Baby back rib cooking time.

[bocco]

I'm still new at smoking. I got pretty good results with one rack of ribs. 225 degrees for 5 hrs. If I want to cook 5 or 6 racks how long should that take. I'm going to cook ribs for mothers day and I want to make sure they are done in time for dinner.

Thanks

Gary

 

[noboundaries]

Hey Gary.  Assuming your smoker has no problem maintaining 225F chamber temp with that much meat inside, the 6 racks will take the same amount of time as a single rack. 

Think of it this way.  A single, 3 lb rack of ribs must absorb a certain amount of heat over 5 hours to reach doneness.  Each additional rack requires the same amount of heat.  The smoker must work a little harder to maintain 225F with two racks than it does with one.  If your smoker can work hard enough to maintain 225F with six racks, you're in great shape. 

 

[bocco]

 
Hey Gary.  Assuming your smoker has no problem maintaining 225F chamber temp with that much meat inside, the 6 racks will take the same amount of time as a single rack. 

Think of it this way.  A single, 3 lb rack of ribs must absorb a certain amount of heat over 5 hours to reach doneness.  Each additional rack requires the same amount of heat.  The smoker must work a little harder to maintain 225F with two racks than it does with one.  If your smoker can work hard enough to maintain 225F with six racks, you're in great shape. 

So the math is different than calculating cook time for a roast or brisket where the cook time increases by weight. I guess because all of the slabs will be about the same size.

I think to be safe I will start a couple of hours early and check them at 5 hours. If they look good I'll pull them and wrap them and let them keep warm in a cooler.

 

[noboundaries]

 
So the math is different than calculating cook time for a roast or brisket where the cook time increases by weight. I guess because all of the slabs will be about the same size.  Correct!

I think to be safe I will start a couple of hours early and check them at 5 hours. If they look good I'll pull them and wrap them and let them keep warm in a cooler.  Good plan.  Always safer to be early than late. 

 

[SmokinAl]

I always do my ribs by temp, not time.

Especially if you have multiple racks of ribs in your smoker & the temp varies from rack to rack.

Ray is right, 1 rack will take about the same time as 6.

Here is my method, it may give you some ideas.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/240916/perfect-ribs-every-time-this-really-works

Al