Simple adjustment that pays great dividends


 
T

T Bounds

TVWBB Super Fan
Friends,

This thought may be too simple, or too old, or something else for many of you, but when I figured it out it has made a great difference.

For two years I've smoked bb's in a weber rack, 3, 4 or 5 racks at a time. Every time the ends were burnt and dry because of the heat chimney that runs up the sides of the WSM. Last Friday I decided to block the heat coming up the sides under the ribs just to see if it made a difference. I folded up some tin foil 3 or 4 layers (2 of them) and placed them under the ends of the ribs after adjusting for the curve of the WSM, thus blocking the ribs from the heat column. The ribs were great and the ends as tender as the middles.

The ribs I did this past Friday (4 racks) were done the same way with the same results. I've seen people wrap the ends of the ribs but I found just putting some hearty foil to block the column produces excellence. Again, this tip may be too simple or too old for many of you, but I sure wish I had known it way back when. I hope it helps somebody.
 
T, pretty sure I understand what you did, but by chance would you have any pics of how you placed the foil? do you just place the folded foil on the grate under the ends of the ribs (deflecting the heat)?
PS, shouldn't you be at the air show??
 
Tim,

I just placed the foil on the grates right under the ends of the ribs, folded just enough to be flush against the sides of the WSM. I'm not too good at getting pics on this site, and I have a bible study to lead in a little bit, but I'll try to take a picture this evening and see if I can illustrate the idea better.

And we got a great view of the airshow yesterday while tailgating at Wake! My kids loved it!
 
I've foiled rib ends but never grate ends. I'll give it a try on my next cook.
I've always had an issue with the thin end of brisket drying out, so maybe a double foil would help.

Thanks !
 
Sounds good, but I am a fan of rolled ribs.. Just did 6 racks the 10th. When rolled, it is very easy to move them around, flip them, and they are d@mn cute. And on a wsm 22. You still have room for smoke and air to move around...
 
OK, friends, I'm trying the picture thing again. I'm usually technical, but I gave up on pics on this site a long time ago. That's not a complaint. I know Chris can't afford unlimited bandwidth, but it's still hard for me.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/53819382@N07/

So this is a link to a picture on flickr of my set-up yesterday. You can (hopefully) see the weber rack set up with two simple fold-ups of tin foil formed to the edges of the WSM to block the heat chimney. Again, I cannot express how much better this simple adjustment made the entire rib experience, with goodness from end to end. I hope the picture does it justice.
 
T, your photo is a big help. Thanks for posting it. I had pictured (in my mind, from your original post) that the foil was under the ends of the ribs, but the excess was folded UPWARDS to protect from the heat column. Now I see that you have folded the foil down. Did I interpret the photo incorrectly?

Just a thought -- with the loose end of the foil down, wouldn't it trap the heat underneath the rib ends? If the end flap were UP, might it release more of the heat column away from the rib ends?

Not trying to be argumentative here. You have a great idea. I'm just wondering if the heat flow with the foil end up or down would make any difference in the amount of heat under the ends of the ribs.

Again, you have made a great discovery! And it works!

Rita, being curious
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Brian Staley:
Sounds good, but I am a fan of rolled ribs.. Just did 6 racks the 10th. When rolled, it is very easy to move them around, flip them, and they are d@mn cute. And on a wsm 22. You still have room for smoke and air to move around... </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Anyone have an issues with rolled ribs? I prefer to lay them flat if I can but when you need the space rolling is a good option. Any differences in the finished product with rolling vs laided flat?
 
Rita, thanks for your insights. My foil trick is very simple, with a flat foil laid on the grate, no flapping up or down, although the foil is actually folded over about 4 times to add "heft", but still flat. My intention is to simply divert the heat away from the ends. Upon thought it may be directing towards the middle, but as to yet with two tries I haven't noticed the middle of the ribs getting too done at all. The key, I think, is to get a flat foil about 4 or 5 inches into the grill and form the corners to the curve of the WSM. I gently pressed the foil against the edge and it folded under easily. It all took about a minute, and a minute spent to get so much better results is one of the best minutes I've yet invested, besides proposing to my wife! And I know you're not being argumentative, just insightful as always!
 
Just don't do this:

Smoked three St Louis slabs in my cheap three slab rack and two long rib tips to either side. Since the tips ran so close to the edge, I decided to just take T's idea to the extreme, and just ring the entire top grate with foil. Well, this was a BAD idea.

I've never had ribs cook so unevenly, and I'll never do it again. The parts cooked the most were under the dome vent, but on the gauge side, the ribs hardly cooked, and the rib tips, which were almost on top of the foil, hardly cooked either.

I kind of salvaged the cook with foil and the oven, but like putting foil under the ends of a brisket, I'd only do as T did; never all around the grate again. Hope this helps.
 
I'll give this a try as well. Since we usually have friends over for ribs, that means I am eating the crispy ones. From the picture it seems like it would deflect the heat towards the middle of the rib racks. Thanks for posting.
 
T: Thanks for doing my next experiment for me. The dry ends have been bothering me more and more lately, given how everything else (middles, rub & glaze) was coming great. Your timing is great!
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Ethan G:
From the picture it seems like it would deflect the heat towards the middle of the rib racks. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Oh, it will; that's for sure. The air's gotta go somewhere.

As described in my post above, because of the two slabs of rib tips on either side of my rib rack I tried encircling the entire grate with about a 2.75" width of foil. By forcing all that heat zone air toward the center, I also moved potential uneven cooking toward the center though, making the problem of uneven cooking even worse. Oh well...they were cheap Tyson ribs on sale that I'd rather pass on next time, anyway.
 
I used to do the same thing. I stopped because I'm not that picky at home, and for comps I only cut the bones in the middle of the rack.

At one time, I contemplated making a metal ring that could be placed on the bottom rack and would help mix the air as it went up.
 
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