Rolling your Ribs

[TexasGuppie]

How does rolling your ribs impact:

1. Smoke Ring/Smoke Penetration?
2. Bark?
3. Anything else I forgot to ask.

I'm cooking 15 racks this weekend along with 2 butts, 2 briskets and some chicken. Space will be at a premium so I'm looking at this "rolling strategy thing...

Ken

 

[kickassbbq]

I rolled them once. They came out fine. Do it to save room. They'll be OK.
Smoke On!!!!!!

 

[scottm4300]

I did it this past weekend and got 15 racks into the SKD at once. I've done ribs several times and I really didn't notice a difference from stuff I have done in the past. I dont sauce my ribs, I just use a dry rub. They spares I did this past weekend were in the smoker for about 5 hours and were fabulous. I never foiled them. Just rolled them up and tied them with a piece of twine.

 

[VitaminQ]

I try not to overlap too much, so as not to impede bark formation. The bark does suffer a little bit from that, though. But I look at it this way: if I can get more racks on the cooker, even if each rack has a little less bark, I'll still have more total bark in the end because I've cooked more racks.
I've never had a problem with smoke penetration on rolled ribs. The only thing I have noticed is that they can be a little unweildy when unrolling after they're done. I may also tend to cook ribs too long as a general rule, and that might contribute. But, usually I have trouble getting nice clean cuts if the rack has been rolled and unrolled. YMMV.

 

[bbqbull]

P.Kirk told us at his class thats a very common way to do ribs if need be. Only problem is where the 2 ends overlap. They wont have the smoke and bark like the rest of the rack. Just whack off those 2 ends. The cooks gotta eat too. Paul reccomended using metal skewers to fasten the 2 ends together. Prep racks of ribs St.Louis style.
My 2 cents.....
Mike

 

[BBQchef33]

i used to roll all the time for the bandera, and still do for the WSM. In fact, my first, first place ribs were rolled and cooked in a WSM. I hold the ends together with a toothpick, and then loop butchers twine loosly around them. The twine was incase they break free of the toothpick as they cook, which happened the first few times. As far as quality goes, no difference, but i still lay them flat to finish them with the final saucing/glazing.

 

[Wayne]

Rolling works fine for me. I sometimes unroll them and finish them off over the grill like Phil, but I have also served them straight off the roll. I have also stacked the three tall with the curve side down and rotated (top to bottom) during the cookoff. Also, I have found that rolling does not work well with country style ribs!

 

[kcquer]

Just don't roll so tight you end up with a small roast and it'll work great. Best of luck and have a great holiday weekend.