Packing a WSM

[Vipester531]

I have been tasked with cooking for a family birthday party this weekend and requested to do pork ribs on my 22" WSM. I am still relatively new to the smoker and probably only have about 6 cooks under my belt.

I have a weber rib rack to stand the ribs up but I have only cooked 3 racks in there since they don't really stand straight up. I think I will need 5 or so racks of ribs for the party tho. I haven't used my lower rack as much since there is such a temperature difference between the upper and lower(measured by remote thermometer).

Any tips or suggestions on how to get them to fit better or just general tips for cooking them would be greatly appreciated.

 

[ebijack]

There are a few ways.
Use what you have, rib rack on one grate. A "hump" grate on your second cooking grate. I made mine out of scrap 6" X 9" expanded metal. Allows 2 racks (depending on size/length of your racks). Another out of scrap cooking grate.
Hang them if you are able. Plenty of room.
Use long wooden skewers, I find the wooden ones work better for me. But most any skewers should work. You roll each rack using one or two skewers to hold each rack into a coiled ring. If that makes sense. 5 coils should fit on a 22" in grate with room. You didn't mention the size WSM you have.
There are some cooling racks that have legs that will sit on a 22" grate. Allowing you to fit 2 per rack and rotate as required/if required.

 

[HankB]

Another option is to coil them.

I think it would be better with St. Louis cut spares.

Regardless of the solution you choose, Be sure to try it in advance so as not to disappoint on the day of the event. They will not cook the same.

BTW, I am not seeing a great temperature difference between top and bottom grates on my WSMs. How are you using your water pan and what are you seeing?

 

[Michigan BBQ Fan]

Good luck on the cook. I use my 2nd (bottom) grate all the time but I do rotate the ribs each time I open the lid. I've had hit and miss results with rib racks and have had luck (once) with coiling. Be sure to practice (if you can) and remember you are going to have t adjust your timeline based on the added volume - including possible restocking of the charcoal. Do you use briquettes or lump? You might want to consider a long-burning and hot brand like Jealous Devil to get the most mileage without restocking. One other option is to hand the ribs. I've never done this but the last time I tried to max out my WSM (18.5) with 6 slabs, I swore I would hand them next time. Enjoy.

 

[Vipester531]

I'm slightly hesitant to try the roll method this weekend because I probably wont get a practice run :shock:. I think i will have to try and just use the rib rack and then rotate them any time i open the lid.

Lately i have just been running with the water bowl dry and then stubbs charcoal briquettes.

 

[wbratt1]

I flip racks and stack them and use rib racks all the time to get more space and avoid rotating between upper and lower racks.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[unreal41683]

I flip racks and stack them and use rib racks all the time to get more space and avoid rotating between upper and lower racks.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

:shock: Wow...

 

[HankB]

Lately i have just been running with the water bowl dry and then stubbs charcoal briquettes.

Dry water bowl here too. In the beginning (and for those new to the WSM) I think it provides a great assist in keeping temperature moderate. Water boils at 212°F so you're not goig to get too much higher than that with water in the bowl. It also provides a fair amount of thermal mass. Once you get used to controlling temperature, you can go without it.

I do put a couple layers of heavy duty foil in the water bowl. That probably helps reduce radiation off the water bowl and in theory helps reduce cleanup.