I must have lost my mind...

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bertman

Smoking Fanatic
Original poster
Nov 27, 2013
439
229
Heartland of America
My wife volunteered me to smoke some ribs for her family's Christmas get-together on Christmas Eve. I was told her cousin had some ribs that she wouldn't use, and wanted to donate for our feast. It turns out I am looking at an assortment of over 47 pounds of both beef and pork ribs.


I am using my MES, and after seeing how much I have to deal with, I decided I am going to be finishing these in the oven after a 4-5 hour smoke. It will help, too, that I plan on warming them up down on the farm Wednesday morning.

And I was concerned that not everyone (like some of the kids) would enjoy ribs, so I suggested (in a moment of higher-than-normal-stupidity) that I also smoke a turkey that we had in the freezer. So I will also be brining and smoking a 14-lb bird. I don't look forward to getting much sleep from early Tuesday morning through some time early Wednesday.


The bird of honor.

Any tips on saving time without sacrificing deliciousness would be greatly appreciated.
 
Smoke ribs early and reheat them is the only advice I have other then buying another smoker, HEY that's the ticket it was the wife's idea....
 
I would agree with bear on this. Smoke them early keep them in the fridge and reheat day of in the oven. They will be just as good!
 
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After opening up some of the packages, I realized the pork ribs would need A LOT of trimming. These were from a hog my in-laws processed, and they didn't take the care that a butcher would. All of the beef ribs were from a butcher, and didn't need much trimming at all.


The collection of ribs after a couple hours of trimming (pork in the foreground, beef in the back):


I am due down at the farm in the morning, but returning for a visitation tomorrow evening. I'll put a rub on these tomorrow night and leave them in the fridge overnight. The marathon smoke will be Tuesday.

Thanks for the advice. I think these will be fine since I have to warm them up Wednesday, anyway. I'll keep updating.
 
How big is this family?  Holy moly that is a lot of meat...  It looks great though.  Good luck.  You can always sleep after New Years.
 
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You were all good until you volunteered to do a turkey. What the heck were you thinking?
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Just kidding. I would do all the ribs at 275 for about 3 1/2 hours then foil. Refrigerate. When you get there throw them in the oven for another hour foiled with sauce at 350. They will be tender and yummy. You're on your own with the turkey. What kid doesn't like ribs anyway? Put some sweet yummy BBQ sauce on them and they will eat it.
 
 
How big is this family?  Holy moly that is a lot of meat...  It looks great though.  Good luck.  You can always sleep after New Years.
We're looking at possibly more than 50 people. I'm going to weigh the ribs again after trimming, but I'm guessing I trimmed at least 25 pounds off of the pork ribs. I think I'm going to be glad I offered to smoke the turkey, sleep or no sleep.
 
You've had some great advise, good luck to ya man! Lookin forward to your Q view.....

:beercheer:
 
I'd mix crushed garlic, onion and butter together.  Then, fry 8 or ten pieces of bacon till crisp .... crush it up and mix it in with the butter.  Let it cool and become solid again.  Then, stuff handfulls of the bacon butter up under the skin of the turkey.  Turn out fantastic.  Then put the bird in the oven (when done smoking) to crisp of the skin.

I know this doesn't help make anything any easier ....... LOL.
 
If you are going to foil anything have the gas grill lit, finish in there. Good Luck
 
 
If you are going to foil anything have the gas grill lit, finish in there. Good Luck
That is another great idea. I will keep that in mind, but I really think I'm going to be ok, it's just going to be a long day.

After trimming (and the pork ribs had a ton of fat left on them when I got them), we are down to 9 pounds of beef ribs and just over 17 pounds of pork ribs. I put a light rub on all of them last night.


Beef Ribs


Pork Ribs (about half of them)

I placed all of the beef and close to half of the pork ribs in the smoker at 6:30 this morning. After 3 hours I plan to pull and foil for two more hours, then load up the smoker with the next batch. I'll warm them all up for about an hour tomorrow morning before the get-together. 

The turkey should go on around 5:30 or 6:00 this evening when the ribs get out of the way. I'll be up late watching the bird. It has been in a brine for a little over 36 hours now.

 
Change of game plan: I'm going to skip the foil portion of the 3-2-1 method after reading some posts in this forum (I really shouldn't read this while I smoke; I always find conflicting theories and begin to have doubts). 

But since I'm going to have to finish these in an oven anyway, I'll give them just over three hours on the smoker, then place in a foil pan that I can cover with foil. This way I can spritz them and warm them tomorrow before serving.
 
Your beef ribs will benefit from the foil wrap. The braising really helps get them tender. The pork ribs can go straight without the wrap.
 
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I am using my MES, and after seeing how much I have to deal with, I decided I am going to be finishing these in the oven after a 4-5 hour smoke. It will help, too, that I plan on warming them up down on the farm Wednesday morning.

And I was concerned that not everyone (like some of the kids) would enjoy ribs, so I suggested (in a moment of higher-than-normal-stupidity) that I also smoke a turkey that we had in the freezer. So I will also be brining and smoking a 14-lb bird. I don't look forward to getting much sleep from early Tuesday morning through some time early Wednesday.
You mean there are kids in the world who don't like sucking on a rib bone?  I haven't yet met one. 
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I'm smart enough to take advice from dirtsailor, so I foiled the ribs after all. Here are the beef ribs after 3 hours:


I spritzed with a mix of Dr. Pepper and apple juice before placing them back into the smoker.

Unfortunately, I also discovered that my new AMNPS had gone out at least an hour ago. This is the tray version I won (thanks again, Todd!) and I'm still trying to get used to it. I didn't have this many issues with the tube version. I'm using a mailbox mod, but I don't think I'm giving the pellets long enough to burn on their own before putting out the flame.
 
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