Hanging Ribs in a WSM or UDS?

[MidnightStokersBBQ]

Has anyone ever tried it? Any difference in the cook vs laying flat? How many could you fit? I have a 18 and 22 and would like to see how many I could hang from the top rack (no bottom rack).

My brain wants to tell me that the ribs might pull off the hook when the meat gets too tender.

[Unfathomable Bastid]

Never heard of this process. Trying to understand the advantage...

-Bastid

[El Ropo]

What happens when the meat gets nice and tender, and 3/4 of the rack separates and falls into the fire lol.

[tawd77]

When you hear the meat falling down, they are done! :grin:

[Pugi]

If hanging is only to get more ribs on the grill, this is how I do it. I recently added a second grill in the UDS, and now can do 14 racks.

http://i961.photobucket.com/albums/ae91/Pugidogs/utf-8BSU1BRzAzNDcuanBn.jpg

[ssbbqguy]

Or buy a 8 slot rack. That's sixteen to twenty slabs, when leaning, on two grates. It's done all the time with spares,membrane on,in Asian eateries. Low, long temp. cooks before they get that tender. But if you want better tasting products, you would want the fat to render evenly. Not washing down one end while hanging. I also think they render better when bone is touching grate, heating meat from bone and not the other way around. Plus temps would be hotter on one end than the other. Too many negatives for me. Steve.

[gtr]

Not sure what hanging gets you, except maybe some fallen ribs. If capacity is an issue, it's time for yet another cooker! :clap2:

[Sean "Puffy" Coals]

I thought about trying this for a while- decided there was not enough pros to outweigh the cons/risks. +1 on the even rendering, +1 on the ribs falling off, +1 on the needing a bigger cooker.

Hanging = good for sausage, not much else.

[MidnightStokersBBQ]

Yup, purely a capacity issue. Thanks for talking me out of it. I like the "time for a new cooker" option. Doubt the wife will agree with me though. When I only had an 18 I used to do 6 racks of bbacks rolled. They come out fine. For comp I dont like to roll them and cook 6 spares flat on the 22. I guess I could always put in a third rack in between and do 9. That would probably solve the issue. Has anyone done this?

[JS-TX]

Brethren.. look how far we've come!

I hung ribs on my 22 WSM this past weekend... and they were amazing, great extra smoke/grill flavor that wasn't always present. I used some lump and post oak at 275*. Two hours hanging, spritzed a couple times with some ACV, and one hour in the foil and tenderness was very good, evenly cooked.:thumb:

[Bob C Cue]

Brethren.. look how far we've come!



We sure was dumb back then

[LloydQ]

It is not strictly a capacity issue. Lots of people hang ribs and other meats because they like the flavor of the fat dripping directly on the coals. The Pit Barrel Cooker is especially popular.

[gcs]

I've done it, they came out fine, I put two hooks in each a few bones down, they didn't fall down. I have the hanging rack that gets them further from the fire, The lower bones get a little more done, no problem, my wife likes them that way.
Were they better?, no, but no worse, lol

[Happy Hapgood]

Ditto ^^^^ to the 2 above posts



https://i.imgur.com/SvGTiJw.jpg

[lastmajordude]

Not sure what hanging gets you, except maybe some fallen ribs. If capacity is an issue, it's time for yet another cooker! :clap2:

Me thinks GTR knows of what he speaks.....

[LloydQ]

Me thinks GTR knows of what he speaks.....

Hanging gets you a different flavor profile. You may or may not like it. They only fall in the fire if you overcook the $#/÷ out of them.

[ulc]

Hanging gets you a different flavor profile. You may or may not like it. They only fall in the fire if you overcook the $#/÷ out of them.

It's pretty much the same taste. The big difference in taste comes from the fat drippings hitting and burning on the coal. I use empty water pan to catch the fat drippings to prevent it from hitting the coal whether I hang or lay the ribs flat on the cooking grate. I prefer hanging the ribs because I find cleaning couple hooks easier than cleaning the cooking grate. But finish ribs taste pretty much the same.

[Mike in Roseville]

It's pretty much the same taste. The big difference in taste comes from the fat drippings hitting and burning on the coal. I use empty water pan to catch the fat drippings to prevent it from hitting the coal whether I hang or lay the ribs flat on the cooking grate. I prefer hanging the ribs because I find cleaning couple hooks easier than cleaning the cooking grate. But finish ribs taste pretty much the same.

So you’re right. Using a pan it doesn’t matter, but take pan out and they do taste differently. Ribs hung 100% of the cook (with no pan) have an old time pit flavor and it’s something people either like or don’t (it’s like a grilled pork chop flavor). To me it tastes like ribs of my youth. This flavor profile is really indicative of ribs hung the entire time or over a few hours prior to wrapping over coals (I do it in my WSMs).

I recently did some ribs for a charity cook and I hung 8 racks of babybacks in an 18WSM. They were one of the first 4-5 to sell out. People really enjoyed them!

Hanging they cook evenly (and are juicy) and despite what many think...they won’t really burn or fall in the fire.