Ribs for 15 to 20 folks

[DTinley]

I am in charge of smoking ribs for about 20 people on sat night.

Sams has the 2 packs of ribs. Im thinking 3 packs for 6 slabs total. Thoughts?

Also If I am smoking 6 slabs will my Webber Smokey mountain hold all of them? And last if people are coming over at 7pm and Im smoking 3 slabs should they be started at 12pm since there is so much meat. Thanks in advanced for help

 

[K Kruger]

Back ribs or spares?

When to start them depends on cooktemp. I do either in less than 3 hours but I cook at higher heat than most.

 

[CullenJ]

I would probably do 8 racks just to be safe. Better to have too much than too little. Getting them into an 18.5 can be a little challenging, but if you use a rack and fold the sides or if you roll your racks you should be able to get them in.

As for cook times - the amount of meat will impact your cooker's temp and how much fuel it will take to get/keep your cooker at temp, but it will not impact how long it takes to cook a slab. If you find that your spares are usually done in five hours at 250 or so, they will still be done at five hours at 250 or so.

 

[Bill Croake]

I cooked 4.5 racks of spares for a party of 8 a couple of weeks ago. I had excactly a rack and a half leftover....so 6 racks would probably be ok for 15 people, probably need 8 racks for 20 people.

 

[Lew]

I've done 6 racks on my 18.5 WSM with no problem. I trim them St. Louis style, roll them with 3 rolls on each grate, and put the trimmings in between the rolls. Sam's ribs are pretty big, so if there are snacks and a lot of sides, 6 may work. I would probably go with 8; better to have leftovers than to run out. Never tried that many in my WSM.

 

[Dave Russell]

I thought the Sams packs had three slabs.

Anyway, I recently smoked nine slabs, four trimmed and five untrimmed. I put four and a half on each rack. I wouldn't do nine again unless trimming all. The most I'd do untrimmed would be four on each rack.