First Try at Vortex Ribs

[cptnding]

I've had the Vortex for my 22" kettle for a few months and it has produced some of the best wings and thighs I've ever had. Read a few posts about individual ribs with the Vortex in the past and had to try it. I knew I was going to be late getting home tonight so I sliced up the rack yesterday so I could get things going a little quicker. Got home, loaded up the Vortex and got it started. Pulled the ribs out and gave them a coating of rub.

All rubbed up and ready to go. Time for a cold one.

Vortex is ready. On to the grill with some hickory.

15 minutes in and smelling good. Damn that beer was good. Got another.

Flipped at 30 minutes.

At 45 minutes probing 175 in the thickest. Sauced with Killer Hogs vinegar. Gave them 5 minutes and sauced again.

Gave them a couple minutes and took them in to rest just a bit.

They were good. Definitely not going to replace low and slow with the SNS but will be doing this again. I can't even compare them to traditional smoked ribs. Very different and very tasty.

 

[goldendogs]

Those are some good looking ribs.

 

[Smokin Okie]

Great looking ribs ! My thinking on this method, is spares would be better cuz they have more fat to handle the high heat.

But looks like those baby backs did just fine.

 

[smokerjim]

They look excellent

 

[JLeonard]

looks mighty good. Foil do pretty good catching the drippings?

Jim

 

[Smokin Okie]

looks mighty good. Foil do pretty good catching the drippings?

Jim

I foil every time I use the Vortex. Not only does it catch drippings, but it redirects air flow up through the Vortex. There's still some outside of the charcoal grate, but most goes through the Vortex. I think it creates more convection.

 

[gmc2003]

Boy do those ribs look good, and I love the shot of the Vortex glowing in the dark. Just about an hour to cook. I'm going to have to give this method a go.

Point for sure
Chris

 

[clifish]

Looks great, going to have to do this, Maybe with spares and cut leaving the meat on one bone on both sides.

 

[sawhorseray]

Boy howdy those ribs sure do look good, nice work! I keep telling myself to do this, need to give it a shot. RAY

 

[Colin1230]

Yep, those sure look good! I would not have thought of doing it that way. Thanks a million for posting.

 

[babydocsmoke]

I'ma have to try this!

 

[babydocsmoke]

Did they turn out pretty tender? That's the only thing that I would worry about. I can cook anything quick, but I'll take the low n slow if it means I don't have to chew 10,000 times per bite.

 

[Smokin Okie]

Did they turn out pretty tender? That's the only thing that I would worry about. I can cook anything quick, but I'll take the low n slow if it means I don't have to chew 10,000 times per bite.

Ribs are gonna have a small done window when cooked at high heat. I found this doing baby backs on the Kettle at 350*+ temps. Can't sleep on em or they'll be on the other side of done in a flash.

 

[buckbros]

I foil every time I use the Vortex. Not only does it catch drippings, but it redirects air flow up through the Vortex. There's still some outside of the charcoal grate, but most goes through the Vortex. I think it creates more convection.

Do you cover the bottom vents in the Weber with foil?

 

[Smokin Okie]

Do you cover the bottom vents in the Weber with foil?

No, I cover the charcoal grate and I cut out the center for the Vortex.

In the pic above, you can see how he's wrapped the foil around the outside of the Vortex, which might be a tad easier than what I do. I fold the foil back up inside the Vortex. Either way is good, but just make sure that a grease puddle can't reach the coals.

Also appears he's taken the charcoal grate out, then wrapped it in foil. I lay two large pieces of foil to cover the grate and use it to also line the inside of the Kettle, since the cooking grate is larger than the charcoal grate.

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

I love those and yours look really good. Even better cold the next day. I like to get them to about 195 than sauce.

 

[cptnding]

Great looking ribs ! My thinking on this method, is spares would be better cuz they have more fat to handle the high heat.

But looks like those baby backs did just fine.

I thought the same but my wife much prefers baby backs. They turned out very good. The meat was overcooked on the parts of the rib with very little meat but the heavily caramelized sauce and crispy bits turned it into delicious meat candy.
I'm going to try a rack of spares just to see the difference.

 

[cptnding]

looks mighty good. Foil do pretty good catching the drippings?

Jim

It works well. I never have any get through. Basically I pull off a couple of long sheets of 18" wide foil and form it into a "moat" around the vortex up the sides of the kettle and the vortex with a trough in the bottom.

 

[cptnding]

Boy howdy those ribs sure do look good, nice work! I keep telling myself to do this, need to give it a shot. RAY

Give it a shot Ray. They turned out to be a different thing entirely.

 

[cptnding]

Did they turn out pretty tender? That's the only thing that I would worry about. I can cook anything quick, but I'll take the low n slow if it means I don't have to chew 10,000 times per bite.

Turned out more tender than I expected honestly. Not 5 hour low and slow tender but no where near tough. The parts of the rib with very little meat were overdone but still not tough to chew. Almost candied sauce and crunch bits.