Issues in smoking multiple racks of ribs at once.

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jblud1986

Newbie
Original poster
Jun 29, 2017
12
40
My daughters birthday is coming up soon and I thought about smoking a few racks of ribs for everyone at the party. I was thinking about possibly smoking around 4 racks of ribs on my horizontal offset smoker. The more I think about doing this I'm starting to have concerns running through my head. If I where to smoke 4 racks of ribs at once, how do you control the heat for which the meat cooks at? For example, the rack closest to the firebox will be much hotter temps (much hotter then ideal temp to cook in) than the one furthest away from the firebox. I would like to smoke these at the desired temps around 225 but the temps would be all over the place depending on where the ribs are to the firebox. How do you do it and what tips does anyone have? Thank you.
 
 
My daughters birthday is coming up soon and I thought about smoking a few racks of ribs for everyone at the party. I was thinking about possibly smoking around 4 racks of ribs on my horizontal offset smoker. The more I think about doing this I'm starting to have concerns running through my head. If I where to smoke 4 racks of ribs at once, how do you control the heat for which the meat cooks at? For example, the rack closest to the firebox will be much hotter temps (much hotter then ideal temp to cook in) than the one furthest away from the firebox. I would like to smoke these at the desired temps around 225 but the temps would be all over the place depending on where the ribs are to the firebox. How do you do it and what tips does anyone have? Thank you.
What i do is rotate my ribs every 30-45 minutes. also a rib rack helps with this you can just move the rib rack around.

if your ribs cook a little hotter than 225 its ok too. the 3-2-1 or 2-2-1 guide is just a guide not set in stone. move them around during the cook if some cook faster then leave the others on a little longer.

Happy Smoking,

phatbac (Aaron)
 
The Rack is a great idea as you can have the ribs away from the heat. Search Horizontal Offset Mods. There is tons of info on Baffles, Tuning Plates and lowering the Exhaust to even out the heat across the cook chamber...JJ
 
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Great advice all around. I would just move them around a little bit. Check the bend while moving. When you get a good bend, take that rack off. Check again in about 30 minutes. etc. etc. etc. Ribs move easily.

Good luck and happy birthday to your daughter.
 
Yep there are plenty of mods you can make to that smoker to get even temps across grate.

But in the meantime moving them around will work just fine.

Al
 
Honestly? You'll be fine. I would jockey the racks every hour or so. Once you get a good separation in the bend test, you could just wrap them and put them in the oven on the warm setting until ready to serve. Personally I am not a fan of the 3-2-1 method, unless I'm in a hurry. Otherwise it's making sure my chair doesn't float away and drinking beer.
 
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