Newbie rib questions

Unknown

Making ribs tonight for the first time. For guests of course. I have Dr. BBQ's book and have read thru the recipes in there. (Love his writing style, btw.) I want to do something *real* easy for this first time. Which recipe either from his book or from this forum do you recommend? I want to finish with a bbq sauce that I rep for, which is a sweet and sour sort of sauce, like the old Lawry's Sweet n Sour bbq sauce they used to make (and most sadly discontinued).[p]I am personally not a fan of smoked flavor in meat, so I probably will not be putting any wood chips on there, altho I noticed my husband went out and bought a bag of something.[p]Will I be adding more lump as I go or will the lump I put in last the entire cook? How much should I put in? [p]The platesetter goes feet up or down for indirect? Seems to me that doesen't matter, it would be indirect no matter which way. But which way should I put them?[p]I like the regulare spare ribs, dh likes the baby backs. I'm tempted to try the St. Louis style ribs but I would be amazed if I can find them here. Do the regular take longer to cook than the babies?[p]Any other advice? Approx how far open is the vent at the bottom and the daisy wheel on top to keep the temp around 275 degrees? Or is each individual fire different and you have to always figure it out anew?[p]Thanks!
Gwen

The Naked Whiz

Gwen,
Fill the firebox up and you won't need to add lump. You'll have lots left over.[p]The platesetter goes in legs up. Then you can put a drip pan on the plate setter, the grid on the plate setter legs, and finally the ribs on the grid.[p]Babybacks tend to take a little less time. I do spares for about 6 hours, baby backs for about 5.[p]Top and bottom vents will both be fairly closed to maintain 250-275. There is a little variation possible from fire to fire, but not really much. [p]For sauce, I like to use Dickie's sauce or Bone Suckin' sauce. I haven't made my own sauce for ribs yet.[p]Good luck,
TNW

Unknown

The Naked Whiz,[p]Is the drip pan just to keep the platesetter clean? So I would need a drip pan that covered the same area as how many racks of ribs I have, right? I'm just gonna use one of those throwaway pans from the grocery store.

The Naked Whiz

Gwen,
Yes, pretty much. I use a baking pan (13x9, I think) and just cover it with foil before placing it on the plate setter.
TNW

Mark Backer

Gwen,[p]A lot of folks just make a little makeshift drip pan out of foil that's roughly as big as the platesetter. Ribs don't make too too much stuff (unlike brisket or butts where you'll want to catch some / alot of it).