Too Much Too Soon???


 
J

Jim Hegarty

New member
Well, since I was unable to get anything smoked last weekend after finally getting my 22.5 WSM, I will be smoking ribs tomorrow, my first smoke on my new baby...but...my wife (gotta love her) has invited nearly half of the family over to eat, which means....6 full racks of baby backs need to be smoked....YIKES!!

So I am a bit overwhelmed with not only 1st smoke jitters, but a fear I am going to ruin $100 worth of beautiful pork, and be forced to order in pizza.

So any advice would be great, I will be using Lump, and it will only be around 28 or 30 degrees when I start. The plan is to place 3 racks on each grate, do I place them in opposite directions on the racks?

With this many racks, I'm assuming it will extend the cook time, since they want to eat at noon, I was planning on starting the smoke at 6:00 am, but it may need to be earlier?

I don't think I will be getting much sleep tonight...ugh!

Well off to get my rub ready.....Happy Smoking and thanks in advance!!

Jim
 
Hey, no pressure.

Are you fixing baby back ribs or spare ribs?

I typically follow this recipe and baby backs turn out great.

http://virtualweberbullet.com/rib1.html

I would recommend all apple chunks (not soaked in water) for your cook.

For spares you can use the same recipe but they will cook a little longer.

I have only done 4 racks at one time, I haven't noticed that the cooking time is extended that much.

I usually use the minion method for all my cooks.

If you're doing baby backs I would start getting your fire ready around 7am and put the ribs on at 8am. For spares I would start the fire at 6am and have them on by 7am.

Use the bend test for doneness.
http://www.amazingribs.com/tip.../are_they_ready.html

Once they are ready I like to glaze them with Blues Hog original sauce then they are off to the cutting board and divided up.

A great resource is the BBQ Central Radio Show Podcast

The rib round table has some good information.

http://www.bbq-4-u.com/pods/ribs_part1.mp3
http://www.bbq-4-u.com/pods/ribs_part2.mp3

Those two are from around 2008, there is a newer one for 2011. Search around on iTunes and you can find them.

Listen to those tonight . . . while you aren't sleeping.

Good luck and have fun.
 
Thanks for the info Scott, I will be doing Baby Backs. For some reason I had it in my head that I needed a 6 hour cook on these, but you think 5 would be fine? I'm assuming 225 to 250 degrees?

Thanks for the links also!

I've had a few beers while making my rub, so the nerves have calmed a bit!
 
5 hours at 250 might be a bit long. BBs will cook somewhat quicker.
HOWEVER the time is not the end-all. when the ribs are so tender that a probe passes thru the meat with no resistance, you have cooked them long enough.
When cooking for company, it's good to have a little lee-way in the time. If the meat is done sooner than you had expected, just wrap them in foil, and stick them in a good cooler. they will be fine for quite a while.
Good luck and you will become a legend.
 
Now that the wife invited half the family, she's responsible for the side dishes. Now relax because you know there will be some food to eat that you're not responsible for.

If you can keep the cooker between 250 and 300, you will do fine. For BB's, I plan on 5 hours at about 275.
 
no problem . . . let us know how it goes . . .

They should be ready in 4 to 5 hours . . .

Keep the WSM around 225 for the first three hours, then open the vents slightly to get it up to 250 to 275 for the last hour or two.

Use the bend/tear test to check when they are ready.

Then you can wrap in foil and place them in a cooler to hold till serving time.
 
I had a bit of trouble to begin with, the temp was stuck around 210 degrees. But once I got my vents opened a bit, that fixed itself and hovered around 225.

I am just over the 4 hour mark now, about 20 minutes ago I tried the bend test, no breaks in the meat noticed, but some nice juices squirted out!!

I basted them a little bit with some BBQ sauce, and opened the vents up and now I am sitting at about 250.

I will test again around 11:45, hopefully they are good to go, and I can pull them off until we are ready to eat!

Thanks again to everyone!!

Jim
 
Bend Test = Success!
Wrapped in Foil and in my cooler!
Off to the in-laws!

They look great, I will try and get some pictures before they are all gone!

Jim
 
One other quick thing about baby backs that I ran into today for the first time. If you have one that is quite a bit thicker on one end trim off the excess so it's about the same thickness all the way across.

Rub and throw that on the smoker as well it will be done in an hour or so and you can have a snack or use it in your beans.

Today the one I cooked was a little rare on the thick end, even after passing the bend test.

I'll watch out for that in the future and trim them so they cook evenly.

Here's a thread discussing it.

http://tvwbb.com/eve/forums/a/...=464105395#464105395
 
SUCCESS!!!!

They loved them, I was like a proud new pappa walking around during dinner.

I appreciate all of the tips and well wishes...now I need to plan next weekends menu!

Thanks again!!!!

Jim
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Posts: 8 | Location: Iowa | Registered: February 22, 2012 Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Scott Underwood </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Congrats Jim......nice work
 
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