Advice on Butts and Ribs please

[smokeylips]

Hi All,

My daughter is graduating from the Marine Corp boot camp and we want to have a celebration. I would like to due a couple of pork butts and several racks of ribs. Does anyone have suggestions as to placement of meats, temps, times etc.... Appreciate it!

[mguerra]

Semper Fi

Congrats on the graduate, we had a nephew graduate Parris Island March 09. Got an AF nephew fighter jock training now at Wichita Falls.

Fortunately you can use the same cook temp for the butts and the ribs. A good workable technique for the ribs is actually a formula; 4 hours at 225. We don't use timed formulae like this generally for other cooks, but this seems to work for ribs. Your butts will cook well at 225 also, and probably take a lot longer. Trying to get them both done simultaneously would be pure guess work. I would put the ribs on 5 hours before serving time, rest them in foil for an hour while you finalize dinner. Plan to have the butts done well before that, since you can foil, towel, and cooler them for many hours prior to serving. Conservatively, figure 2 hours per lb cooking time, they might not take that long. By being done with both well before serving time, you can relax a little. Since they both cook at the same temp, you don't have to dork around with the fire, or use 2 cookers. Since the ribs will go on after the butts, put them on the top rack above the main grill. That's the rack with the legs, that rest on the main grill. Butts on the main, indirect cook with the heat deflector.

Tell your Marine the Guerra family salutes her and her service and sacrifice for our great nation.

[Loquitur]

Congrats, Smokeylips, on your daughter's achievement - you must be very proud of her!! This is just to remark that Doc is a real expert when it comes to pork butts. I recently did my first big cook for my family which involved three small boneless pork butts. He walked me through it, thank heavens, since they were not proceeding according to the schedule I set for them. They came out beautifully and I ended up the hero!!!

Susan

[LarryR]

Spares or Babybacks?

Remember babybacks will take less time than spares. On my KK Spares take about 6 hours, backs between 4 - 5, I run my temp around 235 grate. Hope this helps and congrats to your daughter.

[T Rex]

Re: Spares or Babybacks?

Remember babybacks will take less time than spares. On my KK Spares take about 6 hours' date=' backs between 4 - 5, I run my temp around 235 grate. Hope this helps and congrats to your daughter.[/quote']

Just like Larr says............. and a BIG CONGRATS to your daughter as well, you must be very proud!

Mr. & Mrs. T Rex

[smokeylips]

Thanks for all the input! I am doing baby backs. My last ones took 6 hours at 225. I am wondering if my rib rack will work up in the dome and how many you could get on it.

Anyway, we are proud of her but worried as well. She will go to college first and than hopefully go in as an officer. I think she actually likes boot camp. There must be something wrong with that!

[LarryR]

Lots of room

There's lots of room up there. Here's a picture of 2 racks of very large spares (cut in 1/2)over two butts.

I don't think you'll have any problems with baby backs.