How many racks of ribs?

SoCalTim

Was reading on the BGE website that the lg egg is capable of cooking 7 racks of ribs vertically. I own a lg, I just don't see how this is possible on a 'non-modified' egg. Is this possible? How?

SGH

Yes it is possible. No question of it. Let me see if I have ribs in the freezer and I will gladly demonstrate this for you. With proper technique you can easily load 9 racks on the main grid. Stand by and let me dig around in the freezer. And yes I have a large. Not a xlarge.

Sardonicus

I gotta see this.

SoCalTim

The max I've been able to do are either 3 flat on the grate or 4 vertically. I'm real curious.

SGH

@SoCalTim‌
Bare with me a minute. I have no ribs in the freezer. I sent my son out to the shop to get some cedar planks. Im going to use them for demo purposes. The set up will be the same with the racks of ribs though.

Sardonicus

SoCalTim said:

The max I've been able to do are either 3 flat on the grate or 4 vertically. I'm real curious.

)

Somehow, hooks are involved.

SGH

@Sardonicus‌
No sir. No meat hooks. A inverted V-Rack and a 16 inch pan for farther heat shielding.

Sardonicus

By now, I should know better than to doubt you.

SGH

@SoCalTim‌
Quick question before I start taking pics. What is your set up so I know what to demonstrate? Standard grid and plate setter? Round stone and spider? Or what?

SGH

@SoCalTim‌
Question above my friend.^^^^^^^^^^^^

SoCalTim

Yes, standard grate and plate setter.

SGH

Thank you. Going to demonstrate how to load 7 racks in just seconds. Then I'm going to show how to load 12 racks on 1 grid with just a little improvisation and bobby pins. Women refer to them as hair pins. Bare with me while I set up and take pics and upload. If you still have questions after viewing the pics I will post my number. I can talk you through it in mere seconds if you are looking at the pics. Stand by my friend.

stemc33

I gotta see this.

SkinnyV

It will stack. Guys at egg fest here threw in like 9 racks on the large, touching and stacked on top of eachother. Its not ideal its just that it's possible.
Ideal is AR setup 6 racks nice and flat.

SGH

Keep baring with me fellows. It takes forever for me to upload pics when my stupid son and my DIL are on the wifi. Here are the first round of pics.

SGH

@SkinnyV‌
Mine are not going to be stacked. Touching will be very minor. Hence the bobby pins.

SoCalTim

@SGH ... I have to leave for work, can I catch you in the a.m when I get home. Looking forward to seeing exactly how this is done. Thank you for taking the time. Tim

SGH

It's taking forever to load the pics. Sorry. Keep baring with me. I'm doing my best.

SGH

@SoCalTim‌
Yes sir you can. Will take me a while to complete this my friend. Wifi stinks but I'm trying. Sorry for the delay.

R2Egg2Q

I think this is the most I've heard of or seen a pic of: http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/62119/20-racks-of-ribs

SGH

@R2Egg2Q‌
Impressive no doubt. But I'm trying to show how you can load 12 racks without them touching or having to move them around. This way one can load 12 racks and shut the dome until they are done. No having to move them around or check anything. Simply load 12 racks and cook 12 racks worry and hassle free. And they will all cook the very same. No over cooked spots nor any under cooked spots. Just 12 perfect racks of ribs on the standard grid.

SGH

If you are standing by for the conclusion I'm sorry to say that I will have to complete this in the morning. Why? It's 1:15am here and my wife is asleep. I got to rip these cedar planks to have enough to demonstrate the rib arrangement on the egg. She will kill me if I wake her up running the table saw ripping boards. But I will conclude this in the morning my friends. Hang in there.

stemc33

C'mon man...this is the tactic @cazzy pulled with his monster chops. Let's get everybody ready, then broadcast "to be continued".

SGH

No joke. Wife is a sleep. It's not my post so what would I be gaining by trying to run up views? It's socaltims thread not mine. I'm just trying to help him understand what can be done and will gladly do so when the wife gets up. If I was trying to run up views I would do it on my own thread. Not someone else's.

cazzy

stemc33 said:

C'mon man...this is the tactic @cazzy pulled with his monster chops. Let's get everybody ready, then broadcast "to be continued".

Tactic?? I think not sir...delayed for a very good reason. I don't hold onto cooks and post them later. I post progression pics as the cook goes along or I post the entire cook. I am not focused on view counts or comments like some. If I cared who viewed my threads, you would see me employ the "bump dead thread" tactic.

Hi54putty

I did 6 racks vertically in an inverted roasting rack and then another rack lying on top of those from front to back. 7 racks total. On my Large. 

fishlessman

theres six racks on a rib rack on the lower level and room for 1 or 2 more with plenty of space. if your worried one might touch the ceramic then line it with foil. i think this was cooked direct as well

blind99

Certainly not 12 but here's 5 or 6 and there was room for another one or two on the ends. There was room for air to circulate and they cooked evenly. It's a rib rack from weber I believe.

KiterTodd

I've posted this before, but as the question comes up, here is how I did 6 ribs vertically with an upside-down roasting rack (what many use as a rib rack) -

Putting them on;


Taking them off - (I kept two dry and put four back on with sauce)


I don't see how I could have put more than 6 on here using this method.  As you can see, it was a tight fit.   It turns out that 6 is more than I'll ever need to cook though so I think I'll be good.  That's a lot of ribs! 

I suppose, if you look at my first picture, I could have laid 2 racks flat on top of the 6 vertically?  That would have been a mass of meat though and would have cut down on the smoke airflow around the racks.  As it was, I did have to rotate once during cooking.  The parts of the racks that were touching cooked slower.  Inverting all the racks once took care of this and they all had an even surface at the end.

The only problem I did have was monitoring the flare-ups when I took the ribs off at the end and then sauced 4 of them.  There was so much fat drippings on the plate setter that while the grill was open it would catch fire easily.  I'll probably put a shallow drip pan in next time to manage some of that.

Here is the story on the original cook if you're curious - before, after

KiterTodd

blind99 said:

Certainly not 12 but here's 5 or 6 and there was room for another one or two on the ends. There was room for air to circulate and they cooked evenly. It's a rib rack from weber I believe.

You just sold me on purchasing a rib rack instead of using my upside-down roasting rack!  Does a better job of holding them up straight and less flopping on each other.

SteveWPBFL

WoW! Nicely done!