[VisionQuest220]

I had a last minute urge on Sunday to test drive some ribs in the WSM so I shot over to Costco and picked up a couple racks of spares.  Although happy with the consistency of the cooker, I see that one of the limiting factors is that the WSM is only about 19 inches across at the widest point.  Knowing that I would have to use a rib rack, I trimmed the ribs down to what I've been taught is Kansas City style, (brisket and flap meat removed), and they were still too wide and I had to fold the ends of each rack back a bit.  One solution would be to trim the ends of each rack and another solution would be to find a wider rib rack.

Do any of you WSMers have any other suggestions?

[Aaron]

Do any of you WSMers have any other suggestions?

Dont cook ribs in a WSM.

Dont get me wrong, I love how well a WSM cooks. They are great cookers. But something that I have always hated about them is their lack of cook space. Even if you sue both racks its still hard because you have to remove the top rack to gain access to the bottom rack. Which is a pain in itself having to reach in to the barrel and what not. Its kind of like cleaning a toilet.

The best way to do ribs on a WSM is to cut the brisket bone from them and do the tips on the bottom shelf. Take your ribs and roll them into a circle with the arch of the rib in, using a toothpick or meat skewer to hold them in place with as little meat contacting meat as possible. This way you can turn them up on their sides and cook them. You should be able to get three to four racks on doing this. You can even stack them if you are really clever.

[gstanle]

One of our guys, Dan Cannon, has put a third shelf between the two shelves in his WSM's. You can get more ribs on without having to use the lower rack. It's not too bad to rotate them because you have the handles on the top rack, and don't have to reach too far into the smoker.

He tells you how to do this modification on his web-site: www.bbqbydan.com

I have tried 4 different rib-racks, and by far the best is the one by Steve Raichlen sold at Bed, Bath, & Beyond for $19.00. Sometimes they are on sale for $14.00. It's very sturdy, holds 4 racks, has handles so you can move it easily, and has wider slots so the rub doesn't get rubbed off when you pull them out. Also if you spray your ribs, there's a little more room between the racks so the spray gets down between them.

[bearbonez]

 Also check out the weber virtual bullet forum. I have done any reall reading, just skimming through for now. There are alot of modifications you can do to boost the performance. Might want to wait for a response by Jay first. His seems to be going a day past what he needed it for.

[Jaybird]

Going along with what Aaron said....I've also had better ribs in the WSM without using water. I just put a couple bricks in the water pan and cover with foil.

I have never modified my WSM's at all. Not saying it's not a good idea, just never needed to for myself. The reason I get extreme burn times is I start out with alot of charcoal and cook real low and slow. So any mods, for performance, to me, is a waste of time. I don't know how it can perform any better. The third cooking grate might be helpful to alot of people that use WSM's exclusively.

[VisionQuest220]

Dont cook ribs in a WSM.

Heh, heh, heh.  I suppose I should stop looking at cleavage too.

Seriously though, Aaron, I understand what you mean about the WSM being a tough unit for ribs due to the lack of wide open flat space for those racks to rest upon.  I'm not a big fan of rib racks but I'm willing to bet that with the right rib rack and the stability of a WSM some great ribs can be cranked out.  It's a challenge I'm willing to take on.

You mentioned rolling ribs and I've read about that technique in many places, most notably, the Virtual Weber Bullet site.  Have you ever used that technique?  I'll have to try it for myself but my concern is that the racks will want to retain that rolled shape and not flatten out when it's time for the finishing sauce.

Glen, I think you've mentioned those rib racks before and they look like they just might be the thing I'm looking for.  I'll be checking out a few places to see if I can find them on sale.  Thanks for the reminder.

Bear, although I've only used a WSM for a few cooks, I have to agree with Jay that the unit doesn't seem to need much help in the way of performance.  I think installing a permanent Tel-Tru thermometer in the dome is about all the modifying I'll do.  (And I might just stick with a through the top vent thermometer.)  I've read about all the different mods on the Virtual Weber Bullet site and the only other thing that looks interesting is adding some handles to the lower cooking grate and the charcoal grate.

Jay, I haven't used water at all yet in my WSM.  I've been using sand covered with foil to catch the drippings.  It's worked really well so far.  I did mention in another thread that we weren't getting much of a smoke ring but we discovered that that had more to do with having tinkered with reducing the salt concentration in our rubs than anything else.  We brought the salt content back up and, as if by magic, the smoke ring started to appear again.  Lesson learned! 

I'd also like to add that one of the things I like best about this forum is that everyone is wiling to share thoughts and ideas in order to help one another out.  We all learn different things when we cook and its great to see things from all these different points of view.

[BBQCZAR]

Use sand in the waterpan with several layers of foil over the top,then remove foil layers after each use,makes VERY easy clean-up 

[gstanle]

Hey VQ,

I've tried the rolled ribs once. I did find that the ribs will eventually lay flat, but they have to rest a bit first. I took them off the skewer, laid them out in a baking pan meat side up and let them rest in the oven on 170. It took about 5 to 10 minutes.

I can't say that I noticed any difference in taste, but I only did it the one time, just to see how well it worked.

[VisionQuest220]

Cool!  Thanks for the info.  I think I'll give it a try and see what happens.