Its me again with another newbie question... ;D
I have a 4 tray OBS, and I want to maximize the number of baby backs I can get in to it.
Being Scottish, and therefore frugal, I can't pass up the Costco 3 rack baby back cryopacks -- they only sell three rack packages.
Three racks isn't really enough for the crowd I need to feed, and I can't figure out how to fit six into the OBS. I can only seem to fit 1 rack per tray, and I don't want to buy six racks, and freeze two for a later smoke.
Any thoughts? (I know, I probably should have realized I'd need a six tray smoker...) :'(
You should be able to get 6 racks of BB's in a 4 rack smoker.
They will shrink when you start smokin them.
You can do it!
If you have another set of trays, you can invert a tray and place in on top of another tray, so you can place two racks per shelf. This works will for thinner cuts of meat, but I've never tried it with baby backs.
The pros are you can cook more ribs at one time.
The cons are that with a larger load it will take longer to cook. Smoke penetration may be some what impeded do to lack of circulation space around the meat. It will be more difficult to rotate racks, and check the ribs that are beneath the inverted trays or if you mop or foil.
I have been able to get two racks of baby backs on a rack with a little trimming and a little scrunching.
It depends on the ribs. some racks are bigger than others. ;D
Quote from: shoresdiver on April 13, 2010, 11:32:57 PM
Being Scottish, and therefore frugal, I can't pass up the Costco 3 rack baby back cryopacks -- they only sell three rack packages.
Are you actually in Scotland? If so, how strange, as our Costco locations down here in London have only 4 rack cryopacks... cheap as chips too, which is fantastic for rib addicted maniacs like ourselves!
You can also buy yourself a rib rack stand. It stands the ribs up.
rib rack (http://www.homedepot.ca/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CatalogSearchResultView?D=974520&Ntt=974520&catalogId=10051&langId=-15&storeId=10051&Dx=mode+matchallpartial&Ntx=mode+matchall&recN=112996&N=0&Ntk=P_PartNumber)
I'd cut the six racks up as required to fit them with minimum overlap. Then use anything - even crumpled up tin foil - to make some space between the overlapped ribs. The goal being to allow smoke circulation around the ribs. I'd certainly rotate (front/back, top/bottom) a few times during the smoke cycle. Once the smoke is done, I'd finish 'em off in the oven where you can boat 'em, sauce 'em, etc.
I've done 6 racks a couple times in my OBS but with the help of the extra rack kit from Scott's place. If this is something that is going to be a regular occurance for you I would seriously consider adding a few more racks. It's so helpful for large amounts, and also helps with smaller amounts giving you the added flexibility in where you place your racks as well as when you are rotating racks around.
I was going to suggest the same thing as Lumpy.
This is how I do it:
(http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk7/flbentrider/bradley/DSCN1990.jpg)
I'm impresssed! Look like full slab ribs, not baby back ribs.
What is the difference between back ribs and baby back ribs?
Quote from: Rich_91360 on April 14, 2010, 11:14:16 AM
I'm impresssed! Look like full slab ribs, not baby back ribs.
Those might have been spare ribs. I don't seem to have a pic of the baby backs.
baby backs are smaller and more tender.
Quote from: shoresdiver on April 13, 2010, 11:32:57 PM
Any thoughts? (I know, I probably should have realized I'd need a six tray smoker...) :'(
Not really cause you can get an extra rack kit from Scott's Place and add up to 8 more racks to your 4 rack OBS.
JT
Quote from: Paddlinpaul on April 14, 2010, 11:15:32 AM
What is the difference between back ribs and baby back ribs?
One in the same.
Used to be able to get something called Danish Ribs that were often smaller than BBribs. However since the European Meat Ban of 2001, I haven't seen them much. Used to be served in restaurants often as Baby Backs. Did not care for them much myself as they didn't have as much meat, lots of shiners, and sometimes a fishy off-smell - possibly from what they were fed?
In Canada, the time I have seen BBR is on restaurant menus. The grocery stores and butcher shops all call them back ribs. I kinda assumed they were the same but wasn't sure.
For What it is Worth!
There are basically two types of pork ribs.
• Baby back ribs also called loin ribs, back ribs, or Canadian back ribs. They are generally noted to be the premium ribs as they
often contain more meat and some of that meat would be loin and the meat would tend to be more tender. Restaurants really like
them as they do not take as long to get done and tender. They are taken from the top of the rib cage between the spine and the
spare ribs and below the loin muscle. The designation "baby" indicates the cuts are from market weight hogs, rather than sows.
• Spare ribs also called side ribs. They are taken from the middle part of the belly side of the rib cage, below the section of back
ribs and above the sternum (breast bone). Spare ribs are flatter and contain more bone than meat, but are generally thought to
be better
Variations of the above types and other rib named products
• St. Louis Style ribs or St. Louis Cut spare ribs are merely spareribs that have been trimmed. The sternum bone, cartilage, deckle
and rib tips have been removed. The final shape is almost rectangular and more uniform in thickness – plus they do not contain the
pesky cartilage – some people are put off by it.
• Kansas City style ribs are trimmed even more closely than the St. Louis style ribs.
• Danish Ribs can be either back ribs or spare ribs. Generally from a particular breed of hog and re generally smaller and with less
meat.
• Rib tips are short, meaty sections of rib that are attached to the lower end of the spare ribs, between the ribs and the sternum.
Unlike back ribs or spare ribs, the "bone" is actually cartilage, not bone. They are trimmings off the spare ribs when preparing St.
Louis Style spare ribs.
• Button Ribs (sometimes call rib tips or riblets by restaurants) are flat, circular shaped bones located at the rear end of the loin.
They are not actually ribs, as they are not taken from the rib cage. The button ribs consist of the last 4 to 6 bones on the
backbone that do not have actual ribs connected to them. The meat on the button ribs consists of meat that covers each button
and connects them together and is tender because it is from the loin. Applebees used to sell a lot of these on All-you-can-eat
Thursdays.
• Country-style ribs are not really ribs either. They are cut from the front end of the loin close to the pork shoulder. They are
meatier than other rib cuts. They contain no rib bones, therefore are not technically ribs.
• Rib roasts (bone-in pork loin rib roast, bone-in loin rib roast, center cut rib roast, prime rib of pork, standing rib roast) are whole
pork loins with the back ribs attached. They can be up to 2' long and 6" thick. They are sold whole or in sections.
• Rib chops are pork steaks or chops that include a back rib bone and the loin meat attached. They are lean and tender and tasty.
• Riblets are prepared by butchers by cutting a full set of spare ribs approximately in half.
• Rib patties - The meat from the ribs are taken off the bone and ground to make rib patties. These are very tasty. However, the
popular McRib patties contain meat mostly from non-rib sections of the hog.
Quote from: ExpatCanadian on April 14, 2010, 05:33:37 AM
Are you actually in Scotland? If so, how strange, as our Costco locations down here in London have only 4 rack cryopacks... cheap as chips too, which is fantastic for rib addicted maniacs like ourselves!
Sadly, I'm not in Scotland, but rather Miami (which is not too bad as an alternative!) I certainly wouldn't mind picking up the cryopacks in London, but the commute would cut into the savings ;D
Thanks for all of the great advice! (what a great forum!)