Need help with 8 racks of ribs

[lunchbox]

Ok, so i am getting married in 3 weeks. For the Rehearsal dinner, we are having ribs, burgers, chicken, ect. We have 8 racks of ribs and one UDS(Two grates). I figure with enough rib Racks i can fit em all in. However, i am assuming this is going to add quite a bit of time to the cooking process. My rough estimate is to add about an hour or two to my process(right now i use a 2 smoke -1 foil -.5 out of foil when i cook 1-2 racks). Does this seem right? The reason i ask is because i need to start this before the wedding rehearsal(1 hour) and i would like to time it so i can have it foiled during the rehearsal, and be ready to eat by the time others get to the house.

So my thought is do the full 3-2-1. Will that be enough time? Or should i plan for more? I realize with BBQ the meat is ready when it's ready, but i'd prefer not to have 29 starving people have to wait too long for the food.

My parents have an ECB there, but i've never used one and i'm not sure i would feel comfortable leaving ribs on there with no real way to control the temp and not monitoring it for more than an hour.

Any help you guys can give me would be great.

 

[BBQ Grail]

Yeah, don't "cater" your own event...

I "catered" my daughters wedding. Your future wife is the most important thing that day and you have to be available to pay attention to her. And you're going to smell like smoke. Not that there's anything wrong with smelling like smoke, but not on that day. Yes, I understand it's the rehearsal dinner, but it's still rehearsing HER big day.

Just wouldn't do it...nope, nada, no way...

 

[lunchbox]

It was actually her idea to have me cook the ribs, (otherwise i wouldn't do it), however i planned on having someone else actually do the grunt work(i would be there to supervise for the most part, not actually do any of the cooking).

 

[Jeff Selle]

I would plan on at least five hours, but more likely six hours total with the rest. If you end up pulling them early you can foil them, wrap them in a towel and put them in a dry cooler. We used this method to hold four racks of ribs for two hours last weekend and when we pulled them there were still piping hot...

 

[luke duke]

Cook the ribs in advance and vacuum seal them. Thaw them the night before and toss them in some boiling water (in the bag) for half an hour before you want to serve them.

 

[BBQ Grail]

It was actually her idea to have me cook the ribs, (otherwise i wouldn't do it), however i planned on having someone else actually do the grunt work(i would be there to supervise for the most part, not actually do any of the cooking).

I would plan on at least five hours, but more likely six hours total with the rest. If you end up pulling them early you can foil them, wrap them in a towel and put them in a dry cooler. We used this method to hold four racks of ribs for two hours last weekend and when we pulled them there were still piping hot...

Cook the ribs in advance and vacuum seal them. Thaw them the night before and toss them in some boiling water (in the bag) for half an hour before you want to serve them.

All good information and good advice. However, my recommendation still stands.

Hope it all goes well for you and congrats on the upcoming nuptials.

 

[littlechief]

I would plan on 6 hours for cooking and throw them on 8 hours before your planning on eating so they will be done, wrapped in foil ,towels and put in cooler for 2 hours. No point on trying to time everything out perfectly when you don't have to. Better to have the ribs waiting on you than all your guests waiting on the ribs.
Congrats!!! and good luck:thumb:

 

[Northwoods Smoke]

Cook the ribs in advance and vacuum seal them. Thaw them the night before and toss them in some boiling water (in the bag) for half an hour before you want to serve them.

+1, but I would fire up a charcoal grill to reheat and glaze (if appropriate). Gives you the "fresh smoked and hot off the grill"...

 

[hammerz_nailz]

Yeah, don't "cater" your own event...

I "catered" my daughters wedding. Your future wife is the most important thing that day and you have to be available to pay attention to her. And you're going to smell like smoke. Not that there's anything wrong with smelling like smoke, but not on that day. Yes, I understand it's the rehearsal dinner, but it's still rehearsing HER big day.

Just wouldn't do it...nope, nada, no way...

What he said.

 

[lunchbox]

I would plan on 6 hours for cooking and throw them on 8 hours before your planning on eating so they will be done, wrapped in foil ,towels and put in cooler for 2 hours. No point on trying to time everything out perfectly when you don't have to. Better to have the ribs waiting on you than all your guests waiting on the ribs.
Congrats!!! and good luck:thumb:

Great idea. I think i will do that.

 

[jimmyinsd]

Great idea. I think i will do that.

i was going to take it one step further and say take them right up too the saucing step the day before and then just reheat and sauce (if you must) that day. think of it as allowing for a happy hour while you are doing your finish work. i think the bark suffers a little, but i think the cooling and re-heating sometimes intensifys the flavors.

oh by the way....congratulations and good luck on your pending nuptuals.
finding a girl that wants your meat for the rest of her life is a great thing for a young man......what? this is a Q site, what did you think i meant? :-D

 

[sdb25]

Just a silly question... if your drum is 225 degrees inside, why would your ribs take any longer to cook just because you are cooking 8 racks?

Now it may take more fuel to keep your drum at 225 with the increased mass of meat you are cooking, but as long as the drum is at temp, it should take the same amount of time.

Make sense?

 

[PimpSmoke]

I catered BBQ for my own wedding. Never again.

 

[BBQ Grail]

I catered BBQ for my own wedding. Never again.

I catered my daughters. No matter how much help you have, no self-respecting BBQuer can be hands off. Not going to happen.

 

[jestridge]

Always give yourself extra time wrap it put it in a cooler.

 

[rockyathabaska]

Don't you have a buddy who can do ribs for you on such a day?One you can hover around and give advice to durring the cook?
Let her know if you do it you'll probably be distracted and not on top of your game for either activity.
Of course,my very best wishes for you and your intended on such a happy occasion.

RockyAthabaska
Weber 18”kettle
Weber 22.5”kettle
Performer green
Weber silver B gasser
UDS
A man never tells you anything until you contradict him.
George Bernard Shaw

 

[McGurk]

Yeah, don't "cater" your own event..

This sounds like the exact role for your bride's "personal attendants." Frankly, I don't really know what else they would do for the rehearsal dinner so get 'em greasy and smokey at the drum!

 

[lunchbox]

Don't you have a buddy who can do ribs for you on such a day?One you can hover around and give advice to durring the cook?
Let her know if you do it you'll probably be distracted and not on top of your game for either activity.
Of course,my very best wishes for you and your intended on such a happy occasion.

I got a buddy who is gonna do the work, i'll be there to supervise.

 

[MRI_Guy]

I like the idea of pre-cooking and vacusucking the ribs until your rehearsal dinner for a couple of reasons.

A - for the most part, the ribs will be the way YOU like them and your guys will be pretty much only reheating them.

B - Catering your own dinner is fine if you are grilling/smoking. I mostly did most of the cooking at my rehearsal dinner because the grill was right next to the iced down beer in the cooler............

 

[lunchbox]

Quick update,

It's been about two weeks since the rehearsal dinner. I ended up doing it myself, and it went over perfectly. Wrapped the ribs in the foil and threw em into a dry cooler about an hour before the rehearsal, came back about 2 hours later( i lucked out and we had a 6pm rehearsal) and they were perfect. Thanks to everybody for the advice.


EDIT: THE GOODS, 11 racks of ribs, 8 on the UDS, 3 on the char-griller.

My setup, UDS(two levels of 4 racks of ribs each cookin in that baby) and my old char-griller handling the left over 3 racks and the BBQ chicken. For those of you with a discriminating eye, you can see the ECB(no mods yet) in between, which was a last minute backup just in case i ran out of room.