Indirect cooking w/o plate setter?

BBQ-BoB

Well I plan to use my new-used Egg Friday. Planning on some ribs for the first cook then grilling some duch the next day or so.[p]How would one cook ribs indirectly without a plate setter or isn't it really needed?[p]I won't be getting a plate setter or the additional cooking rack for awhile so I'd like to adapt other ways to use the egg assuming I have to.[p]The guy I got it from forgot to give me the video that comes with it so I'll apologize now for stupid questions. I have basically lurked on this forum but honestly have never read enough about the egg to get a good understanding of them. I just watched the backdraft video on TNW's site and that itself was informative to know![p]Thanks for any tips and suggestions![p]Bob (the new eggman on the block)

fishlessman

bbqBob,
fire bricks, pizza stone, pie pan, anything to rederect the heat. go to a home depot and atleast get a 10 dollar weber grill for a second grill. you can raise it with cans if you have to, just remove both sides of the can and use 3 to balance a second grill. with ribs i usually cook them direct on a raised grill in an egg as i like them dryer. as for the flashback, dont wear any nylon or polar tech style jackets for a while. the flashback can instantly destroy a good jacket

Grillicious

bbqBob, my first cook at the Texas Eggfest was baby backs cooked direct, no platesetter. 1.5 hrs direct, flipping every half hour. Then another 1.5 hours direct, but foiled. Then one more half hour out of the foil direct for saucing. Turned out great. This was done under the direction of a BGE rep (I don't recall his name) and Bob from BBQ Outfitters who provided the demo eggs.

sprinter

bbqBob,[p]Hey Bob, you going green on us now? Welcome, I think you'll like the egg. It has its plusses and minuses, just like any cooker, but its quite a machine, I really think you'll like the product it turns out.[p]As for cooking ribs indirect without the plate setter it can be done but it takes some finageling (sp) with some parts and pieces of whatever else you have laying around. I've also cooked them direct with great results. I cooked them in a rack so they were not laying flat on the grate and I also was dilligent about rotating them. I think they were on a raised grate also, not right ON the fire. [p]If you have any other cooking grates at all that would fit the thing you are in great shape and all you need to do is find something to raise it above the main grate. You can use small terracotta pots, tin cans (beer cans work well I've found, it was all I had), just to raise the grate a bit. Place the cans on the main grate, place the additional grate on the cans and you are ready to go. If you have a round cake baking dish you can use it as a water pan and actually make an indirect setup that way if you want.[p]You may want to ring Old Dave also, he has some great ideas when it comes to engineering these cookers.[p]Good luck with the first cook. It may sound stupid but on my egg, and probably the same on yours regardles of the size, the bottom vent only needs to be open less than an EIGHTH of an inch to maintain a 225-250 degree temp inside of the cooker. Top vents closed so just the holes in the daisy top are open. Mine, a medium, will run a good 20 hours on this setup, temp PEGGED at 250 or so. Its pretty amazing especially when I consider I have to have a charcoal hopper feeding my big cooker to get it to temp.[p]Talk to you soon.[p]Troy

Charbon

<p />bbqBob, Lots of ways to baffle and lift. You may need to drive all over creation to get these treasures. I would favor second cooking grate held up by kiln posts with foil lined pie pan as drip catcher until you get the setter. Good Luck

HighCotton

We use some 1/2" terracotta tiles on the lower grid and extend the upper grid by setting on firebricks.

GrillMeister

<p />bbqBob,[p]Firebricks are the way to go if you don't have a plate setter.[p]Here's a shot courtesy TimM's BBQ site

ronbeaux

bbqBob,
I'm new also but after reading the posts in here it sparked my imagination. For a really inexpensive setup try building one of the raised grills that the Naked Whiz has on his website. It's cheap, cost me $10.00 at Ace for the grill and the bolts and nuts. Place a floor tile(ceramic) on the egg grill and then put the raised grill on top of that. You might be able to get the floor tile for free at a tile store as a sample. Color won't matter. You can then put a foil pan on the tile and add water or just leave it alone to catch the juices.

J Straus

bbqBob,[p]Fire bricks (5) and a Webber replacement grill. I used the setup like you see in GrillMeister's setup for about five years before I got a platesetter. They will work just fine. Just know that when you are stabilizing the temp in your egg, that you keep in mind that after you start a fire, and let it get going, and then put on your indirect setup, that it will affect the airflow, as well as introduce some cold mass (if you are using bricks). So you'll need to give 30 minutes or so to see things stabilized once you are set up for indirect. [p]Good luck![p]Justin

BBQ-BoB

Man you guys are great! Thanks for all the info! I'll come up with some make shift deal to get by with and I have my grates from my WSM I can add for now too.[p]Just had a local friend call to tell me a guy he knows...knows a guy in our area that used to sell pool and spa stuff along with grills and yep eggs and he shut his doors but still has some egg stuff stored in his garage so I just might get the right stuff sooner than expected.[p]Thanks again to all who helped out! I really do appreciate it![p]Bob

Wiggle Wart Willie

bbqBob
I have a plate setter and do not use it when I cook ribs. If you are cooking spare ribs I would recommend a v rack and an aluminum pan to make it indirect. Use the 3-2-1 method. It works great the ribs are to die for.

Shawn

Wiggle Wart Willie

bbqBob
I have a plate setter and do not use it when I cook ribs. If you are cooking spare ribs I would recommend a v rack and an aluminum pan to make it indirect. Use the 3-2-1 method. It works great the ribs are to die for.

Shawn