need advice on smoking ribs and a porkloin at the same time

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diamondg

Newbie
Original poster
Jul 11, 2013
19
10
high springs fl
I'm smoking 2 racks of st louis style spare ribs and a 3lb pork loin. I'm using a cheap model offset stick burner. I will be using lump charcoal and hickory wood. I'm planning on a 225 temp (will vary since I'm using a cheap smoker)

How long will the 3 lb loin take? How long into the cook should I put the ribs in? I plan to wrap both so how long into the cook on the loin should I wrap? I know about the 2-2-1 rule on the ribs

Im not sure what to wrap with. 1 rack of rubs I plan to sauce and the other I'm not. The rack I'm not saucing I plan to wrap with brown sugar, apple juice and butter but what should I wrap the rack I plan to sauce with? I don't want to interfere with the flavor or the sauce

On my pork loin I will be injecting with apple juice, apple cider vinegar and season salt. I will be rubbing with a sweet and spicy rub. What should I wrap with?
 
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you can do a 3-2-1 on the ribs if you like...the pork loin should only take 2-3 hours..take to internal temp of 145-150 degrees...you can wrap in bacon if you want but not needed..don't worry about doing foil time on the loin til its done..wrap up and place in a cooler or on your counter on a cookie sheet with a few towels over it...don't forget the qview
 
I'm smoking 2 racks of st louis style spare ribs and a 3lb pork loin. I'm using a cheap model offset stick burner. I will be using lump charcoal and hickory wood. I'm planning on a 225 temp (will vary since I'm using a cheap smoker)

How long will the 3 lb loin take? How long into the cook should I put the ribs in? I plan to wrap both so how long into the cook on the loin should I wrap? I know about the 2-2-1 rule on the ribs

Im not sure what to wrap with. 1 rack of rubs I plan to sauce and the other I'm not. The rack I'm not saucing I plan to wrap with brown sugar, apple juice and butter but what should I wrap the rack I plan to sauce with? I don't want to interfere with the flavor or the sauce

On my pork loin I will be injecting with apple juice, apple cider vinegar and season salt. I will be rubbing with a sweet and spicy rub. What should I wrap with?
I'd put them both in at same time, watching the loin IT closely as there's not much internal fat to keep it moist. Pull when it hits 140-145, wrap tight in foil, wrap in a towel and let it sit to re-absorb juices. This will more likely slice better than pulling. The rack you plan to sauce just wrap in foil without any additions (maybe a little AJ) and put back in for the '2' of the 3-2-1. Most times my ribs are done enough at the 3-2, especially with liquid in the foiling, without the additional hour.
 
Thanks. Just put the ribs on. This is my first time using lump charcoal - couldnt keep temp up with briquettes. Ill give it an hour before putting the loin on so I can have time to figure out my temps. I just had to close my vents to 1/4 cause the temp shot up to 250 in minutes.I'm using the minion method with my lump charcoal. My husband won't be home until 4:30-5:00 and we have afternoon thunderstorms coming so ill really need to watch my temps (its 12:30 right now)
 
If you can maintain that  250* you can expect the ribs to be done in 4-5 hours. The pork loin will only take about 2 hours to hit an IT of 145* So I would put it on when you've had the ribs in for 2 hours. If the loin finishes early, do as Willie suggested and foil wrap and rest (which you want to do anyways).
 
Yeah for some reason I'm battling to keep my temp DOWN to 250. both vents are CLOSED and its wanting to stay at 260!! I've been lightly spritzing water on my coals. Guess the minion method isn't a good idea with lump charcoal but that method with briquetts I couldn't get it higher than 200 with both vents wide open!
 
260* Shouldn't be an issue. I cook ribs at265* all the time. It's the sweet spot that my smoker likes to settle in at. Lump does burn hotter than briquettes. Post a full picture of your smoker and the venting it can help us figure out what you may need to do to help control the temps.
 
I smoked a pork loin a week ago while the boston butt was on. Temps 260º-280º loin was on for only 1 hour 45 minutes, pulled at 143º. Let rest for 3 hours and sliced thin. It was moist and tender.
 
yeh id say forget that 225* noise..run it at 250-265. if it wants to sit at 260 then let it. no need to aim for 225, you wanna eat today right?..lol youre not compromising anythng trust me.
 
As you can see the vents are completely closed. The temp has now stabilized since most of the coals burned down. I'm only adding a few at a time now. I guess I had too many in there. I wrapped my ribs at 2:30 and put in the loin. I put the wrapped ribs all the way to the right and the loin on left of them closest to the firebox
 
As you can see the vents are completely closed. The temp has now stabilized since most of the coals burned down. I'm only adding a few at a time now. I guess I had too many in there. I wrapped my ribs at 2:30 and put in the loin. I put the wrapped ribs all the way to the right and the loin on left of them closest to the firebox
how many coals did u start with?
 
I use the minion method with lump all the time. You did not mention how open the exhaust is. While you want the smoke to move and not go stale if it is drawing too hard it will burn your coal faster. Also try about half or less of a chimney of lit to start. I usually pull out a handful of the bigger lumps to start my fire with.
 
That's a ton of lump to use for that small of a smoke. Do you have a charcoal basket in the firebox or does the charcoal sit on a grate? A charcoal basket would help you a bunch. There are some other modifications that you can do to that rig to make it smoke better too. DO a search for offset smoker mods. Nothing you can do while your smoking but you can do before your next smoke.
 
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