Drum-Smoked Ribs at Camp
A rack of ribs over a grate, low and slow, while you do nothing else all afternoon.
- calories
- 780
- weight
- 14 oz
- cal / oz
- 56
- protein
- 48 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 15 min
- cook
- 300 min
- total time
- 315 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Grill grate
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- Foil packet
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Pork spare ribs or baby backs | 2 racks | about 6 lb total, membrane pulled at home |
|---|---|---|
| Dry rub | 3 tbsp | go light; ribs do not need much |
| Hardwood chunks | 3-4 fist-sized | apple or fruitwood |
| Heavy-duty foil | 1 roll | |
| Charcoal | 1 chimney to start, more as needed |
Method
- Build a small charcoal bed on one side of the fire ring or grill. You want 225-250F at the grate, not flames. A cheap probe thermometer is worth carrying.
- Add a wood chunk. Lay the racks bone-side down on the far side, away from the coals. Lid or foil tent on.
- Hold the temperature for two hours. Feed one or two coals at a time rather than a fresh handful, and add a wood chunk when the smoke thins out.
- Wrap each rack tight in foil and put it back on for another hour. This is where they get tender.
- Unwrap and return them to the grate for a final hour to firm the outside back up. Pull earlier if you want them softer.
- They are done when the meat has shrunk back off the bone ends by a finger width. Tent in foil and leave them alone for fifteen minutes before cutting.
Ribs are the one camp meal where the cooking time is the point. Nothing here is hard, but you are committing an afternoon to holding a fire at a temperature it does not naturally want to sit at. Small additions of fuel, often. A big handful of coals spikes the grate and you spend the next half hour recovering.
The three-stage timing — open, wrapped, open again — splits the difference between smoke and tenderness. Open smoke builds the crust, the foil wrap steams the connective tissue down, and the last open hour dries the outside back out. Shift the hours around to taste: more wrap, softer ribs. The pullback at the bone ends is a more reliable finish signal than the clock, since every fire runs differently. This one stays in the cooler and needs real heat, so it is a car-camping meal, not a pack-in.
Packing
Ribs travel in the cooler, trimmed and rubbed at home in a zip bag so there is no prep at camp. Rub, foil, and wood chunks ride in the dry box. Bring more charcoal than you think.
Variations
- Shorter wrap and shorter finish gives you ribs with more bite. Longer wrap gives you fall-apart.
- Skip the foil entirely and run six hours straight at 225F for a drier, chewier rack.
- Same fire, same afternoon: thin strips of marinated venison or beef on the cool side dry into jerky while the ribs cook.
https://www.huntingpa.com/threads/cooking-times.9013