Best way to get ribs on and off the smoker?


 
T

Tom L

TVWBB Fan
I smoked up 4 slabs of ribs yesterday and all the trimmings as well and although things went fairly well, I wanted to see if anyone had some suggestions.

#1) If you foil ribs (family likes them falling off the bone) can you use a rib rack? When I was putting the ribs back on to firm up the glaze after foiling, they needed to be handled very gently to keep them from falling apart. I will probably reduce foil time to 1 hour next time btw.

#2) The clumsiest part of the process was pulling the ribs, foiling them and putting them back on, especially the ribs on the lower grate. Do people just pull the whole grate and put it on a stainless table or something? That part didn't go as smoothly as I would have liked...

#3) Those 4 sets of ribs filed the grates of my 22 WSM and I had to get out my foldable leg grate to put the trimmings on. I'm thinking of ordering 2 more lower grates and building some more legs to place them on the lower and upper grates, that way I can do at least 8 slabs. Does anyone have a better idea besides the suggestions on the modification page?

#4) I am going to make a small holder for the guru and the remote thermometer to mount to because I was tripping over those things all afternoon on a small table next to the smoker.

Thanks for all the help so far to turn out these delicious foods!

Tom
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I have a couple of suggestions since your family likes them that tender (overcooked).

1. After cooking in foil, just unwrap them but leave the foil below. The racks should still firm up a good bit on top and you should be able to just carry the ribs out on the foil.

2. Cook the ribs in a rack for three or four hours without foiling or anything. The racks you want super tender, pull and finish in the oven.
 
And for your rib rack question. Yes. Yes you can. I often use the 3-2-1 method (though I cook more like 3-1-1). Cook in the rack for three, cook them all in foil for 1, then put 'em back in the rack for one more hour. Works for me.
 
Tom,

I have installed a middle grate, but also dropped the bowl a bit to make room for butts.

http://tvwbb.com/eve/forums/a/...0069052/m/3191048306

When pulling a bunch of ribs off for foiling or glazing, I pull the whole rack and set it up on a plastic folding table. After I am done, spray it with 409 to clean up the grease. Much easier then fumbling around with 1 rack of ribs at a time and you can close the smoker back up quickly so that you don't have temp spikes.
 
When pulling things to glaze, I typically set out a folding tv tray with a cookie sheet on top. I pull the entire grate, set it on the cookie sheet, and close the lid to keep the heat in while I'm glazing.

I've had trouble pulling ribs from a rib rack without tearing the ribs up, so I'm going to try it without the rib rack for the next few smokes. I'll either lay the ribs flat or roll them if I need the extra capacity.
 
Tom, my family likes ribs fall off the bone tender too. When I foil them or take them out of the foil, I sit a large cookie sheet on a plastic folding table, and put the grate on top of the cookie sheet using heavy, heat resistant silicone gloves. the cookie sheet catches 99% of all the drips & mess, and anything that hits the table I clean up with either 409 & a paper towel, or use a clorox wipe. Hope this helps.
 
Oh, another tip that I found on here that has worked well, when I'm doing this kind of stuff, I use cotton gloves with latex gloves over them for a good balance between heat resistance and dexterity.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Jim H.:
Tom, my family likes ribs fall off the bone tender too. When I foil them or take them out of the foil, I sit a large cookie sheet on a plastic folding table, and put the grate on top of the cookie sheet using heavy, heat resistant silicone gloves. the cookie sheet catches 99% of all the drips & mess, and anything that hits the table I clean up with either 409 & a paper towel, or use a clorox wipe. Hope this helps. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Looks like Mark R. does the same thing I do. I roll racks of ribs and I don't use a rib rack. By rolling, I can easily get 6-8 slabs in the WSM.
 
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