Cutting ribs for the smoker

[jcglenn1009]

This Sunday I am looking at smoking 6 racks at once.  I have a Master Forge propane smoker that has four racks in it.  Is there any draw backs from cutting the racks into thirds so they I can fit them on the racks easier?  Any other issues that come up with cooking this much at once (I normally cook two racks at a time)?

 

[ryanhoelzer]

I can't see why not.  I've cut babybacks in half to experiment with cooking them different times.  Alot of people cut them in half to fit in some of the smaller smokers also.

 

[adiochiro3]

should be OK as long as there's space for the heat and smoke to circulate.  Cutting them would probably be OK, but could you hang  them vertically from the top rack?  My suspicion is that it would be better to leave them whole.  I've also seen racks that hold ribs standing on their sides like this:

If you don't want or can't find the rack, you could curl them into rings so they stand up on their own. 

Don't forget the Q-view!!!

 

[mballi3011]

I would go with the doc. on this one and get a rib rack. That way you can get more ribs on your smoker.

 

[indyadmin1974]

The two problems I've had with my rib racks are they tend to cause the rub / glaze to collect just due to their design and depending on the size of the actual ribs, they won't stand up properly.

Most of the racks I've seen like the one in the pic above would not work well with baby backs but would work well with untrimmed spares or beef ribs.

If you use a rib rack, make sure the meatiest part of the rib is down toward the grate.

 

[deltadude]

jcglenn1009 welcome to SMF!  Most new members use the Rollcall forum to say a greet and something about themselves.

Racks and cutting ribs to fit are fine.  A way to get around glaze or sauce build up, when it's time to sauce the ribs are mostly done, lay some foil on the grate brush on sauce and lay the rib racks out on the smoker grate to finish glazing.  I think you can figure out how to lay them out, but there will be overlap.  Another way is to do the glaze on the bbq grill.  That is what I like to do.  I use either 221 or 321 adjusted for ambient and meat doneness.  When the foil stage is done, I open foil brush a coat of sauce on reseal.  If its going to be several hours until serve, then I pack them in a cooler with towels I warmed in dryer, the alum packets are wrapped in plastic wrap then with papertowel, then a warm towel, into the chest no air space, sealed.  Right before serving on the grill I apply the required amount of sauce and glaze, low-med heat.