Slow cooking ribs on a gas grill question


 
I think someone mentioned it earlier, but I'll restate it. A gas grill has a lot of ventilation, both underneath and above the grates, for obvious reasons. Some more than others. When using a gas grill as a smoker/slow cooker, all that ventilation works against you. If it's the least bit breezy, cold drafts can easily be introduced into the cooking chamber, unlike a good smoker. So, you have to work harder, IMO, to do slow smoked ribs on a gasser. If it's a gusty cool day, you may have to shelter it from the wind. But, if you experiment with your grill a bit and have a couple pit thermometers, you can dial it in. Just don't get hung up on a particular pit temperature. Find a temperature that is reasonably stable. If that is 225F or 300F, it will still produce great, tender BBQ if you do your part.
 
Before I got my 18WSM, I really wanted to try and get some decent "bbq" out of my Vermont Castings 3 burner propane grill.

I had many of the issues mentioned here - esp temp stability.

I got creative and made a foil 'curtain' that moved with the lid which trapped heat for better temp stability.

My method was to keep only the left burner on low, the center and right burners off and place 1/2 racks on the lower grate and upper warming grate for indirect (in the space over the center & right burners). I'd wait for the temp of the grill to stabilize at my target temp (typical 240F-ish), then light an Amazentube smoker tube with pellets of choice for smoke source, then put the ribs on.

I gotta say - they turned out pretty darn good for heretically prepared ribs ;)

Tender, smoke flavored, tasty. Maybe the bark was wanting a bit - but the family and I thought there were lip smackin' good.

Grill-foil-curtain.jpg

Baby-Backs-5-2-15.jpg

Just saying, you can get good results on a gas grill.
 
Erik Tracy said:
Before I got my 18WSM, I really wanted to try and get some decent "bbq" out of my Vermont Castings 3 burner propane grill.

I had many of the issues mentioned here - esp temp stability.

I got creative and made a foil 'curtain' that moved with the lid which trapped heat for better temp stability.

My method was to keep only the left burner on low, the center and right burners off and place 1/2 racks on the lower grate and upper warming grate for indirect (in the space over the center & right burners). I'd wait for the temp of the grill to stabilize at my target temp (typical 240F-ish), then light an Amazentube smoker tube with pellets of choice for smoke source, then put the ribs on.

I gotta say - they turned out pretty darn good for heretically prepared ribs ;)

Tender, smoke flavored, tasty. Maybe the bark was wanting a bit - but the family and I thought there were lip smackin' good.

View attachment 39063

View attachment 39064

Just saying, you can get good results on a gas grill.
Click to expand...

Like you, I had to fashion some foil. But my foil was to block the full width slot across the back of my gasser when the lid was closed. It could still exhaust thru the leaky lid and the rotisserie mouse holes. It's probably been 15-18 years since I did that.

That old BBQ Galore store brand gasser has been rebuilt a few times, the last time just a year or two ago, when I found cast stainless steel burners to replace the cast iron burners and new grates, new diffuser to replace the ceramic brickette tray, etc. I shoulda just bought a new Summit. But that gasser has some serious BTUs compared to a Summit.
All this talk must have guided me subliminally to the ribs at Costco today. I'm doing some St. Lou's on the pellet grill now at 275F. I have to catch up a bit for a reasonable dinner time, since I put them on at 2pm. If memory serves me, they could be done around 6-7pm.
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holy smokes.... all these responses and the original poster never did...
i question WHY folks believe they feel the need to temp their ribs....??
it's foolish. your ribs are most likely done, ready to eat while you're waiting for those additional 23º to reach your optimal temp.

AND the OP never did state what type of ribs they were attempting to slow cook.
big difference between loin (baby back) ribs and spares.
 
I do plate ribs with great success on the gassers, as well as pork. All fuel burning appliances have ventilation FWIW. Honestly I have done them in very cold, hot, windy, rainy and so on weather. Like with anything done outdoors...................you adjust
 
LMichaels said:
I do plate ribs with great success on the gassers, as well as pork. All fuel burning appliances have ventilation FWIW. Honestly I have done them in very cold, hot, windy, rainy and so on weather. Like with anything done outdoors...................you adjust
Click to expand...
Yup. you have to know your equipment and do what's necessary, on the fly. While all fuel burning appliances have ventilation, a gasser is most often uncontrolled and over ventilated. Not so with a good smoker.

At the 2 hr mark with my "subliminal ribs". Looking great. Bark is forming well and I can start to see some pull-back beginning. I started basting with melted butter, brown sugar, water and rub.



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All done. We shared some samples with the neighbor for a reading on dry rub vs sauced. He and my wife went for sauced. I liked the dry rub. Both were great. 4 1/2 hours on the grill. Slight tug tender, clean off the bone, nice smoke. Couldn't ask for more.
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For the OP, this link to Amazingribs.com has some good advice on ribs. I'm a member and have used various information on bbq from their site for years. The authors are a wealth of knowledge and experience. I highly recommend them when you need information on most any bbq topic.
amazingribs.com

Are My Ribs Ready Yet?

There are several techniques to tell when your ribs are ready: bend, twist, peek-a-boo, taste, toothpick, popup, and thermometer test. Since ribs come in so many different weights and thicknesses, knowing when they are done is an inexact science but here are some guidelines and techniques that...
amazingribs.com
 
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