After learning about this here, and listening to an America’s Test Kitchen on the subject, I decided to cook my pork spare ribs this way. Low slow oven (no sauce of course) then blast and baste on my griddle pan for a nice sear/crust on the outside. Other than a hard-as-a-bitch-to-clean griddle pan, it was a great success!!
Ya know, now that I think about it, with ribs that has been one of the standard ways of cooking them. You can roast or smoke them low and slow, and then crisp up on the grill, often with some sauce. I never had actually thought of it as a “reverse sear,” but, I guess, yeah, it is.
Usually, though, with ribs you do it differently, and cook it so the collagen has time to break down. So I guess if you’re just bringing the ribs to 140-150 internal and then searing it, you are doing a standard “reverse sear,” but if you’re holding them at a low temp for hours such that the meat begins to soften and break down, and then sear them, then you’re doing one of the standard methods for making ribs.
Yep, I’ve done ribs and wings low and slow either in the oven or on the grill for a long time. As puly says, it’s a pretty standard way of doing them but I never thought of that as a reverse sear either.
TL;DR: ^ that.
I’ve done mine in a slow cooker. Dry rub, split the rack into two or three slabs so they fit in around the sides. half a cup of liquid on the bottom, usually apple cider vinegar or red wine. Cover and walk away. 6-8 hours later they are done. Quick sear on the bbq or under broiler with bbq sauce and done.