Spare Ribs on an 18.5 OTG

[Jon Des.]

I ran into a deal on about 5 pounds of spare ribs. Now I'm not so sure that they'll fit easily on my 18.5" grill. I've done 2 racks of baby backs, but spares seem a little too big. I could trim them into St. Louis cut (and whatever the rest is) but that seems like it would cover most of the grill.

So should I just bank/minion coals around one charcoal rail and try to keep everything on the other side of the grill?

Or should I shoot for a higher heat quick cook and spread coals evenly?

Or would this be a good time to start shopping for a rib rack?

 

[Ernie D]

If you're into BBQ'ing enough to post 25 times in about a month.... Just go ahead and grab a rib rack, because the addiction is about to get a lot stronger.

To me, the rib rack really helps to fit a lot of meat onto half the grill.

That said, I have definitely eaten some great ribs and other bbq cooked directly over coals. If your meat covers a lot of the grill, the temps will stay fairly low. You could probably cook for a couple of hours with a little bit of basting. Just foil if you want more tenderness.

 

[Jon Des.]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Ernie D:
If you're into BBQ'ing enough to post 25 times in about a month.... Just go ahead and grab a rib rack, because the addiction is about to get a lot stronger.

To me, the rib rack really helps to fit a lot of meat onto half the grill.

That said, I have definitely eaten some great ribs and other bbq cooked directly over coals. If your meat covers a lot of the grill, the temps will stay fairly low. You could probably cook for a couple of hours with a little bit of basting. Just foil if you want more tenderness. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Good point! I guess the rib rack does make sense for me. Thanks for the advice!

 

[Jim Lampe]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Ernie D:
If you're into BBQ'ing enough to post 25 times in about a month.... Just go ahead and grab a rib rack, because the addiction is about to get a lot stronger.To me, the rib rack really helps to fit a lot of meat onto half the grill.
That said, I have definitely eaten some great ribs and other bbq cooked directly over coals. If your meat covers a lot of the grill, the temps will stay fairly low. You could probably cook for a couple of hours with a little bit of basting. Just foil if you want more tenderness. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>