How do I cook ribs for 12 on a Large BGE?

lhousesoccer · August 20

We're having a family gathering this Saturday with about 12 people coming. I've never tried cooking food for that many people at once. My wife wants me to do 3-2-1 ribs and Chiavetta's chicken thighs on the BGE, but I have no idea how I'm going to do that for 12. I'm thinking 6 racks of St. Louis style ribs will be needed, but I can't fit that many on the BGE, even with my rib rack. Do I cook half early in the morning most of the way, then not do the last hour? Then at noon, put on the second half, and then around 6pm when we're ready to eat, finish them flat on the grill surface, and cut the racks in half to fit them on easier? And somewhere in there, I need to do a dozen marinated chicken thighs. Ugh. Sounds like I need to get a second BGE - XL this time. It's ok, my son's college tuition payment that's due the same day can wait!

Foghorn · August 20

This should give you some ideas.

https://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1205881/how-many-racks-of-ribs-can-i-get-on-a-large/p1

I've done 5 racks on 2 levels in a kamado the size of a large BGE. The ends of the racks tend to cook faster than the centers as the ends tend to be above the open airflow space that is not blocked by the Platesetter/ConvEGGtor. To deal with this, I often end up cutting the racks in half and spinning them partway through the cook to put the undercooked portion of the rack to the outside where it is hotter.

Hopefully others with more experience will come along.

Foghorn · August 20

Definitely do the chicken thighs after the ribs come off. They can be held in FTC for hours while you do other things.

Mr1egg · August 20

Rib rack!!!! I bought the napoleon one and love it, holds 6 racks. I had to cut the handles off to fit my bbq but it's perfect for party's with left overs usually.

Mr1egg · August 20

GoldenQ · August 20

Buy the xl also

DieselkW · August 21

When I did a large rib cook of 6 racks I made 3 circles, two racks each nestled inside each other, bone side to bone side, holding the outer ring with butcher's twine. The inside ones broke in half - and seriously - don't bother trying to wrap them - just let them ride for 4-5 hours and then open them up and sauce them leaning against each other like chevrons.

It's a LOT of ribs for a BGE Large.

GrateEggspectations · August 21

For me, the challenge with ribs is not how many I can fit on during smoking - it’s pretty easy to crowd them in and a cook a lot at one time for that. It’s more that when I get to saucing, it’s very impractical and messy to have them touching or stacked. For that, laying them flat and independently is ideal.

fishlessman · August 22

GrateEggspectations said:

For me, the challenge with ribs is not how many I can fit on during smoking - it’s pretty easy to crowd them in and a cook a lot at one time for that. It’s more that when I get to saucing, it’s very impractical and messy to have them touching or stacked. For that, laying them flat and independently is ideal.

ive taken to saucing at the table, and i only sauce the cut sides leaving the dry rub sides alone. warm the sauce up first, put it in a plate and simply drag the cut sides thru

Mark_B_Good · August 22

If it helps, once you wrap, you can put the ribs in the oven (no need for egg), and use the egg for the chicken.

For the ribs, instead of keeping them straight on the grill, have you tried to coil them (think a spiral from the outside in. Generally you Gs fit more on the egg if you spiral/curve them.

lhousesoccer · August 22

Thank you everyone. Lots of great suggestions. I have a pretty generic dual-purpose wire rib rack (can flip it to use as a roast cradle) so I'll try to stack the 6 racks of ribs in there and use tinfoil balls to keep them separate. Sauce to finish or sauce at the table - we'll decide on that later I suppose, depending on how things go. @Mr1egg - I'm not sure if the photos are out of order, but did you start your ribs unwrapped on their edges in the rack for 2-3 hours, then wrap them and just stack them back in the grill for the next stage, without the rack? Piled on top of each other when wrapped was fine? Thanks again everyone!

Mr1egg · August 22

lhousesoccer said:

Thank you everyone. Lots of great suggestions. I have a pretty generic dual-purpose wire rib rack (can flip it to use as a roast cradle) so I'll try to stack the 6 racks of ribs in there and use tinfoil balls to keep them separate. Sauce to finish or sauce at the table - we'll decide on that later I suppose, depending on how things go. @Mr1egg - I'm not sure if the photos are out of order, but did you start your ribs unwrapped on their edges in the rack for 2-3 hours, then wrap them and just stack them back in the grill for the next stage, without the rack? Piled on top of each other when wrapped was fine? Thanks again everyone!

Ya I believe the photos are out of order, that's exactly what I did, unwrapped for 3 hours then wrapped on top of each other for 1.5 hours and finally sauced up unwrapped laying on top of each other again for half hour.

lhousesoccer · August 25

Thanks again everyone for the tips. The cook went well and everyone raved about the fall-off-the-bone ribs. I ended up going 3 hours in the rib rack spritzing with water occasionally, then wrapped in foil and a final spritz before sealing then stacked on top of each other back on the grill, then I pulled them and the insert to make room for the chicken. I just wrapped them in towels and let them rest while I finished the chicken, which I started in the oven for 40 minutes with the Mac and cheese. The dry rub was a dart toss at the shelf of products at my local Ace Hardware. It was really good. A hint of heat and very flavorful. I didn’t use a binder. Just straight rub and let it sweat in for 15 minutes while I stabilized the grill.

johnmitchell · August 25

@lhousesoccer. What a great spread!!! Home run😋

lousubcap · August 25

@Ihousesoccer - way to bring it home. Congrats.

dbCooper · August 25

@lhousesoccer - Nicely done!

Foghorn · August 25

Outstanding result right there. Well executed.

Paolo · August 26

Those ribs..just wow! Good to now that I have potential for a 12 people rib party on my LBGE.
Thanks for sharing the pictures

Mark_B_Good · August 27

lhousesoccer said:

Thank you everyone. Lots of great suggestions. I have a pretty generic dual-purpose wire rib rack (can flip it to use as a roast cradle) so I'll try to stack the 6 racks of ribs in there and use tinfoil balls to keep them separate. Sauce to finish or sauce at the table - we'll decide on that later I suppose, depending on how things go. @Mr1egg - I'm not sure if the photos are out of order, but did you start your ribs unwrapped on their edges in the rack for 2-3 hours, then wrap them and just stack them back in the grill for the next stage, without the rack? Piled on top of each other when wrapped was fine? Thanks again everyone!

Yes, once you have wrapped, you only need external temp ... you can pile them on each other ... but my preference is to just move them to the convection oven. Much easier to control temp, and you have much more room to accomodate.

Mr1egg · August 27

Turned out amazing.

lkapigian · August 27

Nailed that chicken!

How do I cook ribs for 12 on a Large BGE?

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