Expert advice needed for pork ribs......

lucc

Meat Mopper

Original poster

Jun 4, 2009

152

22

NJ

• Jun 29, 2009

• #1

So, since my successful first smoke everyone in my family is wanting more ribs on the 4th. Well I'm planing 6 racks of pork ribs, only problem is my smoker ain't that big.

Pic below is of 3 racks cut in half:


So, I was thinking what can I do to smoke all 6 racks????? Last time I started at 10:45-11:00am and they were ready around 4pm. Should I start earlier this time, smoke 3 racks then foil them and put in oven after 2 hours. Then put the other 3 on for 2 hours, foil them and put everything back on for 2-3 more hours keeping the temp at 250? Is it that bad to have that much meat in there or does it just matter about smoker temp and keeping it going?
I also threw on a 4# tenderloin last time and had no issues.

 

irishteabear

Master of the Pit

OTBS Member

SMF Premier Member

Sep 22, 2008

4,185

14

Downingtown, PA

• Jun 29, 2009

• #2

Get yourself a rib rack or two. It stands the ribs up, they take up a lot less space that way.

 

bmudd14474

Legendary Pitmaster

Staff member

Administrator

OTBS Member

★ Lifetime Premier ★

Jun 1, 2008

9,597

3,319

Florida

• Jun 29, 2009

• #3

hint to the fam that you need a bigger smoker

 

lucc

Meat Mopper

Original poster

Thread starter

Jun 4, 2009

152

22

NJ

• Jun 29, 2009

• #4

I just bought the Brinkmann Gourmet for my home, this little guy stays down the beach house. Maybe I'll take the Gourmet down there next year and get a nicer one for home.

 

lucc

Meat Mopper

Original poster

Thread starter

Jun 4, 2009

152

22

NJ

• Jun 29, 2009

• #5

Yeah, I was thinking about that too.

 

mballi3011

Gone but not forgotten. RIP

OTBS Member

SMF Premier Member

Mar 12, 2009

14,477

58

• Jun 29, 2009

• #6

Problem you ain't got a stinking problem you just need either another smoker or just a bigger smoker. I would go with the latter.

 

gnubee

Master of the Pit

OTBS Member

SMF Premier Member

Sep 12, 2008

1,519

18

Penticton BC

• Jun 29, 2009

• #7

What He said! or......

I found a rack at the Hardware store that fit my Masterbuilt perfectly. There was originally 6 inches between the racks it came with. I drilled three bolt holes 3inches up from the bottom rack. three stainless bolts to rest the rack on and Now Instead of 2 racks when I do ribs now my smoker has three. It gives me 33 1/3 % more cooking surface for my rib smokes.

Your milage may vary, I am not familiar with your smoker and it may be too small to do that or you may have a really hard time finding another rack that fits. But my whole mod was $25.00

The best solution of course is to go out and buy a 22 Inch webber kettle, an extra large Big green egg, or a Lang84 or all three of those.

PS. On looking a bit closer look at your picture I notice a lot of over lap,of the meat. That effectively doubles the thickness of it and will make that section cook differently than the rest does. So no overlapping. Also no touching of the meat on the outside wall of the smoker. Meat will stick and dry out where it touches that wall. I certainly would not smoke those ribs the way they are in the pic. Your idea of doing 2 seperate batches and using the oven during foiling sounds like a good plan that should work well.

Good luck and lets see some qview of your finished product.

 

bigsteve

Master of the Pit

Feb 15, 2009

1,298

12

South West Florida

• Jun 29, 2009

• #8

Yes, rib racks are the way to go. But make sure you measure your cooker. I bought a rack at Home Depot, assembled it, and found it was too big for my gourmet smoker. I needed other things, so I just ordered the correct size from Brinkman. I'm sure you can find one around town that fits.

 

billbo

Master of the Pit

OTBS Member

Aug 19, 2007

1,393

34

Upstate NY

• Jul 1, 2009

• #9

You can pick up racks at Home depot & Lowes. Most have one within a few miles. I use them and they work great especially on my smaller ECB or when I want to load up the drum!

Home depot http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/...atalogId=10053

Lowes
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...s&Ntt=rib+rack

 

bbrock

Meat Mopper

May 13, 2009

214

11

Richmond Ky

• Jul 1, 2009

• #10

I have not bought one yet ..but I will have one by this weekend I have found out they are very helpfull...Thanks billbo I did not know that you could get them at Lowes..

 

roksmith

Meat Mopper

OTBS Member

Feb 27, 2006

180

10

Southeastern Ohio

• Jul 1, 2009

• #11

until you get the racks, you could try the old rolled ribs technique.

Here's a link to an example thread..might save you some space.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...ht=ribs+rolled

 

herkysprings

Smoking Fanatic

Jun 2, 2009

578

11

Eugene, OR

• Jul 1, 2009

• #12

Or try smoking in batches, foil in oven, finish on a low temp grill. then FTC and hold them until the second batch is done.

 

lucc

Meat Mopper

Original poster

Thread starter

Jun 4, 2009

152

22

NJ

• Jul 6, 2009

• #13

Just an update, I smoked the 6 racks of ribs and everything turned out great. I didn't get a rib rack and just used the same method I did previously. Cut 3 racks in half, put them on for 2-3 hours, foiled and into oven at 215 while the other 3 racks were smoking. Foiled the second batch then put all the ribs on for 2 more hours. Removed, unfoiled all of them, cut em, put some sauce on them and then back in the oven they went for an hour on 250. Turned out pretty good.

 

rickw

Master of the Pit

OTBS Member

Sep 1, 2008

2,369

14

The Peoples Republic of IL.

• Jul 6, 2009

• #14

It's always nice when everything turns out great, congrats.