I have done butts in my smoker and now I want to do St. Louis ribs in it. I plan to cook 10 full slabs. I am wondering if it would be better to hang them or split the slabs and lay them out on the racks.
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I have done it both ways in my 008 over the years, and I prefer to hang the ribs. Does it make a difference; i'm not sure, but in my mind the ribs seem to be more consistant.
Dave -
Do you cut your racks in half to hang? If not, do you hang the meatier end down or up? I am guessing you never foil, or do you FTC? If so for how long?
Thank you,
Do you cut your racks in half to hang? If not, do you hang the meatier end down or up? I am guessing you never foil, or do you FTC? If so for how long?
Thank you,
I cut the rack or ribs in half, and the tip of the rib hook through the ribs just enough so the rib's will clear the top rack, and will not touch the smoke box. I have foiled some ribs and others I just cover with foil for about 15 minutes, and honestly I can't tell any difference. As I previously mentioned, I smoe BBR's for 5 hours @ 225 de and they always come out perfect.
I buy my ribs at Sams and have found their cryovac packages vary in weight. I always try to buy the packages with the the less weight. I find with the heavier packages, the meat at the very bottom is to big in comparison to the rest of the rack.
I buy my ribs at Sams and have found their cryovac packages vary in weight. I always try to buy the packages with the the less weight. I find with the heavier packages, the meat at the very bottom is to big in comparison to the rest of the rack.
Dave,
I own a 55 and I just happened to do spareribs last weekend. As such, it's still fresh in my mind. I hang my full racks from the very top rack, narrow end up, using the hooks I purchased from Cookshack. I have never done ten racks though, only 4 at a time. My take is that in order to hang ten at a time, you may have to cut a few ribs off the end at least for most of the racks. Otherwise, a good number of the racks will be laying on the wood box. Not all, as there is a gap to each side of the woodbox where you could have at least one or two hang. I can't say if the 55 is large enough to hold a full ten racks, even shortened to allow to hang straight.
When I do mine, I place the hook several ribs down from the top (for now, I use two hooks). This forces the top ribs to curl back down from the top. You will not be able to get ten racks in the 55 if you use this technique as the curled portion will take up space that could go to other racks.
Of course, my goal is to have some room between each rack so they can enjoy the smoke. I also try to avoid having the racks lay on the woodbox because I know it is hotter and do not want a weird differential between the ends of the rack, with one end cooked far beyond the other. The racks will shrink in length as they cook but I try to avoid the problem altogether by having the end of the rack near, but not touching, the woodbox.
I realize this post is long but I hope this helps. BTW, they turned out great last weekend, with my relatives all saying they were better than any they'd had in a restaurant. This almost makes up for all the mistakes I made during the learning curve. One more meal, probably of a brisket, and they'll be buying me meat for their weekend parties. I'll be one happy cook then as I'll be experimenting for free. This is huge fun for me.
-Grub
I own a 55 and I just happened to do spareribs last weekend. As such, it's still fresh in my mind. I hang my full racks from the very top rack, narrow end up, using the hooks I purchased from Cookshack. I have never done ten racks though, only 4 at a time. My take is that in order to hang ten at a time, you may have to cut a few ribs off the end at least for most of the racks. Otherwise, a good number of the racks will be laying on the wood box. Not all, as there is a gap to each side of the woodbox where you could have at least one or two hang. I can't say if the 55 is large enough to hold a full ten racks, even shortened to allow to hang straight.
When I do mine, I place the hook several ribs down from the top (for now, I use two hooks). This forces the top ribs to curl back down from the top. You will not be able to get ten racks in the 55 if you use this technique as the curled portion will take up space that could go to other racks.
Of course, my goal is to have some room between each rack so they can enjoy the smoke. I also try to avoid having the racks lay on the woodbox because I know it is hotter and do not want a weird differential between the ends of the rack, with one end cooked far beyond the other. The racks will shrink in length as they cook but I try to avoid the problem altogether by having the end of the rack near, but not touching, the woodbox.
I realize this post is long but I hope this helps. BTW, they turned out great last weekend, with my relatives all saying they were better than any they'd had in a restaurant. This almost makes up for all the mistakes I made during the learning curve. One more meal, probably of a brisket, and they'll be buying me meat for their weekend parties. I'll be one happy cook then as I'll be experimenting for free. This is huge fun for me.
-Grub
<When I do mine, I place the hook several ribs down from the top (for now, I use two hooks). This forces the top ribs to curl back down from the top.> You explained it much better than me. In my 008 if you cut BBR's in half it avoids touching the smoke box.
Spars are much larger and longer than BBR's, so I would cut off at the larger end if necessary.
Curling of a rack sometimes can be a pain, so I just play with the hooks until I get it right; of course thats only if I am doing 3 full slabs
cut in half using 6 hooks.
Spars are much larger and longer than BBR's, so I would cut off at the larger end if necessary.
Curling of a rack sometimes can be a pain, so I just play with the hooks until I get it right; of course thats only if I am doing 3 full slabs
cut in half using 6 hooks.
Thanks Dave.
I'm a bit torn regarding cutting the ribs in half. I recognize this would entirely avoid the problem with the woodbox. On the other hand, I try hard to avoid drying the meat unnecessarily, which is what I believe would happen if the mid-rack ribs were exposed.
I'm quite possibly making more of this than necessary though. Those mid-rack ribs are mighty tasty though so I'll continue with my technique until something forces me to change course.
Doing full racks is one of the main reasons I purchased the 55 and I'm extremely happy with it.
-Grub
I'm a bit torn regarding cutting the ribs in half. I recognize this would entirely avoid the problem with the woodbox. On the other hand, I try hard to avoid drying the meat unnecessarily, which is what I believe would happen if the mid-rack ribs were exposed.
I'm quite possibly making more of this than necessary though. Those mid-rack ribs are mighty tasty though so I'll continue with my technique until something forces me to change course.
Doing full racks is one of the main reasons I purchased the 55 and I'm extremely happy with it.
-Grub
I see your point. I haven'd done spares in awhile, and as I recall they are much different than BBR's with fat content, etc. As I thing about it leaving them intact may be the best way to go. Why mess with something that's working for you.
If you haven't tried a Pork Butt, I highly recommend it.
If you haven't tried a Pork Butt, I highly recommend it.
I did 15 racks hanging this weekend and it took 6.5 hours. Was a little crowded and I hung the longer slabs along the left and rt sides with the smaller slabs in the center area. Had to create some more hooks since I didn't have 15 so I took a heavy coat hanger and cut and bent it to shape. It worked out fine and the ribs were well smoked on three chunks of hickory. Took them out at 6 hours, sauced them and put them back in on racks for another 30 minutes. I don't know if I would do this many again but it was ok for this time.
One tag to Ron's cook.
His spares were well trimmed,quality spares,from the midwest.
His spares were well trimmed,quality spares,from the midwest.