Serving ribs and burgers (basic recipe/suggestions)

[steph746]

Hi Everyone,

My first post and a relatively amateur BBQer. I do use charcoal and have a Weber grill.

I'd like to serve burgers and BBQ ribs. I remember a couple of years ago doing this, but can't remember the timing of things. I do remember getting stressed out about making sure ribs were done on time. I think I had a recipe where they cooked for about 2 hours or so.

I think my main worry is how much charcoal to use and what happens if the temperature goes down. Can I add briquettes to the grill easily to bump up the temp?

I think I should start coooking the ribs around 3:30pm or so if we plan to eat around 6:00pm? Would charcoal last for that long or would I need to throw some briquettes on? Would I have enough heat to cook the burgers around 6:00pm?

Thanks in advance for any advice you might have.

-Steph

 

[SmokinVOLfan]

If I am reading this right I am guessing you are wanting to grill the ribs and not smoke them?

 

[zwiller]

Welcome Steph!

Not a charcoal guy so I will let others address that but my advice to you is to smoke the ribs a day or more in advance, let cool, wrap in foil or put into a container with lid, and throw in fridge. Sear both ribs and burgers on a HOT grill when ready. I would also suggest rubbing the ribs the night before or longer before smoking and take IT of ribs to 190F or so for near fall off the bone, 200F for fall of the bone. Homework for evening is the 5 day E course https://www.smoking-meat.com/smoking-basics-ecourse

 

[steph746]

If I am reading this right I am guessing you are wanting to grill the ribs and not smoke them?

Hi,

Yes. I would be grilling them. Sorry, is that ok to discuss in this forum or is the more geared towards smoking?

Ideally I'd like to start cooking a couple of hours before the bbq and start serving the ribs first and then grill some burgers. I'm not looking to do anything super fancy/advanced, just want to get some decent tasting ribs.

-Steph

 

[pops6927]

Welcome! Yes, we have a place for that! However, I think you may want to reconsider your plan of attack on your next cook! I am assuming pork ribs? And beef burgers?
Are they full pork spareribs or baby back pork ribs or St. Louis style pork ribs or beef ribs? You can Google the different types if you are not sure, but each has different cooking methods and time periods.
To further aid you in your quest of consistent BBQ'ing methods you can keep a notebook of your times, temperatures and methods of operations to relieve any doubts of your BBQ'ing skills! Further studying in these volumes on this forum will give you a wealth of knowledge, bar none, to assist you!

Smoking meat log:

https://www.smoking-meat.com/image-files/smoking-meat-log.pdf

 

[SmokinVOLfan]

Of course we can discuss grilling! If you are doing pork ribs I would give yourself at least a couple hours and keep an eye on them. Don't want to char them and not be done. Shoot for 195 between the bones for tender but not quite FOTB. Or as the others have said you might consider smoking them in advance and reheating and just grilling the burgers that day.

 

[steph746]

Of course we can discuss grilling! If you are doing pork ribs I would give yourself at least a couple hours and keep an eye on them. Don't want to char them and not be done. Shoot for 195 between the bones for tender but not quite FOTB. Or as the others have said you might consider smoking them in advance and reheating and just grilling the burgers that day.

I am cooking St. Louis style pork ribs and beef burgers. I was hoping for about 2 hours of cook time.

My main concern is how to handle the charcoal. I have a chimney and usually fill it up and light it and after about 10 minutes in the chimney I will dump out the coals and spread them out. I understand that for the ribs, I'll pile the coals on half of the grill approximately and cook the ribs on the "bare" half?

After dumping coals from a hot chimney, I should let them cool for a bit I assume and then start cooking the ribs? I'm worried that cooking for two hours the temp will get too low? Do I then just dump new coals on top of the burning ones?

Likewise, after the ribs are done, should I add some coals and then cook the burgers?