How many ribs

[Bmtnbiker128]

I was just wondering how many full racks of spare ribs you can put into the new gravity feed smoker, both sizes that are available to build?

[Puff]

I would think about 35 to 40... I have 5 sliding shelves in mine and they are approximately 24x26. 7-8 per rack depending on the size

[Bmtnbiker128]

Puff thank you.

[SOILhunter]

7-8 racks of spares? Laying flat? Mine are 24x32 and I can only fit 6 racks of baby backs per rack.

[Puff]

Yep. I have a few frozen ribs and laid 4 of them in side to side and then extrapolated the additional 3from the remaining visual assessment , these are nice sized and meaty...they fit. My 275 gallon RF trailer has about 2305 sq in of cook space and I had 32 full racks on that. The Gravity feed has 3120 sq in. This is better than 25% larger

[Pennywise]

LOL...he said extrapolated.

[Bmtnbiker128]

This is great! Someone asks a question and you guys are great to get the answers to us by even pulling out frozen ribs and putting them into your smokers to get an accurate answer.

[Bmtnbiker128]

Has anyone built the double pan gravity feed smoker yet?
How about the smaller one with the cooking racks at 24" x 26"as well

[Puff]

Yes I have... But opinions vary... IT AINT SMALL... I believe the newest plan adjusts a few internal variables allowing slightly larger racks. Many of the new developments on the new plan have been incorporated into my build which makes it weigh over 700 lbs.

Since I can bench press 690 and I can't even roll he smoker out of the garage, it must weigh 10 pounds more

( just kidding...I can bench press about 10 )

I am waiting for the baby sized plans that are coming out SOON ?

[Bmtnbiker128]

Any ideas when the smaller plans might be out.
Does anyone have good detailed pictures of the double pan one?

[Puff]

Oops....mine is not double pan....sorry it is the one with 24x26 racks

[Bmtnbiker128]

I don't understand what it even means by double pan.
Any thoughts or understanding on that?

[Puff]

You know those foil pans they use for catering or food storage....you can place two of them on each rack. I can fit 2 of these easily on the 24x26 rack. I think those pans are 13" wide so if we calculate it out

13 x 2 = 26. Presto....they fit!


I've gotta add this...the excitement of building my first smoker completely blinded me with the thrill of doing it. It made no difference as to how big it would be when finished never figured into the picture . Here I was starting to weld again for the first time in 20 years and doing something I really always wanted to try. the size came into play once so I needed a trailer to move it around the yard trailer but it did come in handy however for a friends party...75+ people.

Realizing this was a large smoker for just my wife and I and occasional children who stop by, I decided to make a more slender gravity feedcabinet that would be smaller and easier to move around ....that is clearly very far from reality in that the smoker is 6 feet tall and weighs approximately 700 pounds it's it's in my garage lonely with little use. Once I learned back in November Frank would have some plans for a smaller unit by Thanksgiving. I anxiously await those plans which I guess are still in development I am waiting for Them to come out soon.... failing that I may just go out and buy a baby stumps. Gravity feed is so nice to use... It's almost set it and forget it instead of standing 15 feet away from my RF Stickburner to be able to toss in logs every 40 minutes.

[Bmtnbiker128]

Thank you. I use those foil pans all of the time. I was kind of thinking something along those lines, but figured I was wrong. As you can tell I am trying to figure out how big to build. My wife's immediate side of the family, there are 67 of us when we all get together. I usually have to double up on smaller smokers and also do one more additional smoke session to feed them with enough ribs. We only get together about 8 to 10 times a year.
I also thought about doing a RF, but understand from reading and talking with a few people, that it seems like you have to babysit the pit more. Like you had mentioned as well. I like to work on dirt bikes and atv's at the same time to help me from making it feel like the smoked meat is taking longer than it really is. A 700 lbs smoker would definitely be an attention getter, but I think it might be a little bit big for what need, but I would still probably build it just to know that I could cook for the masses. My family always has said that I always make more food than needed, but I just don't want anyone to go home hungry and the guys at work like the leftovers as well too.
I might have to wait for the smaller design or just go big.

[Puff]

I enjoy restoring vintage American motorcycles from the 1920's up to 1966. I can literally disappear for hours and it seems like 30 minutes. Had a few atvs here until the kids grew up and every spring I had to drain water out of the float bowls. The Honda 300 was a very nice ride but the Kawasaki had a two speed gear box with hii and low range that was great for crawling the the woods here.

My 275 rf hold 30-34 racks but the baby needs attention every 45 minutes or so for wood. My gravity feed will use about 12-15 lbs of lump charcoal, I mix in about a plastic shopping bag of oak chunks and usually toss in a small split in the ash box. That will burn 9-10 hours EASILY. Once at temp, it rides along with the ball valve at 55-60% closed within 10 degrees of 240. Geez that's great to just wander without real focus on the fire. In fact, I spray the ribs with juice every hour but since I don't focus on the 45 minute wood feeds, I usually forget.

I'm glad I have the experience in building both.. They are different