Hanging Ribs in 22" WSM

[Donna Fong]

With all the fuss with Gateway smokers, I was curious to try hanging ribs from my 22". I used an extender to raise the ribs from the coals, two steel bars that crossed, double hooks for the ribs, no water pan, a combination of lump and briquettes and covered half of the coals with foil to control the burn. I hung two racks for an hour and foiled for 1.5 hours. The temperatures varies from 250 to 280F.
Though I dropped one rack into the fire, I did clean up the blood stains, and made a rookie mistake with setting the sauce, overall, I was very happy how even and tender the ribs were. I have 4 more racks to cook later this week. I'll try to find some lump somewhere in the East Bay.
Below are 15 ribs in the box.

 

[Lynn Dollar]

Great color on the ribs. The use of the foil is interesting.

 

[Dustin Dorsey]

Those are some beautiful ribs! I've only hung ribs in my WSM once. I didn't have an extender. I think I only did one rack in my 22.5 WSM so I didn't really get as much of that direct heat flavor as I wanted. I need to try it again.

 

[Geo S]

I use a gateway hanger, double hook, directly over the coals, comes out great.you'd think the bottom ribs would burn but aside from a little extra char they're fine.

 

[DanHoo]

Donna, those look tasty.

 

[Jim C in Denver]

Next time, put an extra grate down on the charcoal ring to guard against dropsies.

Easiest way to guard against dropsies and over cooking the fire end is to hang slabs cut in half. No need to double hook half ribs. 8 half racks will easily fit into a 22 or 18, And no need for an extender ring.

But you'd be surprised how little the fire end gets over cooked. If you flip the ribs top to bottom halfway through, no problems.

 

[Donna Fong]

Thanks! Two questions: 1) what do people do to either prevent or react to blood leaking over the surface of the ribs as they cook and messing up the appearance of the rack and 2) if I set the sauce on the ribs in the smoker, how do I not mess up the meatside afterwards, if I slice the ribs bones idea up?

 

[RichPB (richlife)]

Yes to Jim C in Denver on that last comment. It's perhaps surprising that midway in the core the temp may be lower than at the top.

 

[Donna Fong]

Next time, put an extra grate down on the charcoal ring to guard against dropsies.

Easiest way to guard against dropsies and over cooking the fire end is to hang slabs cut in half. No need to double hook half ribs. 8 half racks will easily fit into a 22 or 18, And no need for an extender ring.

But you'd be surprised how little the fire end gets over cooked. If you flip the ribs top to bottom halfway through, no problems.

I'm hoping that's the last time I drop the ribs into the fire. However, the WSM is superior than the gateways, in that it was easy to pull the center unit off the bottom and pick them up and get back to cooking in no time. Gateways no make sense in the way they are constructed. So hard to clean. No way.

 

[Jim C in Denver]

Yes to Jim C in Denver on that last comment. It's perhaps surprising that midway in the core the temp may be lower than at the top.

Part of it is that the top of the smoker is hotter than than the lower part (except for directly above the coals). And the other part is this (from Amazing Ribs site):

The AmazingRibs.com Science Advisor, Dr. Greg Blonder says “Hanging the meat vertically reduces the amount of direct infrared radiation from the coals for the same reason pointing your fingers at a fire doesn’t feel as hot as holding your palm to the fire. Meanwhile, dripping juices baste and cool the bottom of the meat. And remember, heat rises, so you have a hot fire at the bottom, and hot air rises to the top evening out the temperature so it is more or less constant in the area where the food hangs.

 

[Bob Bass]

Part of it is that the top of the smoker is hotter than than the lower part (except for directly above the coals). And the other part is this (from Amazing Ribs site):

So where is the additional heat source that is causing the top of the smoker to be hotter than the lower part of the smoker ?

 

[Donna Fong]

Hi Bob! I think Jim is just saying that heat rises. So the heat from the bottom hits the lid and keeps the heat in, and thus the top gets warms too. I appreciate Blonder's insight. Makes sense to me.

 

[Bob Bass]

Hi Donna !
I agree with what you said as well as what Greg said. They both have been an immense help in a past endeavor...
It's cooling while it rises. It doesn't get hotter as it rises...

 

[Dustin Dorsey]

But it all has to come out the vent and the air is going to converge there because of that constriction so it will be hotter in that location?

 

[Jim C in Denver]

So what the MIT Blonder guy more precisely says is that the temp is fairly even from top to bottom. And that the heat radiation on the rib end closest to the fire is lessened because of the vertical positioning of the hanging rib. Which is different than what would happen if you laid ribs out flat close to the fire.

So bottom line is that the rib end closest to the fire doesn't really over cook much. Which is the surprise takeaway for when you try hanging ribs in a barrel or wsm.

I hang ribs in my wsm 18 all the time. Works great and easiest thing ever. Hang and forget -- so long as you only hang and dispense with the wrapping.

If you feel the need to wrap, then you lose a lot of efficiency and simplicity. Since you are mixing a vertical set up with a horizontal set up.

 

[Michael C.]

Ribs looks great!!!!

 

[James J]

Gateways no make sense in the way they are constructed. So hard to clean. No way.

Donna, it’s like you just ruined Christmas for me!


I’m not even going to finish unwrapping my present!

 

[James J]

For those of you that have seen my WSM fleet, I’m getting ready to “bling” this Gateway out too!

I’ll post pics in the photo gallery once it’s completed…

Sorry for getting off topic Donna, but I did buy the rib hanger accessory if that helps get back on track.

 

[Donna Fong]

Can't wait to see what you do with it James. Post away!

 

[Donna Fong]

I still had 4 more racks to cook which I did earlier this weekend. They turned out good as well. The flavor profile was closer to what I wanted but it got late into the evening and the lights in my patio are poor. I couldnt sauce or spray the ribs properly. Also, I ran out of lump so I used kingsford but put too much in. I found out that if there's too much coal, when you hang directly over the coals, the fire can get away from you. I hit 350 in the 22 WSM so I had to pull out the ribs, close down the vents and wait 10min before putting them back in at 300. Lesson learned. I'll have to buy some lump as soon as the heat dies down. What a scorcher of a weekend. Pics below show what too many coals look like at my wrapping stage (about an hour into the cook). Not the prettiest ribs but I learned a few things.