Rib racks....

[3montes]

Are rib racks required for making good ribs? Who uses them and are there differences between them? If you don't use them do you place your ribs in the smoker in any particular fashion? Or just let them fall where they may.

 

[richtee]

I'm a meat side up person, but I have also used racks for greater capacity. The trouble with racking 'em is it's a tough time mopping, obviously. But other than that... they work fine for me if I need 'em.

 

[ron50]

Usually Rib racks are used to fit more ribs on when space is an issue.

Usually I just place my ribs across the shelf leaving enough space between the racks to allow air and smoke to circulate.

Some people bend the ribs into a circle, attch the ends with toothpicks or skewers and lay the racks on their sides to save space.

Whatever works.

 

[gooose53]

The only reason I would use rib racks is if I'm trying to smoke more ribs than my smoker can handle. As I haven't used them very much.....but I don't think there is much difference in one rib rack or another...just my .02 cents

 

[Dutch]

3montes, the use of rib racks is optional in some smoker and a must use in others. The deciding factor is the amount of shelf space that is available for you to use. I use a Big Block GOSM that has 4 shelves. I can fit 3 st. lou/k.c. style slabs on each shelf (4 if I do some creative arranging) so without using the ribs stands, I can smoke 12-16 ribs at time. Using the stands I can put 2 stands to a shelf and smoke 10 slabs of ribs (my rib racks will hold 5 slabs of ribs and by using the potato prongs I can slip 2 more slabs in there if needs be.) So theoretically I can do at 40 to 48 slabs in my GOSM depending on how I load up the racks.

If you are limited to one or two shelves (WSM or an ECB) the rib rack will allow you to smoke more ribs.

 

[stacks]

I have a Brinkman Cimmeron smoker, which is usually plenty big enough for my usual smoking. Today however, we plan on having several friends over for dinner. I'm cooking a large pork butt and 4 slabs of ribs. I'm using a rib rack so I can squeeze it all in there and still get the smoke to circulate. If you are making KC style ribs, they fold on each other when you rack which gives the meat a "bleached" look where the meat touches. I cut the excess off making them St. louis style and smoke the extra meat with my butt. The St. Louis style stacks well on their side and lets the smoke circulate.

 

[Dutch]

Stacks, a tip that I use when doing St. Lou style ribs in the rib rack is to run a 12 inch bamboo skewer through the small ends of the slabs and slide the slabs on the skewer so there is adequate space between the slabs. This eliminates the fold-over problem, once the meat firms up to stand on itâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s own you can pull the skewer out or just leave it in.

 

[richoso1]

If you have the room, meat down is the usual method. I think getting ribs in and out of a rack for mopping might be a little time consuming, but if you need the room, that's the way to go. Once again, Dutch has a great suggestion for the Ribs vs Space situation.

 

[stacks]

Thanks Dutch. I will try that next time. Even though I cut the KC's down to STL style, I still had fold over issues. The butt turned out great. I had some problems with the ribs. About an hour before I put them in foil the outside temp dropped about ten degrees (34) and the wind picked up. I couldn't keep the smoker temp above 190. I ran out of time before my dinner guests arrived. The ribs were done, but not as "fall off the bone" tender like I wanted them. I have a few pics I will try to post in a few minutes.
Thanks again for the tip.
Mike