Cooking Ribs...A lot of 'em

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the ramblin pit

Newbie
Original poster
Feb 17, 2014
18
10
Hi Everyone,

I have a big cook coming up where I am to make 60 racks of St. Louis Style Pork Side Ribs. I thought I would post my "game plan" for you all to critic and hopefully give me some tips...

My Reverse flow cooker can comfortably fit about 30 racks at a time. So I am going to have to do this in two batches. My method for these is going to be the same as if I were cooking one rack.

I am burning applewood at about 250 - 275 (since time is a factor). After my ribs are skinned, trimmed and rubbed I get them on the cooker. 

After 45 minutes I flip them and add a homemade mustard BBQ sauce to add some contrast in flavors.

After another 45 minutes I wrap in foil and add a bit more rub and some apple juice (what does everyone put in the foil when they wrap?)

After about an hour I'll unwrap, check tenderness and brush the ribs with a glaze (50/50 of my BBQ sauce and honey)

After about 30 minutes I'll test tenderness again and add straight BBQ sauce

After another 20 I'll add another round of sauce and hit them on a hot charcoal grill if needed (for 5 minutes or so).

Since I have to do two batches I may skip the last step and get them in a roaster pan, foiled and put in a Cambro hot box to finish on the charcoal grill just before meal time. This step I am especially interested in some input.

So, does anyone have experience cooking a load of ribs? Shoot me some tips! Thanks everyone.

Matt
 
The 3-2-1 method only works at 225 degrees. Since I burn hotter I usually do 45 flip, 45, then foil for 1.5 hours. With 1.5 hours being the absolute max time to keep them in the foil and I'll even check them after an hour to be sure they aren't getting mushy or falling apart. After they get out of the foil they are essentially done and just need to be glazed and sauced.

So to answer your question why 45 and 45 its because the entire cook is condensed to ensure they are cooked a little quicker while staying moist and tender.
 
I'm going to do a test rack on Thursday and I'm going to try an hour per side and an hour foiled then 20 minutes of glaze and 20 minutes of sauce to see what the result is.
 
 
The 3-2-1 method only works at 225 degrees. Since I burn hotter I usually do 45 flip, 45, then foil for 1.5 hours. With 1.5 hours being the absolute max time to keep them in the foil and I'll even check them after an hour to be sure they aren't getting mushy or falling apart. After they get out of the foil they are essentially done and just need to be glazed and sauced.

So to answer your question why 45 and 45 its because the entire cook is condensed to ensure they are cooked a little quicker while staying moist and tender.
wtf1.gif
 
If you put your ribs on for 3 hours at 275 then foil for 2 hours. I guarantee you have mushy rib meat and bones when you remove them from the foil.
 
you are not doing it for a competition huh? 95% of people like it be fall apart tender in real life...noone likes to have the teeth marks when they bit into a rib....and i will say that i usually dont keep them the ribs in there for the last hour anyway...more like 2-2 method
 
sorry...

http://www.amazingribs.com/tips_and_technique/texas_crutch.html

I am not cooking in a competition. I am trying to cook ribs while budgeting time and keeping them tender. When I serve them to my customers they need to be in tact, not a mess of overcooked meat.

I know there is a difference of opinion when it comes to Ribs but I've cooked my ribs with the 45 mins per side then foil for 1.5 hours method and they have been great. I've also foiled for 1.5 hours and got too hot and ruined the ribs. It takes proper fire management to get it right.

My original post was to get some input on the best way of holding temperature. To partially cook then finish on a grill before serving or to simply hold temperature and serve? I was looking for input from those who have a lot of ribs at once.
 
60 racks is a lot to foil individually.   Personally, I'd use the roaster pans for the foiling stage.   Put a wire rack in the bottom of the roaster pan to keep the ribs out of any liquid, stack the ribs sideways, spritz with apple juice then seal the top with foil.

Just be sure that your pans are big enough to stand Spares up in.  Something like a 6.5in deep hotel/water pan.


How to finish them depends on what you have available.  Ideally, it would be nice to use your stick burner or a really big charcoal grill, where you could finish a good number of racks at one time.
 
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