Will this fit in my WSM and is it enough?


 
N

Nick

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It's my son's 1st birthday party this weekend and I plan on BBQing pork butts for pulled pork and St. Louis cut pork spare ribs. Any input on how much I should cook would be appreciated. I already bought 5 racks of ribs and two 8+ lb bone in butts. Im smoking on my 18" WSM, hopefully this is enough meat and hopefully this will fit in my WSM. What do you guys think?

Also having tater salad and bbq beans.
 
Enough depends on how many you plan to feed and how much they eat!

It may be a tight fit for the ribs on the top rack, but the butts should be able to go on the bottom with no problems.
 
If you have trouble getting it all in at once, do the butts then let them rest in an insulated cooler while you cook the ribs.
 
Hey Nick-

I see a couple ways you could do that.

First and easiest would be to do the pork butts a day or more ahead of time for reheating the day of the party, and only focus on the ribs that day.

Next, you can overnight the pork butts, then when they're done wrap them tightly in foil plus blankets/newspaper and hold in a warm ice chest while you cook the ribs. You might be looking at a fairly long hold time if you cook your ribs at lower temps though and plan on serving everything at once.

Last, you could try putting both butts on one grate, and when those are in the last few hours of cooking use a rib rack to situate your ribs on the other grate. There is a post from Larry Wolfe a good while back that shows how you can fit an insane amount of ribs using a single rib rack. Cooking the butts and ribs all at the same time would personally be my least favorite option, since it is both the most hassle and the least likely chance of having all the food ready at once.

Pulled pork holds and reheats so well I would try to get those done ahead of time if possible, whether it's the day before or the morning of.

As far as whether or not it's enough meat, how many people you planning on? Is your son a hearty eater?
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That's a good amount of food (especially with the sides), but it depends on how many people and what mix of adults/kids you'll have. Congrats on the big birthday... hope you guys have fun!
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Benny L.:
Hey Nick-

.... you could try putting both butts on one grate, and when those are in the last few hours of cooking use a rib rack to situate your ribs on the other grate.

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>


The two butts should fit on one rack. Do them on the bottom. If memory serves I have seen some finagle three on a rack. My rib rack has slots for four racks. You can also lean two on the outside and lay one on top for racks, or no rack and roll them. Good luck.

Gary
 
I would agree with doing the butts the night before and then reheating the PP for the party. As far as getting the ribs in there rib racks are a great thing or you could even roll and skewer them. I did 7 racks a couple of months ago and it worked out pretty good. However I used a 3-2-1 method. For the last part I usually sauce. For this I used my gasser to finish them up. Good luck with the 1st bday party.
 
I think what Im going to end up doing is make the butts a little early. I'll have them ready the morning of the party. Then put the ribs on to be ready right before the party. This means I'll have to hold the butts about 6-7 hours before they're ready to be pulled and served. Im thinking instead of holding them in a cooler I can wrap them good in foil and hold them in the oven at a low temperature. What do you guys think about this?

What about holding ribs in the oven? Does this work? Any loss of quality? What temp should I set the oven to?

Thanks.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Nick:
I think what Im going to end up doing is make the butts a little early. I'll have them ready the morning of the party. Then put the ribs on to be ready right before the party. This means I'll have to hold the butts about 6-7 hours before they're ready to be pulled and served. Im thinking instead of holding them in a cooler I can wrap them good in foil and hold them in the oven at a low temperature. What do you guys think about this?

What about holding ribs in the oven? Does this work? Any loss of quality? What temp should I set the oven to?

Thanks. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I have never held ribs in the oven so I can't help you there. I think if you are going to do this that you should pull the butts off early and finish in the oven. Putting them in foil and holding in the oven might dry the butts out. Maybe take them off at 150* or so and put them in the oven at the same temps as you would in the smoker. Then start your ribs. Remeber that you will need time in order to cook your ribs. Probably 5-6 hours. So this will give you some leeway if the butts are done before the ribs. Plus this will reduce the amount of time that your butts would be sitting in a cooler in holding. Remember food safty here. When your butts get to the desired finish temp then hold them in a cooler while you finish the ribs. Hopefully if you time it right you will be good to go. I would assume that if you use the 3-2-1 method for ribs that you can foil them and put them in the oven for a couple hours on the second step and then just put them on a grill to char them up and or sauce. You could also use the smoker to do this if you so desire. Vince B
 
I did 2 pork shoulders overnight a couple weeks ago and had to hold them in a cooler and it worked out great. I pulled them off of the WSM at 1:00pm, wrapped them in foil and some nice sized towels and put them in the cooler. I then loaded up the car and we took a nice road trip to Northern Michigan to meet some family. We didn't get around to eating until 6:00pm. I took the first pork butt out of the cooler unwrapped the towel and the foil was almost too hot to touch. They ended up being the best pork butts I've ever cooked! You should have no problems doing the butts first, holding them, and then focus on cooking the ribs.

-Billy
 

 

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