Large quantity of ribs question


 
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Heather G

New member
I am getting ready to throw a sweet 16 birthday party. The only thing my daughter wants for her birthday is ribs.... The problem is cooking ribs for a hefty group and not having a quality reduction from having to cook some ahead.

My husband thinks this is just another excuse to add a new grill to my family. He gets jealous of the two I already have. I will admit he may have a point that for a family of 3, we may not need 2 smokers and a gas grill that rarely gets used.

So, the question becomes... at best, with a risk of overcrowding I could fit 5 racks on a grate. I've never resorted to using the second grate when cooking ribs, but am not opposed to doing so. Just never needed to before. If I use two grates with 5 racks each, it is still only 10 racks. Given that I am doing butts too, and the ratio of teenagers that are vegetarian these days, I'm figuring on needing 20 racks. That is 2 smokers full no matter how I cut it.

Is there a way to cook ribs over two days without sacrificing quality on the first day's ribs, or do I go ahead and tell my husband I'ma be a new proud mama of the grill-charlie?
 
Quick answer: GET ANOTHER COUPLE WSM's!

More prudent answer: see above.

Real answer: I have never made that many at one time, but I have eaten a lot of them a day later and they have been really really good. I leave them in the foil and then fridge them, heating them up indirect on the kettle, or you could use your gasser for the reheat and glaze if you use one. There will naturally be a little difference betwen fresh and day old, but for your audience, I'm sure no one will mind.
 
I like answer number 1
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Likely close to 50 people. Some will be kids and light eaters, but I'm figuring on extra food because my daughter and her friends can put a pro football defensive line to shame at the table. I think will pulled pork that I can get away with splitting racks into quarter racks and still be okay if they go nuts. Of course.... If I cooked more ribs, maybe hubby wouldnt be so resistant to the thought of a new grill. Maybe I'll tell him we have to have at least 40 racks.
 
Originally posted by Heather G:
I am getting ready to throw a sweet 16 birthday party. The only thing my daughter wants for her birthday is ribs.... The problem is cooking ribs for a hefty group and not having a quality reduction from having to cook some ahead.

My husband thinks this is just another excuse to add a new grill to my family. He gets jealous of the two I already have. I will admit he may have a point that for a family of 3, we may not need 2 smokers and a gas grill that rarely gets used.

So, the question becomes... at best, with a risk of overcrowding I could fit 5 racks on a grate. I've never resorted to using the second grate when cooking ribs, but am not opposed to doing so. Just never needed to before. If I use two grates with 5 racks each, it is still only 10 racks. Given that I am doing butts too, and the ratio of teenagers that are vegetarian these days, I'm figuring on needing 20 racks. That is 2 smokers full no matter how I cut it.

Is there a way to cook ribs over two days without sacrificing quality on the first day's ribs, or do I go ahead and tell my husband I'ma be a new proud mama of the grill-charlie?
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Heather, I would cook the butts ahead of time and reheat the day of the party. For 50 people you will need 3 maybe 4 butts depending on the size of the butts. This is assuming the butts weigh 8lbs each, you will get roughly 4lbs of finish product per butt. So each 8lb butt will make 16 - 4oz sandwiches (16 x 3 = 48 sandwiches). If you want to serve larger sandwiches, cook another butt (probably easier if you get them from a BJ's, Costco or Sams since they come 2 per pack)

Then I would cook the ribs the day of the party. What kind of ribs are you cooking? Alot depends on the type of people you are feeding and the type of ribs you're cooking. Figure 1 rack of loinback (babyback) ribs will feed between 2-3 people and 1 rack of spare ribs will feed between 3-4 people. So, since you're serving pork as well, I would figure each rack will feed on the high end, so you will need roughly 17-18 racks of loin backs and 13-14 of spare ribs.

The most racks of loin backs I've done on a WSM was 12 (6 racks on each grate). But if you're careful about airflow you can squeeze 18 on by will have to move some around at some point of the cook. You will have to lay 3 racks on top of the vertical ribs in the racks.

The most spares I've done was 8 full racks cut in half (4 racks on each grate), but again if you're creative and make sure you have airflow you can add about 4 more racks if you cut them in half.

Here's the way I did the spares.
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And the Loinbacks
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I had planned on 5 butts because my parents usually like to take all my leftovers back home. I figured I could do the butts on an overnight smoke Thursday night into Friday for a Saturday party. (By the way, if you have a Wegmans near you, the price is usually a little better than Costco). My Costco has issues with inventory too because it is not uncommon for them to be sold out or only have 1 twin pack there.

Because I had planned on serving spares, I figured on having no choice but to do two runs with the smoker. Your layout there gives me hope though. Did you run into any problems developing a bark?
 
Heather,

Even though Larry has pointed out that it's possible to cook more ribs the day of the party than you thought you could, I'd like to suggest that you MAY wish to cook them at least a day ahead of time because:

You'll be doing a cook that you've never duplicated before, and as I'm sure you know, even the best rehearsed/thought out cooks can have things go wrong that you didn't anticipate (Murphy's Law). It could be a real pain if it took a lot longer than you planned and people were getting hungry, or if they got burnt, or...

There will likely be other things you'll want/need to do on the day of the party and worrying about/fussing over the ribs will add to your stress level.

I am cooking for our upcoming family reunion - ribs, pulled pork, brisket, and chicken. The pulled pork and ribs will be cooked a week ahead of time, cooled, vac-sealed, and frozen, then re-heated the day of the event.

Just another option for you to consider.
 
Hi Heather! I like the idea of adding a couple of extra WSM's -- or maybe there are some listmates in the area who would bring theirs over and help smoke some ribs for a few beverages.

Seriously - you may check with some of the local rental companies as some of them will rent either tow behind smokers or Weber Ranch Kettles, which you can set up to smoke a LARGE quantity of anything.

However, I think with your idea of doing your butts on an overnight cook and the ribs the day of the party is right on.

It may help you to be able to calculate (although Larry did a great job) how much you need of each type of meat. I just did a large cook (10 butts) for a fund raiser at church and this spreadsheet planner was a great help to me. We had meat left over, but I had estimated that I would be putting larger portions of meat on our buns than my ice cream scoop actually held.

BBQ Catering Planner XLS Format

Best of luck on the cook and please post some pictures for us!

Pat
 
I actually did consider renting a large capacity smoker, but I'm hesitant. I know my WSM and it knows me. We have a pretty good working relationship so long as I give it water. No need to bring up the fatal brisket episode... I am petrified that I would go get a big job, not really quite understand how to use it and ruin a couple hundred dollars worth of meat. Worse, have bad barbeque and a yard full of people. My husband fears far worse a fate. If I did well, I figure he would have to tell someone next year that last year's party cost the price of a tow-behind and the new truck because she really loved it that much.

Mostly I am afraid I would panic and fuss over it too much and ruin the whole thing through operator error and 'over-peeking'.

I think I am going to use a combination of suggestions here. I do think I am going to go ahead and buy another smoker. I going to do an overnight butt smoke and follow it with a batch of ribs in each the day before. Then I'll do another early morning day of batch. That way we still get the really good smell effect of barbequing. Ole faithful I have now can do smaller batch ribs almost by itself.

Sometimes I'm torn for parties and Murphy's law coming to roost though. I wish I could always serve my old standby training wheels meat. Pulled pork is so much easier than the fear that preceeds ribs for a crowd. I've only done bad with ribs once so far, but that just means the really bad is still waiting to get me. I guess I'll just cross my fingers and hope that the success made the worry worth it.
 
One more question - With smaller model smokers, has anyone used them heavily for a few consecutive days and had any problems with heat damage?
 
And here I thought it was the shape... Good to know. I suspected it would take a long time at the lower temps to get there. Now all I have to fuss with is fuel ash build up and I'm good to go.
 
Heather, when it comes to "reasons I should get another grill/smoker" ... I like the way you think. Right down to the new truck! Sounds like a lot of us. If I took all of the smokers and grills (and trucks and trailers) I've purchased since my first WSM purchase in 2004 and listed them in my signature Chris would have to charge me bandwidth.
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Enjoy the cook, you'll do fine.
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if i know i am going to serve ribs for a meal for guests i often cook them a day before. i find letting them sit in the fridge overnite they are better than off the grill after re-heating. i will often cook chicken or turkey and throw 2 or 3 racks on for meals during the following the week. i just think re-heated ribs are better than fresh off the grill.
 
Posted May 02, 2009 08:21 AM Hide Post
I would have to agree with the precook for the party. Remember one thing you are going to have a lot going on and the convenience of heat and serve will free up some time. I to believe that ribs are great the second day. I would probably smoke them for a couple hours and then foil them or put them in foil pans covered. Then cook for about an hour in the oven while getting the next batch on the smoker. This way you know they are close to being done to the way your guests will love them. Then the day of the party take your tins and put them in the oven to warm them up. I have a large gas grill that I will sauce and burn some lines in them. I have done this with just baking ribs and it works out great. I have been wanting more smoke flavor in my BB's so I am kind of new to making ribs this way but I truely think it will work. Good luck with the cook and let us know how you did it and how it turns out. BTW I think it is awesome that you do the BBQ in your house. You rock! Vince
 
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