Sweet Rubs on Gateway / Drum Smokers

[Jlems]

Just curious... I'm looking at a Gateway for rib competitions. Also considering BGE since I'm very used to cooking on them, but they are heavy and fragile so that might not be the way I want to go.

Does anyone use sweet rubs on a drum with the rib hooks? Does this work well or does it just burn up? Since this would be a new cooker to learn, I'm wondering if my recipes would need to change as well.

 

[sudsandswine]

I dont hang ribs on a Gateway but I have done it on a Hunsaker with ribs containing sugar and there's no issue with burning the sugar, even right next to the charcoal basket. For a competition I'd probably just cook them on the grate though to avoid holes from the hooks and the possibility of losing a rack into the charcoal.

 

[Jlems]

Good to know. I know very little about the drum process so thank you. So with the ribs horizontal instead of hanging, are you using a deflector plate over the coals or is that not necessary on the top rack placement?

 

[thirdeye]

The envelope of heat and the convection action in a drum works well when hanging ribs. Instead of the heat hitting one major surface (meat side or rib side) when cooking on a grate, it only hits the end rib and then drifts upward. I don't trim the end closest to the coals so there is some meat to sacrifice.

 

[Jlems]

The envelope of heat and the convection action in a drum works well when hanging ribs. Instead of the heat hitting one major surface (meat side or rib side) when cooking on a grate, it only hits the end rib and then drifts upward. I don't trim the end closest to the coals so there is some meat to sacrifice.

How do you feel about hanging method for competition? I was thinking I would hang until the wrap stage, then put on the grate in foil. From what I read I'll only have about 2- 2.5 hours to work with....

 

[thirdeye]

How do you feel about hanging method for competition? I was thinking I would hang until the wrap stage, then put on the grate in foil. From what I read I'll only have about 2- 2.5 hours to work with....

I've hung ribs at home for 10 years, and hung them for two backyard competitions and a first time KCBS competition where we got 11th. So that is how it worked for us.