I did a pile o ribs and a half of chicken on the racks. I filled the basket on one side and left the other empty, the ribs were above the coals and the chicken was on the other side. It worked well for me. I always use full racks on the PBC without issues, but most of the time I am plugging the unused rebar holes with at least one cork to lower the pit temperature. I can only remember one time feeling the ends were a little charred, but I also use a fair amount of brown sugar on my ribs.