1st rib smoke questions

[Duane Riggs]

I am doing my 2nd smoke this tomorrow. My first was pork butts and it was great.
I wanted to do a brisket next but my wife wants ribs, so I guess we are having ribs.

Here is what I would like to do so any advice is appreciated.

I couldnt decide between BB's or spares so I bought 2 racks of BB's and 2 racks of spares trimmed St Louis style.
We will eat at 7PM.

I plan on the spares to be a 8 hr cook so set everything up to be done around 6-6:30pm.
I figure that gives me a window of 7-9 hrs on the spares.
They will go in rib rack on the top shelf, the trimmngs go on the bottom.

After about 2.5 hrs the trimmings come off and chop some up to put in baked beans that will go on the bottom shelf and the BB.s go into the rib rack with the spares till the end. The beans might have to come out earlier.

No special rib recipe just rub and sauced toward the end. Maybe some basting the last couple of hours.

So my big question is, will this work or should I do something differently?

 

[Bruce Bissonnette]

Duane,

Never cooked BB's and spares together, now that you mention it, but your plan sounds OK. Depending on your temps 7-9 hours might be a little long for spares. I have found my spares are usually done in 6 or so. But every cook is different, and I don't go by time alone anyway.

Have a good cook.

 

[Greg Rempe]

I think you'll be ok...I find that is a good idea to have a plan and be able to adapt to changes if the need avails itself.

Your plan sounds good so go for it! Good luck!

 

[Paul G.]

Duane

Sounds like a good plan to me; althought I've never done it myself. A couple of thoughts. Try to limit the time the lid is off as much as possible. With adding the BB, beans, etc, you may need to set up a table so you can get things off quickly but put the lid back on while you're adding the BB to your rack,etc. Another thing to remember is that you're adding new heat sinks with the BB and the beans. Perhaps it would be wise to anticipate this by letting the temp get a little higher before you make the move and be ready to open your vents some more.

Hope it comes out well and let us know.

Paul