How many baby backs can fit in the smoker

darrm1 · April 24, 2012, 02:22:16 PM

I am planning on buying my first Bradley this week and having a b-day party this weekend at which I plan on smoking 8 racks of baby backs. Will the 4 rack smoker be able to hold 8 racks of ribs, or do i need to get a rib rack holder or something to assist in fitting them all in?
Also, if i can fit all of them in, how much adjustment needs to be made to the 3-2-1 guidline?
Would I have to rotate the racks around in the smoker to get even cooking times.

thanks
mark

mikecorn.1 · April 24, 2012, 02:49:16 PM

I fit six in my 4 rack. You could probably get more in some of the rib racks. I rotated mine to cook evenly. I kept them longer in the second stage. (foil) maybe 1 extra hour if I remember. Cause of the rotating and loosing heat. Good luck.

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TedEbear · April 24, 2012, 08:34:17 PM

Quote from: darrm1 on April 24, 2012, 02:22:16 PMAlso, if i can fit all of them in, how much adjustment needs to be made to the 3-2-1 guidline?

The 3-2-1 is for larger ribs, such as spare ribs. Baby backs usually take less total cook time.

However, in your case if you load the Bradley full of baby backs all that meat is going to really absorb the heat and the 3-2-1 might not be that far off. Check for the meat pulling away slightly from the end of the bone.

watchdog56 · April 25, 2012, 06:05:08 AM

You will need to go longer because of all the meat. One Christmas I did 8 racks of spare ribs in the garage with outside temp in the 20's. It took more than 8 hours and I had to finish in the oven because the temps never got up there. I had the 4 rack digital at the time. It will be hard but try not to open the door much.

darrm1 · April 25, 2012, 06:23:36 AM

thanks for all the quick replies!!!!

Assuming I can fit them all in, and I can manage to get the heat up, how often should I rotate them. Is it hotter on the bottom rack or the top rack?

I read here that some people have installed a second ellement, is this something that I should consider if I continue to load the bradley up.

thanks again
mark

TedEbear · April 25, 2012, 07:30:02 AM

Quote from: darrm1 on April 25, 2012, 06:23:36 AM

I read here that some people have installed a second ellement, is this something that I should consider if I continue to load the bradley up.

A second element will eliminate the problem with the Bradley struggling to reach the setpoint after you load cold meat in it and the recovery time after you open the door to rotate racks, etc., will just be a few minutes instead of an hour or more.

If you add a second element you also need to add a PID controller. The original controller isn't meant to handle 1000W worth of heating elements. An Auber PID controller is $45-$180, depending on if you want to do a bit of wiring or a simple plug-n-play.

KyNola · April 25, 2012, 07:39:33 AM

Mark, you might want to think about getting the smoke on those ribs for however long you want and then transfer them to your house oven to finish. 8 racks of ribs is a big load for the Bradley and will most likely take a long while to recover the temp. With your house oven you should easily be able to get 8 racks in it with no problem and have better temp control. When the Bradley is not smoking it is nothing more than a somewhat inefficient oven.

Just another option for you to consider.

darrm1 · April 25, 2012, 08:23:06 AM

I was thinking I might smoke them for 3-4 hours, maybe 1 rotation, then finish them on the barbq. Shouldn't take long on the barbq after smoking for 3-4 hours. I assume they should be atleast half way cooked after the smoking process.

mikecorn.1 · April 25, 2012, 08:52:39 AM

That sounds like a plan and half. If you are, just make sure you watch them so you dont dry them out with the direct heat. Thats assuming you dont have enough room to hit them with indirect heat. At my moms, we will foil them and put them in one side of her gas grill stacked and leave them in there till they are done. They come out just fine, if she goes to long and they are too fall off the bone, then we hit them on the grill for a bit to firm them back up. Good luck Partner.
The home oven as Larry (KyNola) advised is also a good way to go, Ive done it a couple of times on BIG BUTTS, plus it makes the whole house smell smoke-a-licious. ;D

TedEbear · April 25, 2012, 03:50:52 PM

Quote from: darrm1 on April 25, 2012, 08:23:06 AM
I was thinking I might smoke them for 3-4 hours, maybe 1 rotation, then finish them on the barbq. Shouldn't take long on the barbq after smoking for 3-4 hours. I assume they should be atleast half way cooked after the smoking process.

I used to cook ribs on my gas grill before I bought a Bradley. To keep them from drying out I would take several large aluminum baking pans and set them on the bottom grill, fill them with water, lay a rack from my kitchen oven on top of all that and the ribs on that rack. It was a way to cook them indirectly and the water helped keep them moist and tender.

You might look into something like that if you're planning on finishing the ribs on your grill and you don't want to them to dry out. Here's a link on where I got the idea from:

How gas grills work, maintenance, troubleshooting, and the best setups

Spliner · April 27, 2012, 06:47:55 AM

Quote from: KyNola on April 25, 2012, 07:39:33 AM
Mark, you might want to think about getting the smoke on those ribs for however long you want and then transfer them to your house oven to finish. 8 racks of ribs is a big load for the Bradley and will most likely take a long while to recover the temp. With your house oven you should easily be able to get 8 racks in it with no problem and have better temp control. When the Bradley is not smoking it is nothing more than a somewhat inefficient oven.

Just another option for you to consider.

Agreed. The stock OBS won't be able to recover the temps with all that meat. Mine did not. I did 3 hours smoke, then transferred to the oven at 225 (pre-heated) in foil for up to 2 hours. The OBS barely hit 180 over that 3 hour mark with all the meat I had in there. But the baby backs were fall off the bone tender.

darrm1 · May 18, 2012, 07:58:49 PM

Been a few weeks since I smoked these, but thought I would throw up some pics. Ribs were fantastic, did 8 racks in the bradley digital 4 rack smoker. I used the 3-2-1 method as a guidline, finished off on the grill with sauce, for maybe 2 minutes, just long enough to get some grill marks. Pictures arent the greatest, cause I kept forgetting to take pictures, with all the exitement and drooling of course. After trying for an hour, I couldnt get the pics to rotate properly, see here they are anyway

darrm1 · May 18, 2012, 08:06:11 PM

Here the pork loin I smoked last weekend. Turned out really good as well.

mark

mikecorn.1 · May 18, 2012, 08:49:55 PM

Those ribs are tiny ;D one bite will do. Try to change the size settings of the pics before you upload them.

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darrm1 · May 18, 2012, 11:50:42 PM

I think I got it figured out, finally!!!