Catering St Louis Ribs. Need advice

[vic and carly]

Hi all,

So a week after we get our smoker my oldest son informs me he wants me to do the smoked ribs for his rehearsal dinner.  We made a couple racks last week using the 3-2-1 method, apple pellets and they were the best we have ever had.  Now the problem ...

I have a Traeger Jr, which will hold 2 racks.  I am going to need 10-12 racks for the rehearsal dinner.  What can I do ahead of time?  Here are my thoughts:

1.  Could do them all through the 3 hour smoke, then refrigerate, then foil and smoke the day of the rehearsal on our grass grill with the apple pellets in the smoke box.

2.  Smoke through the 3 hour, foil and set them through the 2 hour ... and then the day of the dinner do the last hour on the gas grill

OR

3.  Cook all the way through the 2 days before the dinner and simply reheat in the oven or on the gas grill the day of the dinner.

Has anyone tried any of these methods?  If so, have you figured out what is best?  Would appreciate any and all advice ... will kill son later for late notice on this!

Thanks,

Carly

 

[Dutch]

Here is another idea for you to think about-get a couple of rib racks. Some will hold as many as 6 racks in a vertical position-get a couple of them and then you could possibly smoke 10 racks in the vertical posistion in the space of two racks laying flat.

Now what I do and have done in the past is to smoke my ribs and when they are done and cool, I'll seal the slab in a food saver bag and put in the fridge if I'm going to use them the next day or put them in the freezer if if they not needed for a week or more.

I don't do sauce on my ribs so reheating in a snap-I can put the ribs bag and all into a pot of boiling water for 5-10 minutes or snip a corner and place the bag in the microwave and hit the reheat button.

If you do sauce on your ribs, the reheating on the grill would be the way to go.

I've had bagged ribs in the freezer for as long as 7 months. When I found them I reheated a slab for my family and reheated a slab for the guys that work for me.  They comment was "Man-you must be crazy or sumthin' to smoking ribs in the weather that we've been having!" That weekend we had a snow storm that dropped 18 inches of snow. The look of surprise on their faces was priceless when I told them the ribs were smoked over 6 months ago.

 

[scarbelly]

The rib racks work really well. I too have some and use them for larger smokes.  Are you going to smoke anything else for the dinner? You might want to add some chicken and some beans which you can do ahead of time and reheat 

 

[joeybomar]

I too think the racks may be a good idea but that may be a pretty busy day for you!

I would do the "3" hours over smoke (even with the racks)a day before, allow them to cool and seal well.  You can then place the ribs in a large aluminum pan with your foiling liquid of choice the day of the event, seal the pan and do the "2" in your oven - smoke is not needed during this phase.  Firm these up and/or glaze on your grill right before serving - the "1".  This will give you the "freshest" option in my opinion - I never have great luck with reheating.

This all might take a little work off of you the day of the big event.

 

[supercenterchef]

From what I've read (and done) through this forum...option #2 seems to be the popular choice:  3-2-fridge-grill

 

[JckDanls 07]

First I would tell him.. "SORRY" but my smokers not big enough... If that doesn't work... #2 is the way you want to do it if you don't have rib racks... The problem I found with rib racks is..when I foil I have to pile the packs on top of each other and they didn't seem to cook very good like that... so it would be #2 for me

 

[fester]

This a good rib rack I use. http://www.southernsteamers.com/rib-racks.htm#RibRacks

 

[rdknb]

I would either do the rib racks, or smoke all the way 3 2 1 and then reheat using steam.