For those who charcoal grill ribs:

[dj mishima]

Do you let the coals go out when hot grilling your ribs?  I don't particularly care for ribs(sorry, I know.)  But I'm caught up in some smack talking among my friends who are going to have a friendly rib competition.  One just posted a video on Facebook of her ribs being cooked on a charcoal grill.  There were obvious flames going and lots of smoke.  I was just curious if this is a good or regularly used technique.

Consider the fact that I am largely ignorant to charcoal grilling.  I have a gas grill.  But, I was under the impression that charcoal is brought to coal embers before cooking on them.  Am I just too used to indirect cooking?

 

[bama bbq]

I cook ribs on the Kettle with charcoal, but no flames.  Sorry.  I cook ribs at 275* indirect for ~5 hrs (St Louis cut spares).

 

[jaybone]

Wait til the coals are grayish in color then position the coals so that they are not directly under the ribs (same for chicken).  This way you are using indirect heat to cook.  Less chance of ending up with burnt outside and raw inside.

 

[mountainhawg]

This is my fast way of doing ribs. Takes 11/2 hours to get 'em done:
I run two rows of coals parallel under where the ribs will be cooked with enough space in-between for the width of the ribs plus 2-3 inches on each side. I start when the coals are just getting hot and using wrapped wood chunks applying the smoke at this time. As the coals get hotter I quit the smoke (after about 1/2 hour) and start misting with apple juice or just water about every 20 minutes (flipping the ribs over at the same time).
No flame ups and no blackened ribs. I feel cooking ribs directly over hot coals is NOT a very good technique. IF the person had Q sauce on them, they would obviously get burnt quite quickly.

 

[dasmoker]

My coals do not even go into the grill till they are grey and glowing. I use a chimney starter. Should never look to charcoal to get flame. Yoou don't even need flame to char or sear. Just very high direct heat. Coals should be grey, but glowing red, and wood should be soaked first as to get the smoke but not the flame. The way to good bark is not burning them with flame. :)

I use my pellet smoker now for ribs, but have done more racks of ribs on the charcoal grill then I can remember. Still use the charcoal grill for a few applications that the charcoal still does better then the pellet. Searing steaks, and my potatoes in foil packets are 2 examples.

 

[Bearcarver]

Maybe the flames you saw in the video was from fat dripping on the coals???

Bear

 

[rpphoto]

the way i do mine is indirect heat..... i get my coals ready in my chimney starter and on one side of the grille i lay them down once ready and then add a small layer of unlit coals over that to provide longer cooking..... then i tear off a piece of tin foil and put under where my ribs will hang.... catches juices as well as preventing nasty flare ups ...after i have Ribs on the grille ready to go , i through the days choice woodchips on the of my coals...

also a side note.. i dont use regular coals, like Kingsford , i use Lump Coal .....

indirect cooking is imho more efficient and effective method of cooking, and u can manage cook longer, slower, and more if dont correctly

mind you my cooking times usually:  Ribs 3-4hrs , Pork Shoulder/Boston Butt can run any where from 3 or 4 hrs to 12 hrs depending on qty and size of butts...