Help Please! Advice Needed

[Darrell Milligan]

I was planning to cook a 15lb whole pork shoulder, to be ready by 12pm tomorrow, for a family outing. I get home last night, and a family member had dropped of 10 racks of frozen baby backs for me to cook also. Is this even possible to accomplish? I have the 22" WSM. Any ideas on the best way to tackle this will be greatly appreciated.

 

[V_Rocco]

You better get the WSM going!

 

[Bob Sample]

Do the pork shoulder so it's done by 6am. Hold it warm in a cooler and do the ribs. If you don't have a couple rib racks you can roll the ribs.

 

[Mike Freel]

Several times I have smoked ribs ahead and then rewarmed them in foil on my grill. Takes about 15 min in foil then 5 - 10 bare on the grill for a little bark. That way you could use the WSM starting late tonight for the shoulder. If I know I will rewarm ribs I leave them slightly undercooked to avoid my final product being over done.
Good luck

Mike

 

[Darrell Milligan]

Yeah, tell me about it. A daunting task, to say the least. I believe the main issue may be the fact that the ribs are frozen.

 

[Dwain Pannell]

You need a high capacity rib rack that can hold 8 racks on bottom with the picnic on top surrounded by two more racks. Something like this: http://www.traegergrills.com/shop/detail/BAC245#.UdQZVico7wo

The shoulder will take longer so V Rocco isn't kiddin -- you need to weigh that puppy and plan 2 hours or more per lb. and get it started first. It probably won't take that long but you gotta deadline and it'll have to rest so the extra time will be a fudge factor. You can hold it warm for a LONG time.

About 7 hours from T-Time check your fuel to ensure you have enough for a rib cook (this is no time to be exact - fill er up). Then get your ribs on with your shoulder.

With a little backwards planning and fire management, your gonna be a hero after this so plan for more drive bys in the future. Also, be sure to take photos. I gotta see this.

 

[MikeD125]

This is what I tell my wife when I say I need another smoker.

 

[Tony R]

Great advice given guys.
Darrell don't forget to take pics and let us know how it went.

 

[George L]

Good luck, you'll manage. Just give yourself plenty of time and don't feel overwhelmed.

 

[Dave Alvarado]

Do the shoulder cook as planned. Leave the ribs out on your counter for 2-3 hours to get the thawing process started, then put them in the fridge overnight.

When you get up early to do the ribs, pull the shoulder and put it in the oven at whatever temp you were cooking at. You're not really taking on more smoke at that point, just using your charcoal as a heat source. Do whatever you're going to do to fit all those ribs, toss some more charcoal and smoke wood in the WSM, and get to whatever temp you use for ribs. Cook the ribs, and if you timed it all right then everything will be done.

If I were you, I'd target 10am for a finish time, meaning you're probably tossing those ribs on around 5am. That gives you a couple hours of wiggle room. Everything can be left on the counter for 30 minutes to cool a bit, then wrapped tight in foil and put in a cooler with a bunch of towels to stay a safe temperature for hours.

 

[Brett Fields]

Let me reiterate Dwain's point.

Clock management is totally key. A written schedule with times listed in backwards order starting with food serve time and ending with "light up the smoker" will help keep you in line. That said, you'll be pre cooking ribs on a tight schedule, so have plenty of storage space. A similar "Crisis Cook" is how I got my first Cambro past my Chief Financial Officer (wife). If you have a Restaurant Depot or other restaurant supply around, they may have one in stock. Otherwise, the old cooler with towels trick works great. Don't forget to plan extra time to accommodate the extra lid openings.

Oh yeah.... if those frozen ribs are still cryo-packed, toss the packs in a cooler full of water to defrost. (Still sealed)

Enjoy. I love Crisis BBQ. I'm sure you'll come out the Hero.

Brett.