Result was perfect medium rare throughout with a nicely seared outer 1/8 inch. Next time, we might try graduating the water bath temp during the sous vide to try and get more time in the 95 F to 122 F zone on this smaller cut (during daylight hours, though!). Thank you for this post.

  10. Long time user of Thermoworks products and Chef Earl’s recipies. Followed this recipe exactly using a 5.07# Choice Prime Rib from Costco, vacuum sealed bag, Avova Circulator in a modified, fully insulated (including the lid) Coleman cooler, Smoke with a 12″ Pro Series Probe (for water temp) and the waterproof needle probe using Sous Vide Tape. Cooked for 18 Hours – 17 min with ending temps of Prime Rib 136.3F & water 137.1F. Broiled for 7 minutes. No noticable water evaporation during the 17 hour cook.

    Results:
    Sous Vide tape did not remain attached to the bag – very little if any water entered the bag – no real issue but troubling.

    Prime Rib was very tender but doner and dryer than expected – still excellent.

    Questions:
    What water temperature would you recommend to get true Medium Rare? 126F? 131F?
    If you lower the temperature do you recommend reducing the time from the 18 hours?






    1. If you found yours to be too cooked then pull the temp back by 5°F. I would not shorten the time any. The proteins in meat are less sensitive to time than they are to temperature. I’m glad it turned out as well as it did for you and hope the next one is even better!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe rating 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.