I’m planning to cook to racks of St. Louis cut ribs this afternoon. Each rack is about 4.25 pounds each. Any estimates for cook time on the Pit Barrel Cooker? Normal Kingsford charcoal, and about 45 degree F weather. I checked the relevant sticky, but there seemed to be quite the range so I am curious what people have to say. Thanks in advance, and happy Saturday smoking to all!
-
-
Here's what the PBC folks have to say about it: https://www.pitbarrelcooker.com/resources/pork-ribs/
Personally, I find Noah's cook times to be typically a little short for me. -
Just for the heck of it, put a probe in the thickest part of one of the ribs. When it hits 190 - your darn close.Comment
-
I crack test them at 4:30. Usually done.Comment
-
Hate to say it, but it depends on several points. If you're sporting 45F for an ambient temp, is it windy? Is the air damp/humid? What's your PBC's "normal" sweet spot for temperature (where it likes to settle in)?
I'm doing two large pork butts today, and where in the summer I'd be looking at about 9-10.5 hours, today I'm probably going to go an hour or more longer. Michigan weather: 28F, and the humidity is climbing from 65% this morning to an expected 95% with sleet/snow in about 3-4 hours. The humidity is what really affects how the PBC runs, I've found. Higher humidity keeps the temps lower for my cooker's sweet spot, and I will burn through a basket of charcoal in 6-7 hours instead of 10-12 hours. That sounds counter-intuitive, but with butts I'm pushing a ton of moisture out, and when the coals aren't hot enough to burn up that moisture, they cool down to the point they'll be doused. Thus I mound up more briquettes than I normally would, and try to keep the temps on the higher side by removing a rod (I use the grate for butts).
It's all relative.
Just looking at your lower temp, I'd bet you'll have a slightly higher humidity today, so plan on adding 30-60 minutes to your "normal" rib cook time. You may be able to cut that in half by (pardon the pun) cutting the racks in half, thus increasing the number of hooks you'll need, but decreasing the mass/weight and lessening the possibility of your racks dropping into the basket by the end.
Comment
-
How many racks? Those sound big, make sure they are not to close to the coals when hung. I start checking around 4 hours. Have fun and let us know how it went.
Oh, I forgot. Ribs? Ribs?? I don't see any ribs!Comment
-
Here is was my last St.Louis cut cook, on my PBC. What did you end up with for a cook time? I feel like this one was longer than most Rib cooks in the PBC.
Comment
-
Thanks all for your feedback. It turns out there were 3 racks of ribs in the package, not two like I thought. So roughly 3 lbs per rack. I cut each rack in half, for ease of transporting. I checked them after 2.75 hours, and they had all hit 203F.
For this cook, I essentially set it and forgot it, which is hard for a control-freak like many of us are
And it turned out very well, I had stable pit temps in the 280 range.
I’m at sea level and lit my PBC with the stickied instructions, doing 10-7-7 for my times. Worked great!Comment
-
-
No pics?Comment
Comment