ribs in advance


 
B

bert imbrechts

New member
Hello,

I've been asked to cook baby back ribs on a Christmas market this sunday. So people will come to my stand to order ribs "to go". I don't have any idea howmuch people there are and how much of them will order ribs. They have never barbecued on thus marked.
I have 1 weber smoker and Three kettles gold.
Normally I cook my ribs for about 4,5 hours on 225 - 250. But I don't think this will be possible now.
Is there anyone who can give me an idea or tips for sunday?
Someone told me to boil them in water before I put them on the weber. Is this really possible??????
Thanks,
Bert.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by bert imbrechts:
Hello,

I've been asked to cook baby back ribs on a Christmas market this sunday. So people will come to my stand to order ribs "to go". I don't have any idea howmuch people there are and how much of them will order ribs. They have never barbecued on thus marked.
I have 1 weber smoker and Three kettles gold.
Normally I cook my ribs for about 4,5 hours on 225 - 250. But I don't think this will be possible now.
Is there anyone who can give me an idea or tips for sunday?
Someone told me to boil them in water before I put them on the weber. Is this really possible??????
Thanks,
Bert. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I would avoid boiling.......basically all that does is flavor the water and it takes the flavor out of the meat.

With your limited cooking area you best option I feel would be to reheat. Here is how I would do it and it should give you a good moist finished product.

The day before I would cook the ribs till almost tender, cool quickly, sauce (if you're saucing) and double wrap the amount you plan on serving per order in foil. 1 hour before you're ready to sell start warming the foil wrapped ribs on your kettles, once warmed through start stacking in a dry cooler. The ribs will stay hot and you can serve them direct from the cooler and they will be hot and tender. Hope this helps, good luck!
 
You could also do them in advance, as Larry notes, but use higher temps (I do backs at ~325) allowing you to cook more in less time. Cool, chill, the reheat to order on the grill; they don't take long at all to reheat. Ribs not sold will be safely cold in the cooler.
 
Do as these two suggest. You will find that most people prefer the method of finishing ribs over charcoal enough to :

a) heat the ribs.
b) "set" the sauce.
c) add some char to the surface of the meat.

What size event are you doing? You could also try doing these in "cycle" fashion starting them for two hours on your smokers, then foiling them and finishing in the oven. Then you could cool and transport the chilled ribs to the event in foil to be finished on the grill. You will need to be quite cautious of chilling them rapidly to avoid having a hot mass of meat dwelling at dangerous temps for prolonged periods! Unfortunately, you have no idea of how many racks to cook. Since they are advertizing "to go" I assume you are selling them as "whole racks" . You could burn through 20 or 30 pretty quickly. Or, since the Flemish are not accustomed to BBQ, you could be stuck with them! Welcome to the wonderful world of catering/vending! Good Luck! Woodman
 
Pretty much did the technique Kevin states above, but reheated on the grill as Dave says last summer a couple of times. I did not do a high heat cook though.

Once for a tailgater and once for a fairly large part (son's 21st). I posted that somewhere on this site, but too lazy to reference it.

Came out great both times.
 
For Superbowl two years ago, I took a big cooler and laid a few towels down in the bottom, and then placed four foil wrapped bricks that were heated in the oven at about 400, if I recall correctly.

The large amount of pulled pork and brisket I took with me to work stayed well above 140 with a tightly foiled disposable aluminum pan with a wired probe thermometer poked thru, till the start of the game. About 7 hours.
 
besides removing the flavor, boiling is too high a temp.

bag your cooked ribs and reheat them in 60*c water.

I haven't tried this (yet) but it sounds like cooking bagged ribs in 60*c water yields some interesting results. I'm thinking they could be smoked before or after for a short session to impart a bbq flavor.
 
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