Rolling and wrapping ribs for Granny and the Gang


 
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Keri C

TVWBB Wizard
Hi, all,

I have a situation coming up early next week that I'm not quite sure how to handle. My dear grandmother Mickie (whose 84th birthday is today, BTW; 84 going on 50, I think) has asked me to do babyback ribs for her senior apartment complex's community dinner which is next Tuesday afternoon at 5:00 pm. Since I work during the day, I need to do the ribs on Monday night. I don't really want to fire up the trailer rig at that late hour of the day, so I'm going to do 8 or 10 slabs of BB's on the WSM Monday night. I'll start a small Minion-style fire as soon as I get in from work about 5:30, pull ribs about 11:00 or whenever they tell me that they're done, wrap in HD foil and let sit for 30 minutes to an hour, and then put them in the refrigerator overnight, to deliver to granny-dear early the next morning on my way to work along with a small assortment of sauces ranging from plain KC Masterpiece and Head Country Hot to my own raspberry-chipotle sauce. I'll then have her take the individually wrapped slabs out of the refrigerator about 3:30, and have her place them in a single layer in their cafeteria kitchen's oven at 300* at 4:15 with a few good sprays of apple juice/EVOO, leaving them in the oven for 30 - 40 minutes to heat. Then she'll unfoil a few slabs at a time to cut up and platter as she pleases.

QUESTION 1:
To get that many slabs on the WSM at once, I'm either going to have to roll 'em or rack 'em. If I roll them and IF (and I say that most hypothetically...) I decide that I want to foil them partway through the cook, how hard or damaging is it to flatten those rolled ribs out to wrap them in foil, be it for further cooking OR for resting and refrigeration?

Potential answer - I think I'd be better off racking than rolling if I'm concerned about presentation.

QUESTION 2:
Whether I rack 'em or roll 'em, IF (again, hypothetically...) I foil them part way through the cook to go back on the WSM for a while, would I be better served to place them in racks sideways for the foiled portion of the cook, or would they retain better juiciness by laying them down flat with bone-sides-down, and stacked in essentially the shape of tic-tac-toe boards on each WSM rack?

Potential answer - ought to lay them down flat or I'm going to lose juices, four to five on each WSM rack.


Have I answered myself correctly? I appreciate your opinions here. We've cooked for our friends in large groups many times before, but never for GRANNY'S friends, never for a group where I was not going to be present during serving, never where someone else was going to be doing the reheating, and DEFINITELY NEVER where... uh... tenderness was going to be such a big issue, if you follow me. /infopop/emoticons/icon_rolleyes.gif

Patiently awaiting the words of those more wise than I in the ways of smoke, I remain,

Keri C
Smokin on Tulsa Time, for Granny and the Gang
 
Here's a classic post from Steve Wilson that answers your questions: Night of 109 slabs (scroll down for how he fit 14 slabs in the WSM) If you foil them, just stack them in the WSM. They should be great, and the people at your Grandmother's complex are in for a treat!
 
Hey, thanks for the link, Tom. I remember reading that story, but I couldn't remember where and couldn't track it down through the search engine. His cook of 109 makes my ten look dinky, but it tells me just what I needed to know.

Many thanks - Keri C
 
Keri...

It's been a while since I read Steve's post so I may be repeating some things.

I am doing 80 slabs for a graduation party next weekend and will prepare them Friday night and Saturday for serving later in the day Saturday.

Rolling is not the best way to do them if you plan on foiling. They will not lay flat, so you lose the part when foiled where they simmer in their own liquid.

I will be doing rib racks for this event. You will need to cut each slab in half and place in the rack. You can fit 4 slabs on a rack this way.....

Cut in half and put 5 halves in the rack....the front most part of the rack can be used by leaning the half slab against it. Place another half on the top of these slabs(that makes 3 slabs), then place 2 more halves on each side of the rack. Total 4 racks per grate. It'll be tight but it works.

When it comes time to foil, simply roll out your foil and place 2 halves on it...if you want to get real anal....like I am prone to doing! LOL....you can put the same halves together from the same slab!

Once they are wrapped, DO NOT place back in the rib rack, rather stack them on top of each other but lay them flat. You are correct about them sitting in their own juices.

I would also take them off when they are about 80-90% finished cooking. That way, when re-heating, they will be perfect as opposed to the meat falling off the bones because of overcooking.

This is exactly what I will be doing next weekend. Not sure if I am looking forward to this or not! LOL
 
Thanks, Kevin! Using my makeshift racks (see this thread ) I know I can get six halves within the confines of the rack, and still probably have room to lean two against the ends without getting into the hot outer regions. That'll cover me if I wind up doing eight.

If I do ten (five per level), then I'll suck it up, be brave, try laying a half on top of those standing in the rack and propping a half up against the side of them as you describe. I'll just have to make sure that I'm not hanging over into the outer hot circle too much at the ends of the rack - I don't remember exactly how long it is (under 16" though, I know).

When I get this circus act stacked, I'll take a picture of it for the entertainment of all involved. /infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif

Many thanks for your help!

Keri C
Smokin on Tulsa Time, and learning from the best
 
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