Large Spare Ribs on a 22.5 OTG

I have purchased 3 racks of trimmed ("no brisket bone") spare ribs (in cryovac) from Costco (15 lbs total).

I will cook only 2 of the 3 racks this weekend, low heat on my 22.5 OTG

My problem is that each rack is about 8" x 19". I have a few options:

1: Use my other Weber (22.5 3-vent) and cook 1 rack on each grill. That will require maintenance of 2 grills. I've done it before, but prefer not to - seems like a waste of space and effort.

2: Use a rib rack. Problem there, is a height constraint. I did some measurements last night. The "top" of the ribs are about 9" above the grate when sitting in my rib rack. I think the Weber OTG has only 8.5" between the grate and the lid - in the center.
2a: I could further trim the racks so they are shorter. I could then cook the trimmed meat off to the side.

2b: I could somehow tilt the rib rack so the ribs lean more towards horizontal? I have not played with that concept yet.

I would like to hear from others that have encountered this before, and your creative ways you conquered it.

Thanks.

Hi, DAVE. Well,I know the issue. I did two spares the other day and barely fit them on my performer. This worked OK but not much room for trimmings which were small, but still doable. My first ribs and they were just fine.
I use two thick firebricks for indirect and they work great, but their thickness does take some room. I'm thinking I have a case for a 26" kettle, what say you?
And when they suckling pig doesn't really fit, we have the case for a RANCHER !!

Originally posted by David DeVivo:
Hi, DAVE. Well,I know the issue. I did two spares the other day and barely fit them on my performer. This worked OK but not much room for trimmings which were small, but still doable. My first ribs and they were just fine.
I use two thick firebricks for indirect and they work great, but their thickness does take some room. I'm thinking I have a case for a 26" kettle, what say you?
And when they suckling pig doesn't really fit, we have the case for a RANCHER !!

Click to expand...

Hello Dave.
First, I also use 2 bricks for indirect. I tried this a few months ago, and I can't believe I didn't think of it sooner. They work great. I use them with the "Minion" method.

When you did the 2 racks, did you use a rib rack? How did you arrange them in your 22.5?

I did three STL trimmed spares in a 22 kettle w/ a weber rib rack. Used a couple of bricks to indirect the coals to one side and put aluminum under the ribs for ease of clean up. Next time my plan is to have two banks of coals and center the ribs. With the ribs not quite centered, the rack closest to the rim of the grate slightly touched the lid. I'm thinking four STL will work.

Dave...no rib rack needed for me with only 2 racks. I think Paul has it with more than 2 racks and using the rib holder. In any case, the two - sided bank would work better, especially since the rib cook is fairly short. I am curious as to the process of saucing if one chooses to do so at the end of the cook, and get the sauce to set for a few minutes. BTW all my guys are asking for way less rub and sauce on the side. Seems that they are missing the strong pork taste they really like. Maybe time for the dalmation rib and pork steak try. Good luck.

Originally posted by David DeVivo:
Dave...no rib rack needed for me with only 2 racks. I think Paul has it with more than 2 racks and using the rib holder. In any case, the two - sided bank would work better, especially since the rib cook is fairly short. I am curious as to the process of saucing if one chooses to do so at the end of the cook, and get the sauce to set for a few minutes. BTW all my guys are asking for way less rub and sauce on the side. Seems that they are missing the strong pork taste they really like. Maybe time for the dalmation rib and pork steak try. Good luck.

Click to expand...

Thanks. I unpacked the ribs. They were untrimmed - even though the package said "Brisket Bone Removed). I am a bit confused by this. Regardless, I trimmed them to St. Louis style. That made them considerably shorter. I did use a rack, then put the trimmings on in the empty areas.

The cook went real well. I smoked for 3 hours at 225-ish (according to my iGrill). I then foiled them for 2 hours with squeeze butter, b-sugar, and honey. I gave them about 1 last hour without the foil. I painted sauce on them twice during that last phase.

Results: I was afraid they would be too sweet. However, they were not. They were very tender, even though the meat did not pull back as much as I was expecting. Do spares "pull back" less than baby backs?

A few of the bones were very loose. I did the bend test right at the end. According to what I have read, I would have said they were not done. I grabbed the racks about 1/3 of the way from the end and picked it up. The surface did not start to tear. Any comments on that?

I would not say they were "Fall off the bone" tender. But I do not think they were tough at all. I was actually wanting to error on the side of "fall off the bone". I tend to prefer that and my family does too.

If I were to do it again, I agree with you that I would go a lot lighter on the rub (Rudy's Rub). The spice was too overpowering. I think I was just too generous with it.

I finally figured out how to post photos.

Dave,

Granted the picture is of babybacks and not spares, it's fairly easy to get 3 racks in a slanted rack. I've done it several times.

The kettle below is the old 3-damper kind that gives all sorts of airflow configuration options, but I've gotten 13+ hours burn time from a similar setup on my Performer.

For foods that are flatish like chicken pieces and ribs, you can have up to three levels in a kettle by using Steam Racks which can be found at Restaurant Supply stores. Below are some photos from a recent cook. The bottom rack is the smallest and coolest area of the kettle. You will usually need to cook the bottom level longer than the upper two levels. The top is the hottest.

Bottom

Middle

Top