If you have read any of the articles on this site then you certainly understand that I am a big fan of the Weber product line. I own two of their kettle grills including the Weber Smokey Joe (detailed in this article) and the Weber One Touch Silver (written about here) as well as many of their charcoal grill accessories.
Also, if you are interested in a comparison of both Weber grills mentioned above you can read about it here in this article.
One of their well-made grilling accessories in which I recently invested is called the Weber rib rack. In the same purchase I also picked up a set of Weber charcoal holders. So how did I actually get around to buying my cool Weber rib rack?
Well, I’m also a fan of Steven Raichlen who is a guru when it comes to barbecue and grilling. His Barbecue Bible is an anthology that all barbecue enthusiasts should have close at hand. My wife and I watch Barbecue University and Primal Grill, two of his popular television shows, on a regular basis because we are both passionate about anything related to grilling and barbecue. We always learn tips and tricks that you don’t come across in books. One of his programs detailed a process of utilizing his Ultimate Rib Rack for barbecuing up some baby back ribs.
Since I am a Weber grill fan, I decided to buy the Weber rib rack ,model 6406, in hopes that it would easily fit into my Weber One Touch which measures 17 ½ inches in diameter for the grilling surface. My One Touch is the smaller version since there is a larger version that measures 22 ½”. After I received the rib rack in the mail from Amazon, I was happy to say that it fit into my Weber One Touch kettle grill perfectly! That is not to say that the Raichlen model wouldn’t have but I thought that the Weber model would be a good choice and it was almost half the price of Raichlen’s Ultimate Rib Rack.
Now that we had the rib rack we were very anxious to use it. On one of Raichlen’s shows he detailed using his rib rack to barbecue up some tantalizing baby back ribs on his own Weber grill (his was a much larger model than mine). He explained the value of having a rib rack:
1. It allows you to expand your cooking area vertically since the ribs’ orientation is up and down.
2. It facilitates even cooking for the ribs.
3. Allows you to easily apply a mop sauce during grilling without having to flip the ribs over.
Various Images of my Weber BBQ Rib Rack
Model 6406 allows for 4 ribs
At the time I purchased my rib rack I also purchased 2 Weber charcoal grill holders (2 come in the box) which are shaped in a semicircle and are built so that you can indirectly grill by placing the hot coals in containers that are placed along the outside of the kettle grill on the lower grate. You can see the charcoal briquette holders if you look under the ribs in the above images. The reason I bought the charcoal holders was because these are what Steven Raichlen used when he cooked his ribs so I wanted to do the same. I also used a BBQ sauce mop and bucket which added an extra layer of flavor and moisture to the ribs.
Weber Rib Rack Features
- Fits 18-1/2-inch kettles or larger (including the One Touch Silver).
- Made of heavy, bright nickel-plated steel.
- Allows you to maximize your grilling space by cooking vertically.
- Dimensions: 11.3″ X 11.8″ X 3.1″
- Will also fit Weber Gas Grills.
What I learned was that the results of using the Weber rib rack were spectacular! With the Weber One Touch the cooking time was roughly 1.5 hours which was comparable to the cooking time that Raichlen had when he cooked his own baby back ribs. In a water smoker the process of cooking the ribs would’ve probably been about twice as long as the Weber kettle grill I used. The temperatures are slightly higher with the kettle grill but it’s still long enough to get a good smoke flavor (we used a combination of apple and cherry). It also cuts the cooking time in half which may make it more attractive to someone with limited barbecue time.
The Weber rib rack worked out great for our first time utilizing this rather unique and fun grilling accessory! We can’t wait to use it again since the results of using it were mouth-watering to say the least.
Weber and other manufacturers make other rib rack models and a number of them, including Steven Raichlen’s Ultimate Rib Rack, can be seen below. If you want more details you can just click on the image.
Other Highly Rated BBQ Grill Rib Racks
(Click on any image for more details)
As usual, if you have any questions about the Weber rib rack or anything on this site please leave them in the comments or use my Contact Me page. Enjoy your quality grilling time!
Bob started this passion site, Life with Grilling, in 2012. Life with Grilling has been a trusted source for grilling and barbecue tips, techniques, and accessories for over 10 years. Bob has been charcoal grilling for most of his adult life and smoking meats using a personally-configured stick-burner Brinkmann smoker since 2012.
His passion for charcoal grilling was instilled into him by his father who used charcoal on a basic grill to cook for his family on warm summer nights. Charcoal grilling and tending to his smoker has been a happy pastime of Bob’s, especially as he enters his retirement years. His love of all things grilling and smoking has allowed him to review the best charcoal grills and grilling accessories available in the martketplace and to develop many recipes, grilling tips, and techniques over the years. He is eager to share his lifelong grilling experiences and expertise through Life with Grilling!
