I'm gonna need some help.

Well long story short, my grandpa died about a month ago, and were having the memorial, celebration of life, and all that jazz next weekend in sac town. He used to be big on bbq, grilling and smoking; so thats what were going to cook. And guess who got lumped with cooking 12 racks of ribs, this guy. My uncle was in charge of it until a grinder accident at work left him, mostly unable to do it. So i have a week to prepare, and to figure out how his barrel works, without having it. Its not a normal type it has a large hole in it that another part slides into with the coals (i think). And there are no racks just two bars and hangers. Could i fit all 12 racks in at once? any other suggestion for doing this on unfamiliar equipment? Also, any tips on cooking them in the hanged position?

HeSmellsLikeSmoke said:

Can your uncle give you any verbal help as to how to use that cooker? Do you have a time constraint that precludes you cooking the ribs in more than one batch or even a day before so they could be reheated on a grill? Any pictures of that barrel?

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As far as my dad and uncle know he always just used a small hibachi for the coals and slid it in. And i could very well do it in batches, and keep the done ones wrapped in a cooler. And no pictures.

landarc said:

Hanging ribs is not a huge problem, just make sure you don't over cook them. The real problem is not being able to see the cooker, gonna be hard to explain how to run it. 12 racks is going to be a lot to fit into a 55 gallon drum, when you say barrel, do you mean a steel drum or something larger?

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That is my worry is cooking times, and not wanting them over cooked. Its a 55 gallon steel drum. Even though on the pbc it doesnt seem a problem of the ends cooking faster at the coals. maybe i can wrap then in foil after about an hour or something.

I wanted to just take my whole drum, but the family really wants to use his, so thats what is going to happen, lol. I can have as much time as i need to do it, since we dont eat till early evening saturday, and im off thursday and friday before.