Any Danger in Smoking Uncovered Beans UNDER Pork Ribs?


 
J

Joe Ray

TVWBB Member
I have read that folks who do their beans in the smoker will actually put it under the meat to collect the drippings. Now, this sounds flavorful and all but it also sounds like a potential contamination issue no?

I am limited on space as I will have almost 40 people at my daughter's Bday/Memorial day celebration and even with my 3 Webers I'm going to be pressed for space. I want to put the adult's beans in the kettle with the ribs and want the best flavor but don't want everybody puking all over the lawn after lunch either.
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What say ya'll? Wait till maybe the half way point when the ribs are past the raw stage? That's what I was thinking..........
 
I would put your beans on and not worry because the drippings are going to cook in the beans anyway and you will get amazing flavor. The longer beans cook the better they are. If you are worried just cover them with a lid or foil for the first couple of hours, but I would capture the drippings. All the best on your cook and have a great weekend.
 
I really don't think it's dangerous, assuming that everything will come up to temp at some point (the beans will be boiling or simmering at some point?).

For me, I'd place whatever fat I'm looking for in the beans ahead of time to avoid the mess. I will add pork fat (usually bacon) or some leftover pulled pork that already has the smokey flavor in it.

I think the drippings from a full or even half cook may be too much (wait a minute, did I actually say too much fat?
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OK guys, under the ribs it's going to be. The stainless steel pot with a copper coating outside (found it at the thrift store for a $1 yesterday)
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will be sitting in the water drip directly under the ribs.

Thanks guys!!

And hey Jim, if you are ever coming to Vegas you let me know and I'll do my best to make something edible for you on one of the Webers!


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If you get time, how about a brief rundown on how you cook the beans. That seems like a good idea to me.
 
My take on the subject (just a WAG, mind you) is the juices & rendered fat are going to be well above safe temperatures, especially if you let the meat cook just a little bit (say a half hour or an hour) before you put the beans on (or uncover them).

I personally wouldn't want all of the fat in the beans so I'd probably cover them part of the time anyway.
 
Do it often. They will come out great. This is the perfect opportunity to toss in some of those cuttings from your St. Louis style prep of your spares if you do that (I do!).

The cuttings that get spared from tasting during the cook go into the beans. I have large heavy aluminum cake pan (about 4 inches high) that I like to use on the second rack underneath. Awesome.
 
Thanks guys, I feel confident in smoking the beans underneath the ribs now.

I am going to use the apple pie filling bean recipe I found in side dish section of this website. I have already smoked up the trimmings and I cam up with a A LOT! (7 racks of spares but darn, there was a lot of really great trimmings that cam off of them, it made a TON of extra meat for the ribs)
 
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