to gas or not to gas...

[Piginapit]

Need some advice here...Im up in VA with the in-laws who only have a gas grill. :doh: My mother in-law presented me this morning with 5 racks of ribs to be cooked tonight. Short of me driving into town and buying a Weber I need some advice on cooking these bad boys...and yes I did think about digging a trench and cooking them over wood coals but is pouring down raining...she wanted to put them in the oven...I started packing

Ive never cooked ribs on a gasser as a matter of fact I gave my gasser away like 7 years ago but this is what I'm thinking...since I wont be able to smoke them I'm up to any suggestions

-going to cut the racks in half to fit them all on one side of the grill..
-dry rub now
-around 2:30 light the grill and cook to set the rub
-cook them a bit and then foil with some honey and apple juice
-cook for about two hours or so then remove from the foil and cook till done and sauce them

Ive grilled ribs just straight over the fire before but that was a dry rub rib...they are requesting bbq ribs...doing the best I can here

HELP!

[Ron_L]

Does the gasser have multiple burners with individual controls? If so, light only one burner and put the ribs on the opposite side of the grill. Try to keep the temp down, but whatever temp it settles in at is good. I prefer 270-ish regardless of the cooker.

If you have wood chips put some in some foil and poke a few holes in the top of the foil with a toothpick and place that near the burner to get some smoke flavor.

[flyingbassman5]

Do what you thought of and set up an indirect cook. All ribs one side, burner lit on the other. If you have a way to check cooking temp, try to get around the 275 mark. Also, if you have wood chips handy, wrap a couple handfuls in a foil pouch. Poke some holes in it and put it on over the lit burner when the ribs go one. I wouldn't worry too much about foiling the ribs with anything fancy. Just get the ribs done and try to get a little smoke on them. If you want to try to add more "bbq" flavor, wrap the ribs with a splash of bbq sauce for 30 to 45 minutes.

Hope that gives you something to start with. Good luck! :thumb:

Edit: Seems like Ron the Mod beat me to it! :icon_smile_tongue:

[Piginapit]

yes its a good sized gasser with several controls..I plan on cooking indirectly as much as I can...didnt even think about the wood in the foil..headed to the wood shed now to chip up some Virginia Oak! THANKS!!!

[Neonnblack]

Dont forget to boil them first!

[Piginapit]

I think she took offense when she mentioned oven cooking them and I asked if there was any deli meat left in the fridge...

[Bludawg]

Dry rub ribs aint BBQ? WHOA HOSS! Re think that one, there are some folks in Memphis that would git a rope they hear you talking like that. Since you have dismissed it as not BBQ I have no help for you. Get out the crock pot and the Kraft original Mmmm BBQ!

[Gore]

Oh yeah! :whoo:

Don't forget the Guinness!

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=103141

[BBQ Bandit]

Alton Brown shows a great segment on BBQ - using charcoal, electric, AND gas grills.
The gas grill starts at the 23:00 mark.

Good Eats - BBQ.mov - YouTube

[Smoking Terrapin]

Ok, I just gave away our gas grill, so take all of this for what it's worth, but this is a MacGuyver sort of time and I'm keeping you from a trip to town or using the oven.

If you set them up for indirect and have a foil pan, you can do this. Hopefully you still have access to wood chunks that you can put in the foil pan with water over the heat. If you don't have any sort of chunks, soaked tea bags in a aluminum foil pack (few slits in the top to let out the smoke) could also do the trick.

[Piginapit]

I guess I should have clarified, those "Memphis Style ribs" were also cooked on a gasser which in the big book of Q isnt bbq...Smoked ribs with a dry rub with a little vinegar and rub mob is some of the best ribs Ive ever eaten...they want "wet" ribs tonight

[Piginapit]

I found some oak and chipped it up to put in the foil...wet them down good or leave them dry or both?

[Goddahavit]

flame me if you want but I see nothing wrong with grilling direct or indirect until you like the color then foil and into the oven to tenderize then back on the gasser to finish and caramelize the sauce.

[Ron_L]

I'm not a fan of soaking chips. The smolder and give off dirty smoke.

[Piginapit]

Thanks all! will post pron if great success is met

[Smoking Terrapin]

If you're cooking on a gasser, I'd definitely soak. Wet chunks will smolder and smoke longer, especially on a hotter gas fire. I only soak chunks on the charcoal when I want to sleep for 2 hours on a full basket.

[rustypouch]

I agree with the consensus (indirect, chips in foil) and I"d suggest putting a cookie sheet, or something similar, under them to catch grease and make clean up easier.

[aawa]

Instead of cutting up the ribs, roll them up and skewer them so they stayed rolled up. You can fit a bunch of them on one side of the grill that way.

Found this image on google.
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j312/GriffinJeep/BBQ/4th_of_July_loin_ribs_prep_and_cook_012.jpg

[HankB]

Watch the heat. Some gassers have (IMO) oversized burners. Probably sized to provide high heat for searing steaks. Even on low, they may put out more heat than you want. Otherwise I suspect you may be pleasantly surprised by your results. (At least I hope so!)

[benniesdad]

flame me if you want but I see nothing wrong with grilling direct or indirect until you like the color then foil and into the oven to tenderize then back on the gasser to finish and caramelize the sauce.


I am with you on this one. When it is in foil, heat is heat whether it is from an oven or a cooker.

[Piginapit]

well it is done...should have ordered pizza...actually the two racks in the middle came out great...but the ones on the outside apparently cooked A-LOT higher temp than then rest of the grill...:evil: one half rack was past salvageable and the other you had to pick your bite...one positive is that my mother in-law said they are going to get a charcoal grill to keep for me here...NEW WEBER sounds good to me!

The smoke advice was sound! thanks guys...that worked well and I even had a decent smoke ring on the 2 good racks...sorry was too ticked off to grab a camera

Thanks everybody for the help! Can always count on the Brethren