What is the Best procedure to smoke, store & reheat ribs?


 
G

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I just got a WSM this past weekend and smoked a chicken, sausages, fish and ribs. Most of it was very tasty.

My question is this: what is the best way to cook, store and reheat ribs? I smoked the ribs this weekend basically using a variation of the 3-2-1 method. I smoked them for 3 hours, wrapped them in foil for 2 hours in the oven and then slathered them with sauce and seared them on my Weber gas grill for the last 15-20 min. to carmelize the BBQ Sauce.

I want to serve ribs for a bigger group but pre-cook the ribs, so I can relax. When everyone is ready to eat, I wanted to just pop them on the grill to re-heat.

Is the best method to smoke for 3 hours, foil for 2-3 hours then refridgerate or freeze; and when ready sauce & grill to re-heat for group? Does freezing effect taste much?

Thank you for your help.
 
I freeze ribs quite often. I use a FoodSaver vacuum sealer (recommended!) and vacuum and freeze them after they cool. I do not use an oven for any stage of cooking nor do I sauce them. My preference for re-heating is to drop the FoodSaver'd ribs into a pot of water, bring it to a boil, cover it, turn off the heat and 15-20 min later they're ready. Microwaves work, too, but some (mine) heat unevenly.

Since you like to sauce and finish, I'd recommend cooking them just to the stage you'd normally sauce them but pulling them instead at that point. Cool, wrap tightly in plastic, and put in a Ziploc, pressing out the air before freezing (all this if you don't have a vac system). Day before, remove to the fridge to thaw. Day of, finish on the grill with your sauce. Well-wrapped or vacuumed, ribs freeze fine.

Welcome to the board.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> Is the best method to smoke for 3 hours, foil for 2-3 hours then refridgerate or freeze... </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Sorry, missed this part of your question. There are various methods to cook ribs. Search around the Forum and you'll see many. The best is what you think is best.I don't cook ribs by time (as in 3-2-1) but more by the way the ribs look and feel. (Btw, I'm speaking of spares. I don't do BBs at all.) 2-3 hours in foil is too long to me. But you, and others, may feel differently. If you were pleased with your ribs the other day then just tweak or vary the approach here and there till you hit your target. If you're going to foil, I'd recommend returning the ribs to the smoker rather than the oven; it's easy and frees your oven for other stuff. Others here also sauce and finish on a gasser, some sauce or glaze and return to the WSM, some finish with nothing. Again, if a finish with sauce is your preference, I think for best meat texture and sauce flavor it's better--if you want to freeze--to do the finish and sauce after you've thawed and just before serving.
 
I reheated the best ever ribs this past weekend, here's what I did:
placed frozen ribs on a piece of foil and made a slightly watered down (with a lump of frozen reduced chicken stock) BBQ sauce and spooned this over the top. I reserved a small amount of the sauce for last minute dressing. Wrapped tightly then put in a 200*F oven for ~45 minutes then removed from the foil, reserved any liquid an thickened it with the reserved BBQ sauce. Cut the ribs into individuals, this was very tricky, and painted with the remaining sauce and put under the broiler until bubbly.
I only had one riblet, they were gon that fast, and oh so tender.

hth

morgan
 
I have reheated ribs on the gas grill several times and they taste like new.
icon_smile.gif
 
I think what you're hearing here is what I've experienced - smoked meat freezes well, holds in the frig well, and reheats easily using almost any method. I've even frozen spares, thawed and heated in a microwave and they were terrific. Oven, boiling, grilling, any method will work.

I'd cook to completion with sauce, cool, and freeze or refigerate depending on the time requirements and heat with indirect heat (oven, smoker, or aside on the grill).

Loren
 
Thanks for the help! It sounds like putting ribs in the freezer or refridgerator doesn't effect them much. Now I'll start cooking them in mass.
 
If you decide to vac seal the ribs, be aware the bones can punture the vacuum bags - guess how I found that out. Now, I wrap them well in saran wrap, wrap tightly in foil and then put in a zip lock freezer bag.

Paul
 
I'm just reinforcing what everyone else has said, but I used to work in a very popular BBQ restaurant here and they would smoke their ribs, put them in the fridge, and then finish them on the grill for a few minutes right before serving. They tasted awesome.
 
I do the same as Kevin K, but I've found that about 30 minutes is best if you want to be sure of no disappointments. I've jumped the gun more than a few times to find lukewarm ribs after opening the bag.

Paul G. made a very relevant point as well; the bones can easily poke holes in the foodsaver bags. I slip a little folded foil on the bone ends before vacuuming.

I've tried the microwave, the grill, the oven, and steaming, but like the foodsaver "boil-in-the-bag" method the best for ease and quality of finished product. The best part about the foodsaver method is that it works straight from the freezer; no pre-thawing is necessary.
 
I guess I'm wondering "how big of a group" are you talking??

If you just mean you are gunna do up 10-15 racks of ribs I would recommend not bothering with freezing. If you cooked them up a day or 2 prior in your preferred method (just don't apply final sauce if you are saucing) I can't see why you can't just refrigerate and pop on the grill for a quick heat and eat.

You may want to pull them a tiny bit early, but really ribs cool down VERY quickly and therefore I wouldn't worry too much. When you are gunna reheat them, I would go with a "professional" look and pile up ribs on one side of the grill with the heat off and sauce/finish them on the other side over medium heat. This will warm the ones "in the battersbox" and also force your guests to oooh and aaaah more as they come off and everyone get a couple ribs at a time! haha

Maybe that's just me wanting to be a glory hog!
 
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