Can I fit 4 racks of baby back ribs in my Model 2?

[eclecticitguy]

Hey All,

I just bought a model 2 smoker and am having some people over to break it in. There will be 10 adults there and I was reading that you should plan on approximately 4 ribs per person.  Also from reading and experience, most racks seem to have 12-13 ribs per rack.  With this math, it would seem that 3 full racks of ribs would barely be enough for everyone.  Has anyone ever smoked 4 ribs in their Model 2?  I would hate to run out of food during our first showing.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks!

 

[BedouinBob]

I haven't but I have a #2 and I have done 2 racks. They just fit!  If you had said SL ribs that would have been a different story. So you should be ok. Worst case you might have to turn them diagonal and you will find that the lower rack will get done first so you may want to rotate top to bottom after a couple of hours.

 

[Walt]

Easily

 

[Grampy]

Will, I have a #2 also and I smoke 3 racks of St. Louis cut spare ribs or baby backs all the time only using 2 shelves. Cut your racks in half and you can put 1 1/2 racks on each shelf. So you should be able to get up to 6 racks of ribs easily in your #2 using all 4 shelves.

 

[eclecticitguy]

Thanks all for the help.  It sounds like I should be able to fit 4 (or more) racks without any issue.

In terms of quantity of meat, does adding more meat make the smoking process take longer?  I'd assume not, but wanted to check before assuming incorrectly.  I'm going to follow the process that Divot Maker created under the Pork section and it indicates that 3 racks will take 5 - 5 1/2 hours.  I would assume this would be the same for 4 (or even 6) racks of ribs?

I do have one last question. Would it be better to get a rib rack to smoke the ribs vertically and take less rack space?  I guess my concern is that if I have ribs from top to bottom, will the entire smoker cavity heat as efficiently?

Thanks again for all the help.

 

[Durangosmoker]

I've never done 4 racks, but I do 2 racks on 2 shelves all the time and they turn out great! So add me to the no problem camp on doing 4 (or more?) racks.  The extra meat won't appreciably lengthen the smoke time, but I do like the suggestion of rotating the racks somewhere around the middle of the smoke.  As for the vertical rib racks, I've never used them, but I've never seen a post on here that sings their praises. And don't worry about cooking too many ribs (is there such a thing?), they freeze beautifully, and can be reheated either in a sous vide bath, wrapped in foil in the oven, or in a slow cooker with a bit of liquid.

 

[Walt]

I have a rib rack and have only used it once. I think its better to lay them flat when possible. I used the rack in the top position because I was cooking 9 racks of BB ribs in my #2 for a large get together. The ribs came out fine with a quick reshuffle of racks mid cook. I cant recall exactly the layout per rack but I remember there was room for 11 racks @ max capacity useing the 1 rib rack and existing shelving. Cook time was 5.5hrs @ 225, same as any other BB rib cook for me. The ribs received many compliments and disappeared rapidly. Normally I cook a 3 pack from Sams but the #2 can handle much more if  called upon. Keep a close eye on rib placement to box temperature probe if useing the rack. You dont want any meat within a couple inches of it or it could get false readings.

 

[40 caliber]

I have a Model 2 and have smoked ribs in it 20 times. I know because I keep a spreadsheet on all my smokes to track progress. (sorry I do this at work as well)  I use baby backs not St Louis.

anyway, I have smoked 4 full racks in a SI2 at least 5 times. Cut them in half and put one full rib rack bone down per shelf. there are 4 shelfs (one per rack) so it is no problem.  I find that I have to set the temp on my 2 to 250 degrees when I go four racks. it seems to average out to 235-240 and cook in 4.5-5.5 hours. MY SI2 seems not to be able to get to temp set at 235. this is how I have compensated. The  ribs are fall off the bone usually in 4.5 hours. but each smoker varies.

when I have people over, we usually have baked beans and cole slaw with it. if you have sides, you really can get away with  a half rack per person. if you want to cook 4 full racks that is fine but you should have left overs if with sides.

Another suggestion is cut the rack up. I have given everyone a half rack before. This seems to be wasteful as some people can't eat that many ribs. if you cut the ribs to 2 ribs per cut people can take what they want. what they leave goes to the big eaters.

good luck! nothing more fun than a house full of happy rib eaters.

 

[DivotMaker]

4 racks, on 4 shelves (1 rack per shelf, cut in half).  I know folks put more than one rack per shelf, but I like airspace around the meat.  No sense crowding when you have 4 shelves.

 

[eclecticitguy]

Thanks all for the help on this question.  It sounds like I'll be more than okay with the 4 racks of baby backs this weekend.  I'm going to take a bit of advice from everyone and put one rack of ribs per smoker rack, and will rotate the ribs about 3 hours into the cook.

This question may not pertain directly to my original question but does the Model #2 come with enough "sample" Hickory to both season the smoker and to cook these ribs?  I have purchased some wood from Smokinlicious but I don't think it's going to get here before Saturday.  If there isn't enough sample Hickory that comes with the Model #2, I might need to scramble and find some Hickory local.

 

[DivotMaker]

Will, you only need about 3 oz of wood for ribs, whether it's 1 rack or 4.  If you don't have a digital kitchen scale, I recommend getting one.  It's easy to over-judge the weight of wood, and over-smoke your meat in these smokers....they're very efficient!

 

[eclecticitguy]

Will, you only need about 3 oz of wood for ribs, whether it's 1 rack or 4.  If you don't have a digital kitchen scale, I recommend getting one.  It's easy to over-judge the weight of wood, and over-smoke your meat in these smokers....they're very efficient!

I do have a digital scale that I plan to use.  My question (since I won't get my smoker until tomorrow) is whether the amount of Hickory included in the shipment will be enough for seasoning the smoker, as well as cooking my ribs on Saturday.  How much wood does Steve provide in the shipment?

 

[DivotMaker]

You should get a big Ziploc bag full.  It will be enough for seasoning, and several smokes.  We typically only use 3-6 oz per smoke, which is usually 1-3 chunks, depending on size.

 

[eclecticitguy]

You should get a big Ziploc bag full.  It will be enough for seasoning, and several smokes.  We typically only use 3-6 oz per smoke, which is usually 1-3 chunks, depending on size.

Awesome, that was my hope!  My wood order from Smokinlicious is supposed to arrive on Saturday but I don't want to count on it getting there before noon, which is when I plan to start my smoke.  Thanks for all the help!  At this point, I think I'm ready to go, except for maybe the type of rub I'm going to use.  I am planning on using Meathead's Memphis Dust for the first go around. 

Thanks, Tony!

 

[DivotMaker]

Will, lots of folks swear by Memphis Dust, but I find it very bland.  Personally, my "go to" off the shelf rub is Famous Dave's Rib Rub.  I also like Bad Byron's Butt Rub.  I recommend maybe trying a rack with each, and you be the judge!  Rub flavor is very subjective, so try more than one!

 

[eclecticitguy]

Will, lots of folks swear by Memphis Dust, but I find it very bland. 

I am definitely going to look for a couple off the shelf rub's to try out as well.  Variety is the spice of life.  Or in this case, spice is the spice of life. 

When trying to Memphis Dust, did you add salt to whatever you smoked?  I noticed that the Memphis Dust recipe online specifically states not to add salt to the rub itself but to salt the meat directly.  I'm sure you added the salt, but any spice without salt will definitely taste more bland.  When not smoking, I consider myself an above average home cook and salt is definitely the secret ingredient in almost every dish you make.

 

[DivotMaker]

I've tried the MD recipe with, and without salt (to be fair).  For the one without salt, I followed instructions and salted the meat overnight.  It's not salt it's missing, it's spice!  No "kick" and no competition between sweet and heat.  Just bland, imo.  I like it when your taste buds get confused...is it hot?  Is it sweet?  What am I tasting??  lol..

 

[Perkolater]

Ok....reading these posts makes me hungry as all get out!
Thanks for the question Will, you just helped make up my mind about next weekend

 

[eclecticitguy]

Well I smoked my first set of ribs tonight in my Model 2.  Overall, I'd say my ribs were pretty good.  I was happy with most of the ribs but a couple of them came out a little dry.  I smoked for 2.5 hours @ 250, rotated the ribs top to bottom, and then smoked 2.5 hours more.  I used a modified version of Memphis Dust and the ribs definitely needed more flavor.  I went up to 250, rather than 235, because of loading the smoker with 4 racks.  Using my Thermapen, I was consistently measuring 248 from the vent hole, which makes me think I could probably set the temp to 240 next time and be just fine.  I used 2.5 oz of Hickory but might increase to 3 oz in the future.  The smoke flavor was there but not as pronounced as I would have liked, and there was little to no smoke ring on most of the ribs.  I put a loaf pan with half water and half apple cider vinegar for moisture.  Im wondering if rotating the ribs caused part of the dryness.

I took a picture of the ribs going in but forgot to take any of the ribs coming out.  Oops.  I'm excited to try again with a few modifications.

 

[40 caliber]

HI Will. I guess out units are different even though both SI2s . you are probably  right, bring it down to 240 next time and see how that works for you. sorry if it steered you wrong but that is how the 2 works for me.

the  other trick is that all ribs have a fat end and a thin end. When you cut them in half make sure you put the fat end ribs lower and the thing end halfs higher.  if I don't do this ,  I find usually my thin end ones turn out  great and fat ends are not yet fall off the bone (but edible) or the fat ends are good and thin ends dry.  I'm not sure if this is what happened to you