Making Custom Rib Racks?


 
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Clay J

TVWBB Fan
about 2 weeks ago I welded up a custom verticle turkey stand. Vertical Bird

That got me to thinking, I've made due with rectangular rib racks in my wsm, but I wonder if I couldn't create my own custom racks instead.

What are some ideas for the ideal WSM rib rack?

Maybe remove the top grill, sit it on the bottom grill, and it stands all the way up to top of the dome with 4 or 5 levels for putting in ribs?

Would round help?

How about kind of spiral from the center out so you put in whole racks with the tip of each rack almost touching in the center and then curving on it way out? could you put 3 or 4 racks per level this way and still keep them 1/2 inch apart?

how about a hanging rack? Skewer the ribs at the top, middle, and bottom to support the weight?

Maybe just slightly beefed up versions of the weber racks with holders on the sides for 2 or 4 more 1/2 racks, then make them stackable?

Any other ideas for the perfect rib rack for a WSM?
 
Originally posted by Clay J:
How about kind of spiral from the center out so you put in whole racks with the tip of each rack almost touching in the center and then curving on it way out?

Bingo! I've always thought this could possibly work.

Regards,
Chris
 
Turkey rack in 'link' looks good.
I also like the spiral rib rack idea. You still might have to cut some of the ribs just for the middle, but once the dia of the ribs on the rack got to a certain point you should be fine. Good Idea.
 
My ideal rack would be pretty simple - round with a slightly smaller diameter than the bottom grate of the WSM, and with vertical dividers all the way across. Like this:
rack1.gif


It would also have crossways horizontal grates on the bottom so that you could fill it up and carry it without anything falling through. I left them out of the picture because it made it too crowded to see the details.

If you fill it up, you could lay more racks across the top. And if it were tall enough to clear the ribs (6"?), you could stack several of them. It would have rings around both the top and bottom for stability. You could also add a third ring around the outside, like this:
rack2.gif


That would allow you to load up the rack and carry it to the WSM without worrying about anything sliding out of position.
 
Whatever your design, I'd think about making it with as few "points" as possible. You know how the Weber rack has those rounded dividers? I find it much easier to clean with a Scotchbrite than the Char-broil, which has pointy corners that catch the pad.
 
The Charbroil rack fits in a dishwasher, which cleans it up much better than you might think. Don't know if the Weber fits. Maybe dishwasher dimensions are another thing to keep in mind for a custom rack.
 
I was doing some ribs this morning.

I brought in my bottom rack from the wsm and started laying the out the ribs to see just how many I could fit on in a spiral pattern.

It looks like I could do 6 full racks and still keep space between them if I had the proper rack.

I came up with 3 possible ideas for the spiral ribs.

1) Skewers. You could probably use bambo skewers horizontally through the racks to hold the ribs in a spiral pattern with small gaps between them. I didn't have the time to try that this morning, but the idea of putting 12 full uncut racks on my WSM just might have to be tried out once I'm back from Thanksgiving vaccation.

2) The best design for a spiral rack that I could come up with was to make some form of circular base, then put a pattern of bars sticking straight up from the base. Put bars every 2 inches in circular patterns throughout the whole rack, then you could put the ribs on in whatever manner you want and as tight as you want. Weld cross pieces across the tops of a few outer bars and you even have handles for lowering the whole thing into the WSM.

3) The last idea was to take a short piece of flat stock. Lay it flat and weld 2 bars sticking up from it about 1" apart. Make several of these, then slide 3 or 4 of them onto each rack of ribs and you've added a flat base to the rib itself so it will stay upright on its side in the smoker. You could them position the ribs in whatever pattern you need. I suppose you could also just do 1 bar sticking up and sharpen it a bit, then skewer it into the rib as well.
 
Clay,

I think those last 2 ideas have some potential. I'm kinda thinking of something like a dishwasher tray - just a bunch of posts so you can put ribs however you wanted....could probably make the rack adjustable also....
 
I had a heck of a brainstorm last night after reading this. I drew up some plans. Needs to be refined and more accurate dimensions.

I don't have any ribs around and I need some dimensions to help with next round changes. If someone has a supply they could check the length and width of ribs for me that would be great. Actually I would like to know the widest and longest you have some laying around.

My plan is to make an integrated rib rack and steamer combo. I just hope it doesn't cost an arm and leg to build.
 
Jeff, regarding spare rib dimensions, I presently have six, 2-slab cryovac'd packages in my freezer. I grabbed the biggest package and got the following dimensions:

length: 18-1/2"
height: 8-1/2"
thickness: 3-1/2" (for 2 slabs, so 1-3/4" per slab)

Granted, these are frozen packages and consequently, I think the width may not be totally accurate. They just seem so thick in the package!
 
Is that 18-1/2 length?

As for hanging, I've considered that, but by the time they are close to cooked, they'd fall apart. You would have to support them the whole length in 3 or 4 spots, not just one end. And finally, since the WSM cookes hotter at the top rack than the bottom rack (heat rises) you would still have to rotate the ribs half way through. It just seemed too many things to go wrong with hanging.

I'm going to try something this week. I bought a charcoal grate and I'm going to weld rods onto it in a spiral pattern and see if I can make a good rack.

If it works, I might take it down to a paint shop and have it powder coated. I think that will be food safe. Anyone know how to bake enamel onto iron?
 
Originally posted by Clay J:
As for hanging, I've considered that, but by the time they are close to cooked, they'd fall apart. You would have to support them the whole length in 3 or 4 spots, not just one end.
Lots of folks with big cookers hang their ribs. You don't have to support them at several spots along the whole length, just a couple of hooks located a couple of bones from the end.

I might take it down to a paint shop and have it powder coated. I think that will be food safe. Anyone know how to bake enamel onto iron?
I don't think powder coating is food safe, and it if hits about 600*F it will peel off. You'd be better off having it nickel plated like original Weber cooking grates, or taking it to someone that does porcelain coatings (think wood burning stove and 1940's kitchen stove refinishing specialist...hard to find, but there are some on the Web).

Regards,
Chris
 
Thanks for the info Wayne.

Back to the old drawing board as the saying goes. I can't wait to see how many slabs I can make work. I think it has to be at least 5 to make it worth while. What do you think?

Well I will get at it.

Edit:
Looks like I can squeeze 5 slabs on a level. Oh yea!

Wayne can you remember off the top of your head about the length measurement. Normally on the large bones it angles to what would be a longer measurement. I am wondering if you measured on the long side or the short side or down the middle.

Actually I am thinking about not putting anything in to restrict the length. That way longer and shorter will offset and make possible to overlap if necessecary to accomidate. I just figured it would strengthen it some.

I guess it is time to start tracking down some metal and a shop to do some bending. Any suggestions on type of metal. I'm not sure alumanium will be strong enough. Stainless I'm sure will be $$. What about regular steel and then plating it.
 
The turkey stand that I made was out of regular steel. Then I cured it roughly the way that you cure a dutch oven. I've cooked 3 turkeys on it and no problems yet.

I got the idea to oil and bake it from a company that sells a turkey stand made from steel. That was their method of maintaining it.

If all else fails, that's what I will do with my rib rack, clean, veg oil, and bake at 175 for 40 minutes.
 
That is a good idea. I was wondering about that I just wasn't sure. It would be nice to keep it cheap until I get it perfected. I could sand blast it then add the oil and bake.


Edit:
I just talked to a welder who works for us. He said mild steel has oil in it that will come out with heat. Thinking about alumanium now. Just not sure if it will be strong enough. I guess I just need to find out some prices. The quantity is small stainless may not be that bad.
 
I don't think I'll give up on the steel. After all, how many of us have grilled on expanded steel grating.
 
I don't mean necessecarily give up on it. I am going to spend some time in making this. When I weld the last piece in place I want to be able to put it on the wsm and really try it out. I would rather skip the baking and curing steps for the prototype. If you know what I mean.
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