cutting rack in half as opposed to skewering on 18.5?


 

jeff davidson

TVWBB Super Fan
Hi,

my wife and I are going to cook together for the first time in about a week. I typically create a ring with the ribs and use a skewer to keep them together. I practiced tonight, although the bone was straight when I started the cook, they were curved by the end of the cook. is that possible? is it because I created a ring? would I be better off cutting the ribs in half and lying them flat on the cooking surface?

I don't remember this problem when I cooked w my daughter...

thanks!
 
Jeff,

If this is for a competition, you will need enough for the judges. Using KCBS as an example only, you would need at least 6 of your best bones. Most trim the outer ribs leaving only 9 ribs out of a rack of 13. You could reasonably "expect" 6 good bones out of the very center. If you are trying to give each judge the same, or close to the same entry, cutting the rack in half for cooking would increase the variability of that (once) single rack of ribs.

If you trimmed off the 4 outer ribs, you should have room on the 18.5" WSM for those 9 ribs.
 
Last edited:
Jeff,

If this is for a competition, you will need enough for the judges. Using KCBS as an example only, you would need at least 6 of your best bones. Most trim the outer ribs leaving only 9 ribs out of a rack of 13. You could reasonably "expect" 6 good bones out of the very center. If you are trying to give each judge the same, or close to the same entry, cutting the rack in half for cooking would increase the variability of that (once) single rack of ribs.

If you trimmed off the 4 outer ribs, you should have room on the 18.5" WSM for those 9 ribs.

thanks bob, that makes an awful lot of sense. In the past, I've cooked two racks to give my self a little leeway. Do you think two such racks will fit? on the bottom of an 18 inch wsm?
 

 

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