Pre-Smoking St. Louis Ribs

[BethV]

I need to smoke my 3 racks of St. Louis Ribs for a lunch tomorrow. My time is limited today and I can't smoke them until they are done (in my case 6 hours). I smoke unwrapped these days. I'm thinking of smoking them for 3 hours unwrapped at 225, 1 hour wrapped (just to infuse some moisture into them since they will be sleeping in the fridge overnight). Unwrap (don't want them fall off the bone in the end...I like a bite) and refrigerate until tomorrow. Tomorrow I will put them back in the smoker unwrapped at 225 for 1 1/2 hours. For the last 1/2 hour, I would brush them with BBQ sauce.

I'm thinking this should work. I would make sure that the temp is 165 degrees before pulling.

Just curious if anyone has done this before. Split a cook into two days? Any suggestions are welcome.

Thanks for the help (as always),
Beth

 

[mooncusser2k]

I haven't done it before myself, but your plan sounds good to me. We tend to buy ribs in 2-packs and wind up with leftovers that reheat just fine

 

[C. Keeper]

I personally haven't done it. A local shop would pre smoke / cook for take home re-heat and they were fine.

 

[mooncusser2k]

Come to think of it, that Lloyd guy does it all the time.

 

[Plumberguy]

I need to smoke my 3 racks of St. Louis Ribs for a lunch tomorrow. My time is limited today and I can't smoke them until they are done (in my case 6 hours). I smoke unwrapped these days. I'm thinking of smoking them for 3 hours unwrapped at 225, 1 hour wrapped (just to infuse some moisture into them since they will be sleeping in the fridge overnight). Unwrap (don't want them fall off the bone in the end...I like a bite) and refrigerate until tomorrow. Tomorrow I will put them back in the smoker unwrapped at 225 for 1 1/2 hours. For the last 1/2 hour, I would brush them with BBQ sauce.

I'm thinking this should work. I would make sure that the temp is 165 degrees before pulling.

Just curious if anyone has done this before. Split a cook into two days? Any suggestions are welcome.

Thanks for the help (as always),
Beth

Malcom Reed does something that looks great that he calls “char-glazed” ribs. It can be used to reheat/spruce them up out of the fridge. Can’t link right now but it’s on you tube.

 

[Roaniecowpony]

How did it work out, Beth?

There's a BBQ joint in Venice called Baby Blue's that smokes them till they are about done, then refrigerates them. They pull them out for an order, grill them to a sear and serve.

 

[BethV]

@Roaniecowpony The ribs came out great. I cooked them at 225 for 3 hours yesterday unwrapped and 1 hour wrapped (with butter, brown sugar and honey). Unwrapped them and put them in the fridge.

Today I put them back on at 225 for 1.5 hours. And for the last 1/2 hour I basted them once with BBQ sauce.

They came out really nice. I was not sure what to expect regarding the texture. They had a strong bite. Not fall off the bone at all (which we don't care for). They could have used maybe another 1/2 hour to 45 minutes if we wanted just a nice gentle bite. But I'm happy to say this is a great way to make the ribs when you don't have 6 hours to cook them.

I appreciate everyone's comments.