Cooking ribs but not on my grill


 
J

jeff birmes

New member
I am visiting Mi. and friends have asked me to cook 60lbs of bbribs. Here is the catch they rented a grill that looks like i pig roaster with a grate on it. I have never cooked that many ribs on a pit like that and now my reputation for great ribs that they have been used to eating from my house is on the line. I am planning on cooking all the slabs bone side down at around 225 like normal but since it is not a smoker is there any advice that all you pros may have for me so I can acheive the same type quality I always get from the WSM? All help will be greatly appreciated
 
Haven't done ribs on a pit roaster grate thing, but have learned the following by reading this site:
1. Rendevous cooks ribs ~18in over direct coals
2. Ed Mitchell cooks his stuff over high heat

Also, before getting WSM, I would do ribs on a gasser direct over the lowest flames possible.

Since getting the WSM, I've learned that ribs cooked at 275-325F, tastes better to me.

Point to all of the above: you'll probably be ok if flare-ups are avoided, and have confidence that it'll be good.

HTH and good luck!
 
Welcome Jeff!

Duplicating your recipe while using a foreign grill and upping the recipe to 60 lbs of meat might be a challenge if you're trying to match normal quality.

Your first task will be to determine how air tight the grill is. The more air coming in the harder it will be to cook the ribs at a low temp (increased air flow = higher temps). You might consider cooking at a much higher temp such as 350. Ribs can be successfully cooked at higher temps. Basically you cook for about 90 mins, then foil for about 30 mins. After 30 mins in foil, start testing for tenderness. Once tender, remove foil and firm up the exterior meat that will have softened from the foiling process.

If the grill is fairly air tight, try a the Minion Method. Assuming there are vents on the grill you will want to CATCH THE TEMPS ON THE WAY UP to your target temp. Once you've exceeded your target temp, it can be a bear to bring them back down. The quantity of meat you're cooking will act as a heat sink, thus keeping your temps down (that's good for a low and slow cook).

Otherwise, use your same seasonings, sauces, etc.

Paul
 
Unfortunately by the time I get a picture it would be to late. My thoughts were to put all the coals on the side were they made a coal feeder hole and put all the ribs on the other side with the only available wood being hickory chunks.
Paul I always like your advice and have used several of your suggestions in other cooks. In regards to cooking at high heat would you still use the offset type layout or would you place coals throughout the bottom of the pit? I have never cooked ribs on high heat like you are talking about and would have to admit the thought scares me to do so much meat like that since i have never did a high heat cook. If I am able to keep temps low do you also think I should foil the ribs at some point? Just curious because there are a lot of ribs. Thanks
 
Jeff,

Where are you going to be in Michigan?

I'd like to offer my services as a judge!
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JimT
 
As has been said, ribs can be cooked at a wide range of temperatures. The challenge with using poorly constructed cookers can be temperature consistency over the cooking surface. You may need to keep an eye out for hot spots, with some racks getting done faster than others.

The standard advice of flipping and rotating can be tough to follow with that much meat.
 
The guys around here that I have saw cook that many ribs watchem like a hawk. There is going to be hot spots and cold spots I see them stackem on top of the other ribs if they start getting to done to quick . never having done it but having watched it some the ones I have saw use LOW indirect heat and normaly have a shelf inside to lay done ribs on good luck dude I wish I could be more help .
 
Those Ribs can be cooked indirect if you have the room. I would keep a close eye on them and rotate as necessary to cook evenly. As for temp as stated earlier High or Low will work equally well. Good luck on your cook. I'm sure all will be well.
 
I've never cooked on anything like that. Some here think air tightness of the cooker might be a problem. Having dealt with an offset that wasn't very air tight I'll offer this. I used scrunched up aluminum foil to kinda make a gasket to stop the excess air flow.
 
Couple questions. Does this grill have a fire box like a stick burner or do the coals go directly in the cooking chamber?

If the coals go in the cooking chamber is there room for some aluminum foil pans? What I would do is put water in the foil pans and then place the coals on the outer edges? Kind of how I have made ribs on my old kettle. This way you have made an indirect cooking area. Also you can do a minion type cook providing that you have room to put lit on top of unlit.

If you have a side box type cooker where the coals are not in the main cooking section, then cooking indirect is pretty simple. The only issue I see is you might use more fuel than you might think. My dad has a stick burner that burns a ton of charcoal or lump. I have not yet mastered the whole burning logs thing.

One trick to see the hot and cold spots in this cooker is to get some ready made biskets that come in the cardboard rolls. Take them and place them in different locations and see how they cook. If they cook fast you know that spot is hotter than other areas that might not cook as fast. What I did in dads stick burner was to put foil pans in this area to help deflect the heat a bit. Now if I could just cut back on the fuel usage that would be great. But it did help. I hope this helps you some. Vince
 
Jeff, first off... It is going to be awesome!!!!

Vince, good idea with the water pans in the middle.

I would try to cook direct (or at least semi-direct like Vince says)... then foil... then put them back on to finish. If that freaks you out, go buy one slab of bb's and cook it directly over the coals on the wsm, or on a kettle if you have one. When they look like a well done steak, stand them up in foil containers with a little bit of liquid in the bottom and cover the top with large heavy duty foil.(I might have read this technique from Ray Lampe) At that point you can perfectly control how tender you get them, and control the timing of when you serve them. In the last 30 min to hour, start pulling them out and put them back over the coals to make them look the way you want.

You can build your fire over about 2/3 of the grill. This will help to give you a warm place to stack ribs that are ready to go into the large foil containers to tenderize, or ready to serve at the end.

IMHO you will drive yourself crazy trying to regulate temps that low. It will take a long time to cook with that much cold meat in a cooker too. I would not foil individual racks either. The larger containers will work to braise the meat till tender... just stand them up on their thick end and don't forget to put a little bit of liquid in the container with them before you cover.

I would keep a spray bottle handy as you cook the ribs, or a couple mops for baste to keep from getting too dark.

I did almost the same thing with 40 slabs of spares twice. The first time, I kept things simple... Grilled them till they were done, sauced, and served. The next time I got cute and tried to foil each slab with butter and sugar and other stuff, but I didn't add enough liquid in the foil. When I unwrapped the foil, the butter had burned and almost ruined the whole batch of ribs. Keep it simple.

1. Cook to well done
2. Braise in covered containers to control tenderness and timing
3. Finish any way you want

Most of all... HAVE FUN
 
Jeff - The cooker you use will probably not be as important as it will be for you to get comfortable with the temps you are used to. Go buy a cheap oven thermometer at HD or any hardware store to get your grate temps approx where you are used to cooking with. They are only $5.00. Then cook on as usual. You will do fine. Bob
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I've cooked 30-40 bbs on similar set-ups many times. I always do the bulk of the cooking indirect (just like when I cook on a WSM) and I cook high heat (like the WSM as well), with temps of ~325 for most of the cook, higher after foiling.

(You don't have to foil. I've done many cooks without. But it does give you an op to add flavor and even out the cooking - and it gives you a bit of a break once they're back in the cooker foiled. It ain't daunting at all; I can foil 40 racks in less than 10 minutes - no reason you can't do the same.)

I cook indirect, periodically rotating ribs from hotter spots to cooler spots, periodically flipping, if needed, etc., so all cook as evenly and within as close to the same time period as the others. How often I have to move them depends on quantity, grate size, where the fuel is located. I am not beyond stacking racks on top of each other to save space, as needed, though one must rearrange the stacks periodically for even cooking.

I cook till deeply colored (the same as I do on my WSM) then foil, if foiling. (If I'm not foiling I just keep at it till tenderness is achieved.) For foiling, I prefer one rack per foil piece, along with a few tablespoons of whatever I'm using for foiling liquid, meat side down, and will return them to the cooker and stack them as needed for space considerations, rotating the stacks in their entirety, as well as the individual racks within the stacks, periodically. (I tend to do things in 5-7 minute intervals. There is no way to keep track of everything I've done so I don't - and I don't worry about it.)

Just like on the WSM, I cook till tender while in the foil. I never sauce ribs for serving (can't stand that) but sometimes thinly glaze - and that is something I do for large rib cooks as it evens out flavor disparities caused by all the handling during cooking. As the ribs are done I remove them to a side table, draining foil juices to finish the sauce with, and flip them meat side up. I paint on a thin veneer of glaze and they sit till all are out of the cooker. If not serving soon I drape lightly with plastic to keep off critters. For serving, I return to the cooker, several slabs at a time, paint with glaze, allow to heat several minutes, then stack off to a cooler side, adding new slabs to the cooker. The finished stack gets sliced and panned for serving while the next group is finishing.

Hope this helps.
 
Kevin,

Not to hijack this thread, but can you add the flavor profile by just mopping or spraying if you prefer the tenderness to be achieved by time and not foil? Just curious to know what you've found most effective. It just seems daunting to keep an eye on the tenderness of each rack in the foil. I know you've got experience on your side though.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">In regards to cooking at high heat would you still use the offset type layout </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Most definitely. Just follow Kevin's advice; you can't go wrong. You may have a few options depending on the size of the grill. You could stack coals at one end or split between both ends and cook in the middle. The later option would probably lend to more even cooking.

Paul
 
It does. If I have the room to split the coals I do. One still needs to move things around but there is a bit less of this with the coals split.

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mk-- Thank you for your kind words.

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Though bbs usually take me a bit over 2 hours to maybe a little over 2.5 hours on a WSM, depending on a few factors, it is not possible to assume the same time cooking in a scenario when one might be opening up the cooker every several minutes to rearrange. Plan accordingly.

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Darrell-- Foil can help even cooking and, in the scenario presented in the OP, cut the cook time - something to consider when doing a big bunch of ribs at once. Yes, to answer your question, one can mop or spray to add a flavor layer. (I do neither, but were I to pick one it would be mopping. Sprays need to be fairly thin and clear to spray well; mops can be thicker (it is good to reduce largely water-based flavors, like fruit juices, at least somewhat, ahead of time) and will support spices, aromatics, etc., more easily than sprays.)

It seems daunting to keep an eye on each rack in foil - but one doesn't really need to do this. If cooking has been fairly even at the outset (rotation has been attended to, etc.) and the racks are foiled when all are evenly deeply colored, then one need only check one rack. If it is not yet tender, re-crimp the foil and put it back in rotation, checking another several mnutes along. Once one hits a tender rack it can be assumed that many if not most are also ready. Since they all need to be unwrapped anyway, a quick pierce between the bones with a probe as each is opened is enough to tell. The tender go on the table, those not quite there - if any, and often all are done - can be stuck back on while the others are off-loaded.
 
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