Grilling ribs on a hot grill?

[Attjack]

This is how my buddy cooks ribs. He mans the grill, flips often and will cook a rack of ribs on his gas grill quickly. I have not had them but he says they are kind of crispy on the outside. Has anyone else encountered this?

[Jerod Broussard]

Ex-grandfather-in-law used to brag about how fast he could cook ribs on his gasser. (Disclaimer- I have a gasser, not knocking gassers) I don't recall the word edible ever entering my mind when consuming the product off his pit. With that said, everything my dad cooked was on charcoal grill, ribs, brisket, pork chops, lamb, beef, chicken, etc....but he also knew about 2-zone before 2-zone was cool.

[JeffJ]

I've finished ribs in this fashion - flipping and basting constantly over a hot flame. I can't conceive how they can be cooked the entire time this way.

[Attjack]

No, he just grills it like chicken.

[shify]

I’ve done it before with thinner baby backs. I wouldn’t try with spare ribs or those super thick Costco baby backs. Totally different taste and texture than smoked ribs.

I would take my ribs and grill over direct heat but not super hot and flip every few minutes. Cook for maybe 30-45 min total. For the last few flips baste with a thin bbq sauce.

[Polarbear777]

Had grilled ribs before. They were even beef ribs. Break out the dental floss.

[Potkettleblack]

Have done. Was interesting. After a recipe in Raichlen.

Didnt hate but havent repeated.

[RonB]

Just boil 'em first. (He sez duckin' and runnin". )

[CaptainMike]

I do them this way on the Santa Maria grill every once in a while and generally go 1 - 1 1/2 hrs. It makes for crispy pork fat and a nice chew. I think that being able to raise and lower the rack to fit the fire and cook them gently, but still directly, over a longer time frame really helps. We enjoy them for what they are and have no expectations of any characteristics of a L&S. Give it a try sometime, I think you'll like it.

[FireMan]

T’was what I was thinkin as I approached your post. How would "they" do it before all this fancy equipment?

[jghorton]

Cooking with Ry episode: https://youtu.be/Q53xModykU4?t=85

[LA Pork Butt]

I’ve eaten them direct grilled at a few BBQ joints and they are different but good. I prefer them low and slow. As CaptainMike points out distance from the fire makes a difference. Places like the Rendezvous in Memphis are cooking them direct 36” from the fire. You’l have to sample your neighbors to know if it is all talk. Steven Raichlen is a fan of cooking them indirect at 325. He likes more chew.

[Troutman]

You know most of you young whippersnappers who are so spoiled by all the fancy cookers and thermo devices and great websites and tons of YouTube videos and cook books galore don't remember the good old days. We cooked everything via grilling, some of it bad, some of it quite good. You'd do what we do today with moving the charcoal to one side or having a 2 zone setup on the gasser, but that's how things were cooked for most of us.

Try it with some baby backs, you do need to move them to a 2 zone cool side to tenderize for a bit but the heavy lifting is done by, as your buddy does apparently, the proverbial quick turn method.

[Larry Grover]

So what did dinasoar meat taste like?

[smokenoob]

Lmao!

[Troutman]

It was good but not as good as when I first tried dirt after it was invented

[holehogg]

Over hot coals is the only way the majority of South Africans cook ribs and the way I did befoe becoming better educated.
In stores most ribs are precooked.(boiled the basted) and it only requires heating over the coals.
If doing from raw they are definitely dryish crispy and can never come close to L&S.
I must add lamb ribs done over hot coals turn out really good.

[DevonRightsell]

I have a CharGriller Akorn I do a lot of ribs on. The temp on it usually gets up to 320-330. It takes me about 2-3 hours to do a couple of racks and they always turn out great. I wrap after an hour and use the feel test these days to see if they're done.

I prefer to cook them a bit lower (250-275) as I think it makes a better product.

[ifican]

So as others have mentioned, just try it. You may find you like it, you may end up hating it. I play alot, did some earlier this year at 375 indirect. Definitely not super tender but with the right rub or sauce a good firm chew. Just depends on you or your guests preference.

[Larry Grover]

I read about a guy who was the cook at celebrity Luau's on the beaches of Malibu in the 50's. For spare ribs he prepared ahead - cutting them into smaller servings then putting them in the oven for 1 hour @ 500 degrees to "de-grease."

He then took them to the beach and cooked them direct for 2 hrs over moderate heat - mopping constantly.

Sounds far out but he appeared ahead of his time and knew his stuff. He had diagrams on how to build your own grills - one of them being what is now know as the PB.