Simple Question - St. Louis Style Ribs

NorthPilot06

Good morning all - quick question here.  I'll be smoking a rack of St. Louis style ribs on Saturday and just wanted to get your thoughts on two questions:

1. What's the best temp?  I would presume around ~250, the standard - no need for any "turbo" cook on these.

2. I purchased a "rib rack" accessory that can cook up to six racks simultaneously - I didn't know if it was recommended that I use that for a single rack as well or just when cooking multiples.

Thanks!

Michael

bgebrent

250 works well and no need for the rib rack. It is for multiples.

NorthPilot06

Thanks @bgebrent!

lousubcap

Toothpick test for the win-should take around 5-6 hours (at around 250*F) but go with the feel.

StillH2OEgger

What they said.

Theophan

I think most people do them at 250, but I consider 250 to be a minimum, and my range is usually 250-275.  I feel like I get better smoke at 250 or even a little higher.

And I usually do them whole without a rack, but I also have a lot of trouble with the extreme ends getting overcooked by hanging over the plate setter at one end or the other, and I'm thinking of trying the rack again (only used one once) and cutting them in half.

If you do them whole, pay attention to the vent areas on the plate setter, and maybe use some foil to protect the part of the ribs that's hanging over that.

DTEgg

My 2 cents: 250-275, watch the ends if whole as @Theophan said, pecan smoke does well, or hickory of you prefer...apple will do nicely too

NorthPilot06

Thanks guys - that's helpful.  Also, how long can I keep the ribs in the fridge without freezing?  I purchased them yesterday (Sunday) for smoking on Saturday (6 days). 

I don't know if it's silly to freeze and thaw in such a short period of time or if it's required...thanks!

Skiddymarker

If in the cryo it is good as long as the sell by date wasn't something like June 1st....
if they were fresh and you have them covered in the fridge, you are fine for five or six days without freezing. 

whta

Hey Theophan - Try putting some foil on the plate setter - unfolded.  Let it hang out over the edge to give you a little more protection????

Theophan

whta said:

Hey Theophan - Try putting some foil on the plate setter - unfolded.  Let it hang out over the edge to give you a little more protection????

Last time I did a rack of ribs, I forgot I was out of drip pans, so I made one out of HD foil, using a pizza pan as a "mold" so it was round and just about the right size.  It worked so well for that I think I'm going to forget about buying the drip pans I'd been using.

I don't know why it didn't occur to me while I was doing that to form the foil "pan" so that it protected the end of the rack -- probably would have been easy to do.  If I don't try cutting the ribs in half and putting them in a V-rack next time, which was what I was thinking about, I'll definitely give that a shot.

Thanks!