Smoking ribs on vacation...without a smoker? 1-4-1 method?

  • Some of the links on this forum allow SMF, at no cost to you, to earn a small commission when you click through and make a purchase. Let me know if you have any questions about this.
SMF is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

greg schaaf

Newbie
Original poster
Jul 30, 2016
2
10
I'm going to be going on vacation to the beach in a few weeks and wanted to smoke some ribs for the family. However, our beach house only has a grill and not a smoker....and even if it did, I don't want to be tending a grill at the beach for 6+ hours. Is this a good idea,

Proposal for the 1-4-1 method:

1) Smoke the ribs at home at 220 for an 1 hr to get the smoke flavor (which is really the only time the meat is picking up the smoke flavor).

2) Wrap them in foil and refrigerate them for the trip. They'll probably be refrigerated for a day or two.

3) Resume cooking them in the oven at 220 for 4 hrs

4) Cook on the actual grill for 1 hr to finish them off, caramelize the sauce, etc. 

Has anyone ever tried anything like this? I'm obviously not going for competition quality ribs....but I don't want to make a huge disaster of them either.

Thanks!

Greg
 
I'm not sure on this, but I think you would want to get the ribs above 140 IT on the first smoke to be safe.

So if it was me I would smoke them for 3 hours, then foil them and either finish the foil stage then finish them on the grill at the beach.

Or foil them & refrigerate, then in the oven for an hour & then on the grill.

For a definitive answer on the safety aspect of this I PM'd Chef Jimmy J & he will be here to comment as soon as he gets on.

Al
 
Your plan is not safe. You run the risk of getting everyone sick. You need to cook them fully ahead of time.

What we have done in the past is to cook them, cut into individual ribs and place into a foil pan covered with foil. Then reheat the whole pan. If you want sauce add the sauce before reheating.
 
Why not do them on the grill at the beach house? Is the grill too small?

Otherwise, I agree with dirtsailor2003 cook at home and reheat at the beach.
 
Why not just do a complete smoke of the ribs in your smoker then freeze them, reheat when you get to the beach.  I usually always do several racks when I smoke, eat one then freeze the other and eat later in the week.  They're usually as good as the other we eat on the day of the smoke.  I reheat in the oven and they sometime are better, more FOB the second time around.  I use an aluminum pan covered with foil and heat for 30 mins at 350, they always come out great.  When I freeze, I do them uncut, freeze the whole rack, comes out better if I cut after reheating.
 
Always Cook them to the min IT, 145-150 for Pork. Then whether you simply reheat or continue to the desired tenderness at 225 or higher is your choice. One hour will not get them hot enough...JJ
 
Thanks for all of your replies!

Perhaps I'll try cooking them the weekend beforehand and freezing them....and reheating at the beach. Figuring out how to smoke/cook 3 racks at the beach on a gas grill I've never used before seems like a recipe for disaster. Leaving the wife with the kids while I do this for ~6 hrs is even a worse idea!!

I've only just started smoking meats, and only done ribs a few times. My only experience reheating is popping them in the microwave a few minutes...and that doesn't seems to do them justice, lol. But perhaps 30 min at 350 to reaheat in the oven will help. Or putting them on the grill instead of the oven to reheat. 

I appreciate it!

Greg
 
I recently went camping and brought ribs along that I had pre-smoked to maybe a little less done than normally. I wrapped them in foil and cooked them on a grill over direct low/medium heat wrapped in foil and they came out great. Grilled for about 20 minutes total turning once halfway through.
 
SmokingMeatForums.com is reader supported and as an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases.

Latest posts

Hot Threads

Clicky