# How do I get ribs and chickens done at the same time



## grit

This post is partly taken from my roll call post.

For Saturday SWMBO as sprung a party on me and said I should smoke up some chickens and side ribs.  Which I am all up for, though I do have some time management questions.  Main one being how do I go about ensuring the ribs and chickens come off about the same time or close enough to each other that I warp in foil while waiting on the other to finish.  I plan on spatchcocking and brining the chickens for a couple of hours on Saturday.  Friday afternoon I plan on grabbing some side ribs from Costco and rubbing them down and sticking them in the fridge overnight.


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## knifebld

Hey Grit,

Assuming you are smoking Baby backs and using the 2-2-1 method, I would put your spatched chicken on after you foil your ribs. I also assume that you are smoking everything on one smoker at around 235 or so.

Hope this helps!


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## chef jimmyj

Side Ribs, a name used by our Northern Brothers, are the same as Spare Ribs. So 3-2-1 would be the plan, if Foiling and smoking at 107°C to 121°C, the Chicken would still go on when you Foil. If not Foiling at the same temp, wait 3.5 to 4 hours before adding the Chicken. The Ribs will most likely need some extra time to cook and if not, foil and rest the ribs while the Chicken finishes. The Skin on the bird will not be very good so I suggest you pull the bird just shy of your fav IT and crisp the skin on the Grill. If you would like some tasty recipes for Rubs, Brines, Sauces and/or a great Foiling Juice, shoot me a PM...JJ


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## hickorybutt

Agreed with the post above.  The chicken will likely take ~3 hours (obviously depending on the size).  I've finished chickens in 2 - 2.5 hours, but I cook chickens at a higher temp.  Since you've got ribs in there too, you probably wanna keep the temp below 250.

One thing you can do to make sure the chicken has good crispy skin is flash cook it on a very hot grill.  Fire up a grill really hot and stick the chicken on there for 10 minutes.


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## grit

I have never foiled ribs before when trying low and slow on the old grill, 3-2-1 is what three hours smoke, two hours foil, one hour smoke or a division of time based on size of the ribs? Is it usual for Side/Spare ribs only to take about six hours? Some of the QViews I have seen on here of side/spare ribs seem larger/wider than what I will be picking up.  Seems the Costco(here anyways) splits the side/spare ribs across the bone so they are about as wide as my hand.  Would this affect cooking time?

I can toss the chicken on a super hot grill to crisp up the skin that is no problem.


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## chef jimmyj

Sounds like they are what we call St Louis cut, The meat and Cartilage that connects the Ribs to the Sternum are cut away, leaving just the bones. Below is a pic of mine. The cooking times are the same. Here is some info...JJ

*Smoked Ribs as easy as 3-2-1*

A full rack of Spare Ribs will take about 6 hours at 225*F...The 3-2-1 smoked rib recipe is a good way to smoke ribs and tends to turn out perfect ribs every time whether you are using the meatier Full rack spare rib or the Saint Louis cut. Baby Back ribs use a 2-2-1 method. The ribs are smoked at 225 - 250 degrees for best results...
The 3 stands for the 3 hours that you initially smoke the ribs with nothing but your favorite rub on them and some smoke with your favorite hardwood such as hickory, apple, pecan, etc. After the 3 hours you remove the ribs and quickly double wrap them in heavy duty foil.. just before you seal them up add some Foiling Juice or Apple Juice and close the foil leaving some room around the ribs for the steam to be able to flow around the meat and the juice to braise the meat which Flavors/Tenderizes it.

The ribs cook in the smoker wrapped for 2 hours undisturbed. There is no need for Smoke at this point... After 2 hours remove the ribs from the smoker, unwrap, saving any juices in the foil, and place back into the smoker for the final 1 hour, with smoke if you wish.This firms them up, creates a nice Bark and finishes the cooking process. You can add a glaze or sauce at this point if you like. The meat will be pretty close to fall off the bone and be extremely juicy, tender and flavorful...JJ

*Foiling Juice / Sweet Pulled Pork Finishing Sauce*

*Foiling Juice*

For each Rack of Ribs Combine:

1T Pork Rub, yours

1/2 Stick Butter

1/2C Cane Syrup... Dark Corn Syrup...or Honey

1/4C Apple Cider...or Juice

1T Molasses

Optional:

2T Vinegar, 2T Mustard and 1/4C Ketchup to make it more of a KC Style Glaze.

Simmer until a syrupy consistency.

Allow to cool for 5 minutes, pour over foiled Ribs and

run your 2 hour phase of 3-2-1. For the last phase return

the ribs to the smoker BUT reserve any Juice remaining

in the Foil. Simmer the Juice over med/low heat to reduce to a saucy thickness. Glaze the Ribs for presentation or service.

*For a Sweet Finishing Sauce for Pulled Pork:*  Make a Double batch, Butter optional.

Add 1/2 the batch to the Foil Pack or place it in a Pan with your Butt, when the IT hits 165*F.

Cover the pan with foil and continue to heat to 205*F for pulling.

At 205* rest or hold the Butt in a cooler wrapped in towels until ready to serve.

Pull the Pork and place it back in the pan with the pan Juices and any additional reserved Foiling Juice to moisten and Serve...OR... Bag and refrigerate until needed.

When re-heating place the Pulled Pork in a Pan or Crock pot and add reserved Foiling Juice or Apple Cider, as needed to make up the Juice that was absorbed while  the pork was refrigerated. Cover and re-heat in a pre-heated 325-350*F oven or on High in the crock pot to 165*F and Serve.

Note: the addition of the reserved Foiling Juice or Apple Cider should make the PP moist but not Swimming.

I was AMAZED...No additional sauce needed. ENJOY...JJ

The meat on the left is what was removed and cut from the Cartilage. The remaining is just the Rib Bones, notice they are flat. If your Ribs ar fairly curved, they are Back Ribs...













2013-03-25 14.48.21.jpg



__ chef jimmyj
__ Mar 27, 2013






Here is the whole Rack before and after cutting...


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## welshrarebit

What I've done before is for the first three hours smoke the ribs low and slow, then during the two hour foil phase place the ribs in the oven and get the heat up to 275 and put the chicken in there. Then after the two hour foil phase the chicken should be done, or very close to being done, lower the temp in the smoker and finish the ribs as you normally would. You can put the chicken in the oven, after youve turned it off, to stay warm while the ribs are finishing. 

I did a thread on this a few months back titled '3 ribs 2 chicken 1 ribs.' The way I figured it was I had my weber kettle humming along putting out some nice TBS and it would be a complete waste to foil the ribs and not be smoking for two hours. I had a chicken marinated for the next day and decided to throw it on during the ribs foil phase. Both came out awesome!


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## knifebld

Chef JimmyJ said:


> *Foiling Juice / Sweet Pulled Pork Finishing Sauce*
> 
> *Foiling Juice*
> 
> For each Rack of Ribs Combine:
> 
> 1T Pork Rub, yours
> 
> 1/2 Stick Butter
> 
> 1/2C Cane Syrup... Dark Corn Syrup...or Honey
> 
> 1/4C Apple Cider...or Juice
> 
> 1T Molasses
> 
> Optional:
> 
> 2T Vinegar, 2T Mustard and 1/4C Ketchup to make it more of a KC Style Glaze.


Hey Chef JJ,

Was curious is this was the finishing sauce that most people are refering to as 'amazing' in many other threads? I seemed to have seen another finishing sauce from you that is not as sweet, no?


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## chef jimmyj

knifebld said:


> Hey Chef JJ,
> 
> Was curious is this was the finishing sauce that most people are refering to as 'amazing' in many other threads? I seemed to have seen another finishing sauce from you that is not as sweet, no?


That is the Sweet Finishing Sauce. Here is the more popular Vinegar based Tangy Finishing Sauce...

*Tangy Pulled Pork Finishing Sauce*

This is more of an Eastern North Carolina style Finishing Sauce...

2 C Apple Cider Vinegar

2T Worcestershire Sauce or more to taste

1/4C Brown Sugar

1T Smoked Paprika

2 tsp Granulated Garlic

2 tsp Granulated Onion

2 tsp Fine Grind Black Pepper

1 tsp Celery Salt

1 tsp Cayenne Pepper or Red Pepper Flake. Add more if you like Heat.

1/2 tsp Grnd Allspice

Combine all and whisk well. This is a thin sauce, bring just to a simmer and remove from heat. Adjust sweetness by adding Brn Sugar or additional Vinegar as desired...Makes about 2 Cups.

For a *Lexington Style Dip*  add, 1/2C Ketchup and 1-3tsp Red Pepper Flakes...JJ


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## knifebld

Chef JimmyJ said:


> *Tangy Pulled Pork Finishing Sauce*


Thanks Chef...same idea as the sweet sauce? Pour half in when foiling and pour the other half when its pulled?


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## chef jimmyj

You can if you wish but with this one but I and most just add at the end. The Vinegar is a stronger flavor and adding at the end gives more control over the finished product. You don't actually need to add anything to the foil if you wrap tightly, or anything on hand works as well. Add Apple Juice, Cola or other Soda, Beer, your favorite Cocktail even...JJ


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## knifebld

Chef JimmyJ said:


> You can if you wish but with this one but I and most just add at the end. The Vinegar is a stronger flavor and adding at the end gives more control over the finished product. You don't actually need to add anything to the foil if you wrap tightly, or anything on hand works as well. Add Apple Juice, Cola or other Soda, Beer, your favorite Cocktail even...JJ


And should I keep the juices from the meat, skim the fat off and add it to the finishing sauce?


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## chef jimmyj

Oh Yeah! It all adds up to great flavor. If there is not a lot of fat, you can even leave it in. The fastest way to remove fat is to skim as much as you can then using strips of paper towel to remove the rest. Just quickly drag the strips across the top and the fat will stick to the paper...JJ


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## grit

I would like to thank the group for the help, sorry for not having any QViews those Saturday ended up being very hectic.  Though I managed to pull it off everyone loved the ribs that out of six racks I was let with one and half the chick was a hit as well with only one whole one left.

What did I learn?  Well I need to learn how to dial in my smoker temp I had a real problem trying to get it to sit around 235 most of the time it crept up to 250-260 and wanted to stay there.  Not really an isuue as this was my first big smoke.


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## knifebld

Grit said:


> I would like to thank the group for the help, sorry for not having any QViews those Saturday ended up being very hectic.  Though I managed to pull it off everyone loved the ribs that out of six racks I was let with one and half the chick was a hit as well with only one whole one left.
> 
> What did I learn?  Well I need to learn how to dial in my smoker temp I had a real problem trying to get it to sit around 235 most of the time it crept up to 250-260 and wanted to stay there.  Not really an isuue as this was my first big smoke.


Glad it worked out for you bud! Too bad about the QView, maybe next time! Cheers


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## yazamitaz

chef jimmyj said:


> That is the Sweet Finishing Sauce. Here is the more popular Vinegar based Tangy Finishing Sauce...
> 
> *Tangy Pulled Pork Finishing Sauce*
> 
> This is more of an Eastern North Carolina style Finishing Sauce...
> 
> 2 C Apple Cider Vinegar
> 
> 2T Worcestershire Sauce or more to taste
> 
> 1/4C Brown Sugar
> 
> 1T Smoked Paprika
> 
> 2 tsp Granulated Garlic
> 
> 2 tsp Granulated Onion
> 
> 2 tsp Fine Grind Black Pepper
> 
> 1 tsp Celery Salt
> 
> 1 tsp Cayenne Pepper or Red Pepper Flake. Add more if you like Heat.
> 
> 1/2 tsp Grnd Allspice
> 
> Combine all and whisk well. This is a thin sauce, bring just to a simmer and remove from heat. Adjust sweetness by adding Brn Sugar or additional Vinegar as desired...Makes about 2 Cups.
> 
> For a *Lexington Style Dip*  add, 1/2C Ketchup and 1-3tsp Red Pepper Flakes...JJ


Thanks for posting this


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