Doing my first big smoke tomorrow!
 

Well I'm goin to be doing my largest smoke so far tomorrow. I've got 6 racks of baby backs I'm doing for my annual work summer party. My boss actually asked me to do them after some co-workers tried some of my leftovers, so that was pretty cool! Ill be rubbing them down tonight with my rub, and throwing them on the smokers around 6:30 in the morning. I'm figuring on 3 hours of smoke, wrap for two hours then unwrap for till finished. Ill probably do half just dry rubbed and half with a bbq sauce I've been making, see which ones are better. My only concern is after the ribs are done I have an hour drive to the party... Should I consider pulling them a little early and wrapping them and putting them in a cooler? I'm worried that since ill be wrapping them anyways that if I cook until completely done they'll dry out on the drive over.. Any suggestions guys? Oh yeah... There will be pictures... If I can figure out how..

Take them off early. Leave them wrapped and transport in a cooler wrapped in a towel. They will continue to cook in the cooler a land it will work in some resting time. If you want sauce on half, put the sauce on about a half hour before you pull them off and wrap them back up.

i would cook them until done.. and then wrap in foil or plastic wrap and put them in a cooler... for the ride.. they will firm up as the cool.. i wouldn't count on them cooking until tender in that cooler.. if you take them off tough thats what they will be when you get there.. an hour in a cooler won't tenderize them.. IMHO.. but thats just my 2 cents.. i wouldn't chance it.. and serve tough ribs.

I do a plastic over foil for transports. I would pull em early put in a cooler and let them finish cooking at around the 5 hour mark.

Nothing wrong with pulling them a bit early. I don't think they will overcook by the time you get there. You should be able to tell if they "look" a bit tough or undercooked. If they do look tough, leave them on. Good luck!

Hey thanks for the replies, I've got all the racks rubbed down, even had to buy a rack just for my wife since she can't make it to the party... Lol ill have them on first thing in the morning. I don't have a smoker big enough I do them all in the same smoker but luckily I have two smokers at home right now. Both are master built... One is an electric the other charcoal. Between the two I should have plenty of room! I'm thinking ill pull the ribs about half hour shy of my normal cook time and wrap them up and throw them in the cooler. Hopefully tomorrow I can post some pics.

3 hours in heat then wrapped for 2 hours and you'll have pork soup. They will be overcooked. If you insist on wrapping in foil, I'd do 2-1-30 minutes and check 'em with the bend, poke or bone tug test for "done". The 3-2-1 method is designed for whole racks of spare ribs cooked at ridiculously low temps.

To prevent them from overcooking during the rest, lest them sit unwrapped on the counter for 15-20 minutes before wrapping up in foil or plastic, or whatever.

I myself cant see a rib continuing to cook in a cooler?? its too small of a chunk of meat, a brisket or anyother big clod of meat will obviously keep cooking if thrown right in the cooler

They will continue to cook if wrapped tightly in foil straight off the pit. Just like a 3 lb pork loin will overcook itsself if you wrap it tightly in foil straight off the pit.

Alright so I just got back from the party, can't upload pics off my phone so will have to try later... I put the ribs on at 6:30 this morning, pulled them off my charcoal smoker at 9 and wrapped, put back on for a little over an hour. Then finished. I didn't wrap the ribs I had on my electric smoker. I wrapped them all up, with a splash of apple juice for the ride. I think they turned out ok... My wife loved them, but they were a bit too spicy for my liking, only cause I was cooking for others.. Overall I think I did a pretty good job, some where a little tough... Others were near perfect. I guess the only good news was my boss and his wife liked them! So thanks for everyone's suggestions! (Ill work on posting some pics later...)