cooking the perfect ribs in the lower rack


 
J

Jonathan Jarembek

TVWBB Member
Hello,

i cooked 6 racks of ribs yesterday and the racks that where on the top grate could be rated at a 9 - 10 "at least compared to all the other racks i cooked in the past months"

the other racks that where on the lower grate where good but more around 6 - 8. They were a little harder, chewy and not so quite fall off the bone.

i am assuming it was due to the higher heat on the top of the smoker?

if that is the case do i need to move the racks around ?

is this something i can do half way or in the home run of the smoke?

if ya got any ideas or tips that can help me they would be greatly appreciated.

oh yea..

the ribs where cut and prepped to st Louis style with the membrane pulled then rubbed.

strait 6 hour cook with just a minor peek at around 4.5 hours

i had a consistent heat of around 240 - 255
and to finish em off i put em on the grill bone side down and coated with bbq sauce until gooey.

Thanks
 
You just needed to cook the ribs on the lower rack longer, since the temp is lower on the lower grate than the top grate. Once the ribs on the top were done, just move the lower grate ribs to the upper grate to finish prob about another 45 min to an hr.
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But if you were to rotate them while cooking you should be able to shave off time on the cook and you will have all ribs done at once.
 
Originally posted by SethM:
But if you were to rotate them while cooking you should be able to shave off time on the cook and you will have all ribs done at once.
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Oh course but... The chances of 6 racks of ribs all getting done at the exact same time is slim and none.
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When I do that many, I use a rib rack all on the top grate. The ribs finish somewhere within an hr of each other.
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Lots of ways to do it, this is what just worked for me. Did 8 racks of spares, st. louis style, membrane removed. 4 in a rack on lower, 4 in a rack on upper. Wanted fall off the bone, went with the 3-2-1 method, but had to revise a bit because temps were low and took a long time to come up. But anyways, it went like this:

2.5 hours - avg temp probably 200 on top grate, 180 on lower
rotated upper rack to lower grate
went another 1 hour - avg temp 225 on top grate, 200 on lower
at the 3.5 hour mark, foiled all ribs individually
kept same rotation (ie. did not rotate again), 2 more hours avg temp 300 top grate, 275 lower
at this 5.5 hour mark, I opened each rack, they were all fall off the bone and juicy so I applied one layer of bbq sauce, shutdown all vents and just let them sit in there another 30 minutes. It was hard to get them out of the racks without pulling them all apart, they were so tender. But that was ok because I was serving in 3-bone servings. They were fantastic. The 12 people I cooked them for went nuts as they are fall off the bone lovers.

Todd
 
When I do a big rib cook I cut them into half racks so they fit nicely on the rib racks. I then place the largest ribs in one rack and the smallest in another. I then move the ribs around within their respective rib rack so that the larger half-slabs are on the outer slots of the rack and the smaller onces toward the inside. The rib rack containing the larger ribs is then placed on the top grate, the smaller on the bottom. Cook times are now fairly even. I don't baste, spray, etc so the smoker stays closed for the first 5 hours, after which I check the racks for doneness.

Every once in a while you'll get a rack or two that takes longer than the others, but I've had very consistent results using this method.
 
My experiences have been much the same as the OP. It took me a while to figure out what I was doing.

You can definately rotate (i would just do once though) but as always you want to keep the unit closed as much as possible.

Other options are to put the thinner racks on the bottom (which would help somehwhat) or to wait until the unit is up to heat to load all your meat. The second suggestion will lengthen your cook but is based on the fact that you loose A LOT of cook time on the bottom due to the heat sink's cooling effect for the first part of your cook.
 
Originally posted by Russ Hazzon:
When I do a big rib cook I cut them into half racks so they fit nicely on the rib racks. I then place the largest ribs in one rack and the smallest in another. The rib rack containing the larger ribs is then placed on the top grate, the smaller on the bottom. Cook times are now fairly even.
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Now that's one of the best ideas I have heard in a while. Think I'll try it on my next big rib cook...maybe Labor Day.
 
Originally posted by Bryan S:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Ryan Kelley:
Thats a nice rack! Homemade or store bought?
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They are nice racks, pricey but nice. Pits by Klose </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Whooo Weeeee! $40 rib racks! You really do love to BBQ with the best.

(I wonder how I can sneak that kind of purchase past my wife.....)
 
so after all the feed back and well at lest half the racks coming out pretty amazing i am going to hit the ribs up again this weekend..

i am thinking i am going to swap at 2 hours then 2 hours then 1 and 1 and see how it works out.

my only issue is trying not to burn myself on the lower racks..

i am using 2 x 6 slot half racks rib racks for the ribs. For the life of me i cannot remember the names of em but i have scene pics of em here before


I will let everyone know how they turn out.

thanks for the advice

Jon
 
my only issue is trying not to burn myself on the lower racks..
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I first use the elbow length welding gloves to grab the entire top food grate by the handles, lift, and set it aside.

Then I use these gloves, Insulated Neoprene Gloves, to take and grab just the rib rack on the lower food grate and pull that whole thing out and set aside.

Put the rib rack that was up on top on bottom, put the bottom on top, done. Takes all of 1 minute.

Todd
 
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