Ribs for a Tailgate - Can I smoke the Day Before?

[flavorguy]

Wondering if it's possible to smoke some StLouis Style Ribs on Friday / refrigerate for 12-16 hours / and reheat on a grill to finish the next day...

Would like to bring a bunch of ribs up to a tailgate this weekend, but would have to do something like the above due to travel time, and limited equipment - ie the use of a small portable propane grill to reheat...

Technique advice (when to stop the cook, how to wrap, when to sauce) would be appreciated.

[Dr ROK]

When I'm catering at the local farmers market I will smoke my ribs the day before and then vacuum seal them and chill in an ice bath. (You could also use ziplocks, but I'd double them up to ensure against seams breaking when reheated.) When thoroughly chilled (about 20 - 30 minutes) I place in fridge. On day of market I add them to a beer cooler and cover with several inches of hot (if using ziplocks) or boiling (if using vacuum sealed bags) water. They stay in there until somebody orders them. When an order comes in, I just throw on the grill to dry the outsides up a bit and add a glaze/sauce at this time if so desired. I like honey jalapeño glaze on mine

[flavorguy]

Thanks for your help Dr ROK.

1) I don't know if I can do the hot water reheat. I have a four hour drive the morning of. Can I just go from a refrigerated cooler onto the grill?
2) What happens to the flavor/texture of the ribs if I smoke a day before?
3) Should I pull the ribs off the smoker with the meat showing some resistance and finish the final "toothpick" test on the re-heat (I'm thinking of 15-20 minutes to get them to temp)? Or do I get the ribs to the done tenderness, quickly chill, and do a minimal re-heat?

[kmhfive]

Never tried ribs. When I have reheated/seared other meats, they seem to want to warm up first before searing to get an even temperature. I’ve had success with a two-zone setup on my Weber Kettle.

[Dr ROK]

1) Reheat options - You could transport them in hot water if small amounts of water spilling during the journey isn't an issue. They will stay hot for several hours in the cooler. If you can't transport them that way, you could always add the hot water when you get there. It would only take about 30 minutes for ribs to come up to temp.
2) Everybody that has purchase the ribs prepared in the fashion I described has loved them. No complaints on texture or flavor.
3) I cook mine to finished product temp and use the minimal reheat method. They are just reheated the next day.

[shify]

Ribs take to reheating well. I would smoke them all the way and then re-heat and sear the following day. Assuming you smoke them dry, I would wait until the next day to sauce them.

At the tailgate, bring them up to temp indirect heat either with or without sauce and then finish over direct heat for the crust

[DWCowles]

Yes you can. I just smoked three racks of ribs a week ago and two racks were eaten the day they were cook. The third rack I wrap in aluminum foil and reheat two days later in my smoker.