To hang or not to hang .......

[Lynn Dollar]

That is the question ?

Smoked three racks of St Louis cut on the PBX yesterday. I hung the racks. But I see people like Malcolm Reed on his Gateway drum, and others on the Hunsaker drums, and they use a cooking grate.

Other than increasing capacity of the smoker, what are the pros and cons of hanging vrs the grate ?

[Michael_in_TX]

I think it blunts the heat hitting the ribs as it hits a thinner cross-section, useful as the PBC/X runs natively hot & fast. Moreover, I think it facilitates the fat rendering and dripping down onto the coals, vaporizing, and getting you that "pit" flavor that the PBC/X excels at.

[dpearce]

Cons of hanging... You forget to double hook, and your rib ends up in the fire basket. Don't ask me how I know... Also, sometimes with whole spare rib, the smaller end down nearer to the heat source, that little tail can get pretty crispy.

Pro of hanging... You do get a lot more space for the meat, as you already know. They do have a drop side grate so you can hang and grate at the same time! MCS... mcs....

Pro grate... Probably a more even cook across the rack of ribs, but I'd think you might have to flip it at some point. I use the grate quite a bit, just not for ribs (usually).

So, I've cooked the ribs both ways. St. Louis cut and/or a full spare don't really fit that well on the grate. They're a little too lengthy. Baby backs should be fine, at least a couple, maybe three? I dunno, whole spares go on sale here, and BB seem kinda pricey, so I'm always going spares or St. Louis.

Edit: In the pro-grate category, easier to baste the rib, certainly don't have to take it out to baste it.

[FireMan]

Hang em, hang em high I say. Yessir!

Oh, dpearce is right. I didn't see him but I myself did it, so double hook em!

[HawkerXP]

+1

[Michael_in_TX]

I also just realized.....the reason I've never grated my ribs is.....there isn't any room on the PBC! It's only 18" wide!

[Lynn Dollar]

True. A rack of ribs is around 19" . But I would smoke a couple racks of whole spares on my 18" WSM.

[Lynn Dollar]

Hanging does improve the aerodynamics. The air flows easily up both sides of the rack. They probably cook a little faster and maybe more even. Air easily flowing around the meats is desirable.

Cleaning the hooks is easier than cleaning a grate.

And putting on the grate, means one side gets hit with some direct heat while the top cooks with convection. Three racks on the PBX grate would block off a lot of air flow.

However, I've put a stack on the lid of my PBX . If I cook on the grate, I can put magnets over the rod holes and control exhaust with my stack. And Billows runs a little smoother that way. I can use the damper on the Billows fan to control air intake.

[jayjordan]

Hang em! I always double hook. I usually pull the ribs and move the hooks to the other end halfway through so one end doesn’t get too burnt.

[TripleB]

My PBC is dedicated to one thing…..pork butts. I always thought PBC stood for Pork Butt Cooker.

[shify]

Weird because mine stands for *Pretty Bangin [spare rib] Cooker*

[TripleB]

FireMan Pork Butt eXpress

[fzxdoc]

No. It stands for Poultry, Butts, Cornucopia of other meats.

K.

[Duanessmokedmeats]

I hang mine. Double hooked.
You could also cut them in half, and hang them.

[Sid P]

I cut them in half and don’t double hook. Never had a problem.

[Duanessmokedmeats]

Couldn't have said it better myself...😜

[Soonerpop]

This is the way I do it on my PBJ. EXCELLENT RESULTS!

[fzxdoc]

I think it blunts the heat hitting the ribs as it hits a thinner cross-section, useful as the PBC/X runs natively hot & fast. Moreover, I think it facilitates the fat rendering and dripping down onto the coals, vaporizing, and getting you that "pit" flavor that the PBC/X excels at.

This. This. This.

Plus easy cleanup.

Kathryn

[HawkerXP]

Hang them. Them being, wibs, poultry, brisket!



PBJ, PBC, PBX!