Rib Hangers


 
R

Rich_S

TVWBB Fan
I've had my WSM for 23 years but somehow I just found out these exist.

Which one do people recommend? I see the PBC and the Hunsaker. Looks like the PBC is cheaper but is multiple pieces where the Hunsaker is all one piece. If I get the Hunsake is it worth it to het their Vortex plate too?

I'm a little worried about the ribs falling off the hooks as they cook and the meat gets softer, is this an issue? Is it possible to still foil wrap like 321 with a hanger? Any issue with the bottom of the rib rack burning from being too close to the coals?
 
I'm not a good resource on this question but I'll reply: I bought a Weber hanger set for my WSM before it was discontinued (I think) but haven't used it. I have a PBC and have never lost a rack of ribs but I did lose a pork shoulder once when I was removing it. If you're concerned, the hooks can be daisy chained, which might reduce any risk (hooking on two sections of meat).

Our household has shrunk and these days when I do ribs it is only 1 rack and I do it on the Ninja.
 
I have the Hunsaker rib rack for the 18.5. It is awesome sauce. No reason you can't hang and then wrap. But I always just hang for the whole cook. Just much simpler and easier. A couple of finer points.

The lower end of the ribs in a 18.5 does get fairly close to the fire. More so with St Louis than with baby backs (which run smaller). I picked the Hunsaker, in part, because it seemed to sit the highest among the various options. But no big deal. I think any of the hanger kits would be fine.

You can let the bottom rib get a little crispy. Or you can rotate the ribs 180 degrees mid-way through the cook. Or (what I typically do) you can hang half slabs of ribs. So my standard 3 slab cook is 6 half slabs. Plenty of space left over for several more.

When I do full slabs, I do double hook. Also not a bad idea to put a cooking grate over the fire ring (just in case). A nice benefit of cooking half slabs is that there is no need to double hook.

Personal preference if you want to use a difuser of some kind. Or just let the grease drip direct into the fire. Either is fine for me.
 
Jim C in Denver said:
I have the Hunsaker rib rack for the 18.5. It is awesome sauce. No reason you can't hang and then wrap. But I always just hang for the whole cook. Just much simpler and easier. A couple of finer points.

The lower end of the ribs in a 18.5 does get fairly close to the fire. More so with St Louis than with baby backs (which run smaller). I picked the Hunsaker, in part, because it seemed to sit the highest among the various options. But no big deal. I think any of the hanger kits would be fine.

You can let the bottom rib get a little crispy. Or you can rotate the ribs 180 degrees mid-way through the cook. Or (what I typically do) you can hang half slabs of ribs. So my standard 3 slab cook is 6 half slabs. Plenty of space left over for several more.

When I do full slabs, I do double hook. Also not a bad idea to put a cooking grate over the fire ring (just in case). A nice benefit of cooking half slabs is that there is no need to double hook.

Personal preference if you want to use a difuser of some kind. Or just let the grease drip direct into the fire. Either is fine for me.
Click to expand...
Everything listed above, I second.
 
Rich_S said:
I've had my WSM for 23 years but somehow I just found out these exist.

Which one do people recommend? I see the PBC and the Hunsaker. Looks like the PBC is cheaper but is multiple pieces where the Hunsaker is all one piece. If I get the Hunsake is it worth it to het their Vortex plate too?

I'm a little worried about the ribs falling off the hooks as they cook and the meat gets softer, is this an issue? Is it possible to still foil wrap like 321 with a hanger? Any issue with the bottom of the rib rack burning from being too close to the coals?
Click to expand...
Hey Rich, 👋.
I have the Hunsaker personally for my 22.5 WSM. I generally pull my ribs at 165 or so to wrap, so all you have to do is pull the hanger out at that point, slip in a grate, and stack up your wrapped ribs before you put the lid on again.

I also happen to have a few items in mine that help, an ArborFab charcoal basket, a vortex plate, and either one will let you put a spare grate over top as a safety precaution in case a rack falls. It may grill up a little bit, but it will keep it out of the coals.
Also going to get you a link for some good meat hooks.
 
I do not have the rib hanger, but i for have there vortex plate and love it as I do not run the water pan. The vortex plates evens out the heat to reduce the burnt edges. And kind of works like a flavoriser bar and it returns the burnt oil smoke back up to your product adding another layer of flavor.
 
I have the Hunsaker for my 22 WSM and it is the way to go IMHO It is the tallest one to keep the ribs as far away from the coals,plus I always cut my ribs in half to keep them away from the coals and to prevent them from breaking off the hooks as they are less heavy.
 
I have hung ribs and I put a catch grate below them so that if they did fall they would not go into the coals.... But I also think it's too much trouble and I don't do it. Using two hooks under the second bone they did not fall apart , but it is a possibility. Due to the higher temperature at the bottom I cook them with the big side down as well and the little side up to even out the cooking a bit.

There is but one way to cook ribs that's not a headache...imo.... and that's to lay them out flat and that takes real estate. Everything else makes it... Troublesome and inconsistent results. WSM isn't easy for cooking ribs because the temperature tends to spike quite a bit when you have the lid off long enough to remove them and wrap and replace etc. it's what the WSM actually does least well in my opinion.. unfortunately it's also what I eat the most of... Which basically says I want a different cooker for ribs
 
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I have a wsm18 and use a Hunsaker hanger exclusively to do all my ribs with.
I think I’ve had maybe 6 racks of ribs in there at once.
I choke up an extra rib when I daisy chain two hooks on it to help elevate it a bit more from the flame
If I wrap the ribs usually finish them off in the oven.

My Hunsaker is not a one piece and I have to be cautious of that but it’s no big deal.
I will gladly trade that minor inconvenience to be able to cook a bunch of whole racks of ribs in it

Before I got the hanger I was afraid that it would be uneven cooking.
The bottom rib might be a bit darker but the ribs come out very evenly cooked other than that.

I’ve seen videos where their ribs have fallen and even where they try to hide and not mention fallen ribs but you can tell.
Because of that I use a double hook system and have never dropped any ribs.
I mean why gamble on falling ribs?
 
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