Ribs on top rack and bottom.


 
G

Greg Noles

New member
Hey all,
Planning on doing two large racks of spares tomorrow for gameday..I have only cooked on the top grate of my 18.5 one rack at a time. I don't have a rib rack and was thinking of using the bottom but didn't know if temps and times would be different for each..is there a big temp difference or do you cook the same as you would with one rack up top? I normally go about 270 for 2.5 and wrap for 1.5 and about done..any insight or advice is appreciated!
 
if you have skewers, coil/spiral them then cook on same grate. once they shrink a bit, you can lay them out. for the coil, curl them w/o touching so there are three points in a line for the skewer. then skewer. repeat for second rack. place on top grate standing up and smoke away. after a couple/few hours, they'll shrink some and you should be able to fit them flat on the grate. then finish off as normal or keep em coiled and finish that way. fwiw-i just did this over labor day weekend w/two racks of spares on my 18.5 wsm and they came out great.

eta-I was cooking h&f(over 300). and no water in pan.
 
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The closer to the heat source the hotter it will be, figure at least 10-15 degrees between the two. That is based on what has happened in my 22.5. You can also swap them on the racks midway through. Just some alternate ideas.
The reason I am saying this to you is that i was always told the lower rack would be hotter, but I did three pork butts for a grad party and the top two ended up cooking faster than the one on the bottom rack. Not by much but that was definitely the case. Go figure.
 
Bill Schultz said:
The closer to the heat source the hotter it will be, figure at least 10-15 degrees between the two. That is based on what has happened in my 22.5. You can also swap them on the racks midway through. Just some alternate ideas.
The reason I am saying this to you is that i was always told the lower rack would be hotter, but I did three pork butts for a grad party and the top two ended up cooking faster than the one on the bottom rack. Not by much but that was definitely the case. Go figure.
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in a WSM, if you have water in the pan, the bottom rack will actually be a little cooler. w/o getting nerdy, the water in the pan keep the bottom rack a bit cooler than the top.
 
Much appreciated fellas! I have not been running water in the pan since cook #3. I was afraid of the skewers for some reason and had thought about the switching racks half way as well..i am wondering if a rib rack is almost the same concept as coiling?
 
Tony-I hate trying new things when I have company which is rare as it is, so that is why I was considering just using both rack and swapping halfway..do you even bother to swap or just finish the, up top together when they have shrunk.?
 
Greg Noles said:
Tony-I hate trying new things when I have company which is rare as it is, so that is why I was considering just using both rack and swapping halfway..do you even bother to swap or just finish the, up top together when they have shrunk.?
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I don't swap but if I notice the a rack that is done I will remove them whether its on top or bottom. When I'm ready to sauce the ribs on bottom I get my wife to do it while pick up the top grate.
 
Greg,

You sound like you are in the same place as I am. That is, I have some irrational aversion to anything other than lying the ribs flat. I just recently purchased an 18.5" WSM. I have come across the same delimma of cutting, coiling or using both grates. My solution has been to cut the ribs. I've been grilling on my kettle for close to 20 years and consider myself to be okay at that. But, when it comes to smoking and cooking ribs in general, I'm still a 100% noob (just look at some the questions I've posted). But, I asked my 15 y.o. son the other day what the favorite thing I cook is and he replied, "ribs". My wife, who is a picky eater and has never liked ribs even likes them. I'm definitely not a connoisseur of ribs so, YMMV.

With all of the success with cutting my ribs, I'm still thinking about exchanging my 18.5 for the 22". Even though it's been "so far so good" on the 18.5", I still have have an aversion to not laying the ribs flat. I should probably stop being so OCD and just get over it.

Anyway, I think I know where you are coming from. Having said that, I really have no complaints with cutting them and using rib racks. I know you said that you don't have racks. But, I can't imagine coiling would be much different. So, good luck. I think they will turn out better than you fear. Let us know how it goes.
 
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