# Advice for cooking ribs to eat the next day.



## meltyface (Oct 20, 2011)

I am needing to cook some ribs tomorrow so that they are ready to eat on Saturday early afternoon.  I usually cook them using the 3-2-1 method, but what can I do after finishing these ribs to make them good for the next day. Should I just cook them for 3 hours, wrap them to get them to temp (probably about 2 hours), refrigerate them and then cook for 1 hour in the foil and 1 hour unfoiled the next day? 

Or does anyone have any other suggestions.  I prefer to use the 3-2-1 method because this always yields perfect ribs for me.


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## cliffcarter (Oct 20, 2011)

Cook them as you normally do and reheat on the grill is your best option IMHO.


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## tom c (Oct 20, 2011)

cliffcarter said:


> Cook them as you normally do and reheat on the grill is your best option IMHO.




X2, if you sauce them do it when reheating.


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## pineywoods (Oct 20, 2011)

Do the 3 and the 2 tomorrow then take them out of the fridge and do the 1 before eating. If you want to sauce them I would recommend doing it the last .5 hours that way if the sauce has a high sugar content it is less likely to burn


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## eman (Oct 20, 2011)

Never tried this ,but seems you made need a bit more than an hour. When we do 3-2-1 the ribs are already up to temp when we start the 1 hour final cook. These ribs will be cold coming from the fridge so it may take a bit more time to finish them. JMHO.


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## meltyface (Oct 20, 2011)

eman said:


> Never tried this ,but seems you made need a bit more than an hour. When we do 3-2-1 the ribs are already up to temp when we start the 1 hour final cook. These ribs will be cold coming from the fridge so it may take a bit more time to finish them. JMHO.




I was thinking that too, that's why I was thinking I'd cook them a little in the foil after taking them out of the fridge and then doing the 1, so that they would retain some juices and be done to the correct texture and temp.


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## callahan4life (Oct 20, 2011)

This was what I did and they were great.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/104882/2-stage-pork-spare-ribs-with-lots-of-q-view


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## SmokinAl (Oct 21, 2011)

What Piney said!


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## bigfish98 (Oct 21, 2011)

Has anyone smoked ribs more than a couple days in advance?  I smoked some last weekend at my inlaws (I had not purchased my smoker yet) and let them rest.  I then wrapped them in foil and put them in my inlaws deep freeze.  We are planning on taking them out for opening deer season (gun season) and throwing them on the grill to bring them back to temp.  Has anyone had any luck with this?  Am I doing what I should?  Or am I setting myself up for failure?


Bigfish


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## meltyface (Oct 21, 2011)

Doing the 3-2-1 method, ribs are usually fully cooked at the end of the 2 stage (5 hour mark), right?  I'm just wondering this because if that is the case there wont be any danger in doing a 3-2 cook, waiting a few days (something I may have to do in the future) then finishing the last 1 hour step.

Also with doing the 3-2  refrigerate overnight and then finishing the 1, is there anything special I should do, or just unwrap the ribs and throw them in a smoker at temp for an hour?  I'm asking because I want to make sure this will allow them to get up to a a good temperature for eating and not remain cold in the center.

Thanks for all the input, I don't sauce my ribs because the smoke, rub and apple juice give the ribs plenty of great flavor.


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## callahan4life (Oct 21, 2011)

bigfish98 said:


> Has anyone smoked ribs more than a couple days in advance? I smoked some last weekend at my inlaws (I had not purchased my smoker yet) and let them rest. I then wrapped them in foil and put them in my inlaws deep freeze. We are planning on taking them out for opening deer season (gun season) and throwing them on the grill to bring them back to temp. Has anyone had any luck with this? Am I doing what I should? Or am I setting myself up for failure?
> Bigfish


See Post #7 of this thread.


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## cliffcarter (Oct 21, 2011)

Meltyface said:


> Doing the 3-2-1 method, ribs are usually fully cooked at the end of the 2 stage (5 hour mark), right?  I'm just wondering this because if that is the case there wont be any danger in doing a 3-2 cook, waiting a few days (something I may have to do in the future) then finishing the last 1 hour step.
> 
> Also with doing the 3-2  refrigerate overnight and then finishing the 1, is there anything special I should do, or just unwrap the ribs and throw them in a smoker at temp for an hour?  I'm asking because I want to make sure this will allow them to get up to a a good temperature for eating and not remain cold in the center.
> 
> Thanks for all the input, I don't sauce my ribs because the smoke, rub and apple juice give the ribs plenty of great flavor.


Relax and don't make it complicated, follow the KISS rule and you will be fine.


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## redrac (Oct 22, 2011)

When I smoke I normally load it up then when done we separate it into the right portion then vacuum pack it and freeze it.  Then when we are ready to eat I pull  it out and put the vac bag/s in the sink in water to thaw then warm it up however you choose.  It is also easy to give it to friends and family when bagged up like this and it tastes just like it just came out of the smoker.  It is great for ribs,  I leave them in the foil to vac them and it makes for an easy great meal.  Just make sure that you do not have any sharp corners from the foil to puncture the bag.


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