"Country-style" ribs

Here in Missouri we occasionally find a cut called "country-style ribs". They're not ribs at all, in fact; they're a blade-in pork shoulder cut into chunks about 2" wide by 2" deep and maybe 6' long - the length of the shoulder.

I'm a little puzzled because I've never seen them anywhere else. There no hits on this site for "country-style ribs" that describe what we get here.

Think the succulence of pork shoulder, the bark of renowned Mr Brown in triplicate, all in three and a half hours in WSM. And almost free. To wit: at Sam's yesterday three racks of baby backs were about $28. Five and a third pounds of "country-style ribs": $8.46.

Here's my recipe:

1. Sprinkle liberally with your favorite rub.
2. Put into large FoodSaver bag. Cover with apple juice. Vacuum seal bag (a little tricky with all this liquid).
3. Let "ribs" marinate about three hours. The vacuum sealing opens up the pores of the meat and the marination time is decresed significantly.
4. Remove ribs from frig. Light WSM. Short cook = lots of smoke!
5. Put ribs on. Let WSM do its 250-degree magic for two hours.
6. Pop the lid, turn the ribs, mop with leftover marinade (you didn't throw it out, did you?).
7. Watch temp. The oxy gulp will give you a spike.
8. This recipe almost requires a thermapen, because you have multiple pieces of meat of different sizes in the cooker. At three hrs, start probing, and be careful to test them all. You have to hang around now, 'cuz they're going to finish unevenly over the next 30 mins or so.
9. I like to grab 'em at 190.
10 Take your leftover marinade/mop (you didn't throw it out, did you?), dump it into a small saucepan. Add some apple juice. Add some cider vinegar. Couple gluggs to start. Cook a couple mins. Add cider until you get your idea of Carolina vinegar-based sauce. I like mine pretty generous with the vinegar, and cooking it sure softens it up.
12. Serve with the sauce in bowls. As you pull the meat from the bones, drop in the sauce. Not sharing the bones with your dogs is unspeakably cruel.
13. And most importantly, do NOT serve this to your stepson. He will take the leftovers to school for lunch the next day, leaving YOU no lunch.

Dave

In the Chicago area country style ribs are very common. I mix 1 part Hellmanns Mayo and 1 part Italian dressing sprinkle with garlic powder and mix in a bowl. Add ribs and coat all over. Place bowl in frig for about 4 hrs. I've smoked and or grilled them. The mayo keeps them moist.

Dave,
Thanks for the recipe. I've had country style ribs once at a BBQ joint in town, and looked for some talk about them on the site here but haven't read anything until now. I can get some at a local butcher shop so I'll give it a shot. Also, Is KC really the mecca of BBQ??

The reason you don't see much talk about it is that most people here cook whole butts (shoulder). I like the taste of a true rib. It has a completely different flavor than a shoulder cut. Now when I eat shoulder I prefer it "pulled" rather than sliced. I think most here would probably say the same thing.

Don't misunderstand me - if you like the country style ribs then by all means keep cooking them. The most important thing is enjoying your efforts!!!

Hmmm, I have yet to try country style, since it's just a different cut of shoulder which I like pulled anyway. I do think shoulder tastes different than "real" ribs, but I may have to give it a try.

David, have you been in any KC BBQ competitions? Maybe I'll cya around!

Erich, Idunno if KC is indeed the "Mecca" of BBQ, but if it's not, it's at least the Medina of BBQ. /infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

A BBQ joint on every corner, ya gotta love that!

Country ribs are great when you want to increase the amount of bark, or you want more thorough penetration of a marinade (like a jerk paste, for instance.) I've also used them when I wanted to compare a bunch of different rubs against each other. When they're done you can pull them just like a full-size shoulder, or cut them into cubes like a kabob.

John,

Nah I'm not a competitor. I'm just a cook 'em and eat 'em kinda guy.

I can't think of any restaurants in KC that serve country-style, but I don't get out much, either. Geoff's right on, though, 'cuz your marinade or rub is just right there, and the bark is great.

Hello All,

I finally got my offset firebox smoker this Mother's day! What a great gift for "my wife". Just what she always wanted! my old barrel pit has seen better days so when I went to grill some Mother's day steaks she just about died and said she wasn't eating anything off of that rig. So she suggested that I go and pick up that smoker thing that I've been eye-balling for the past 6, count em, 6 years.

On to the country ribs... Here in California we get country ribs all the time. I never know they weren't a rib cut but always knew something was different about them. I've been smoking chicken for the past two days and decided that I would pick up country ribs to experiment with my first cook. I used the mustard recipe posted on this site (http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/pork1.html). I've actually been using a variation of this that was taught to me by my father for many years, so it was a no brainer.

Here is my delima: I've done all of the modifications, i.e. baffel, lowered chimney to grill level and a coal basket. The only thing I didn't do was move the thermometer. I tuned the cook chamber with a drip pan of water just under the baffel.

Fired up my coals used the Minion method with just more coals (about 5 lbs) and off I went. I however couldn't get the temp right. It spiked to about 280-300 and never got to 220-250 until the coals were dying out. My ribs were also very dry until I sopped them with sauce and put them in a dutch oven in the chamber for about an hour as the coals finaly died out. Total cook time was about 4.5 hrs. I haven't yet taken the pot off the smoker, so I don't know what the final taste will be.

Where did I go wrong? Or am I being too hard on myself. I figured that if I smoked I wouldn't have to use the dutch oven method anymore? Where is the falling off the bone? I thought that If I kept going they would just shrivel and dry to a crisp.

Any suggestions would be great. I am also looking for links to sites that feature horizontal offset smoker tips, and info. Any help?

Thanks in advance

Country ribs are common here and are often cooked in an oven or crockpot as pseudo Q.

"Pseudo Q", LOL...wouldn't that include any recipe that involves liquid smoke?

Hmmm

It makes me wonder where boneless country style ribs come from on the pig. I always figured they were whatever the butcher couldn't put a higher price label on.

Can't beat BB's...I've had country ribs and if I had to chose....I'd still go BB. Once you go BB you'll never go back. LOL

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Cecil Coupe:
[qb] Hmmm

It makes me wonder where boneless country style ribs come from on the pig. I always figured they were whatever the butcher couldn't put a higher price label on. [/qb] <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Comes from ther shoulder. It is actually nothing more than a boston butt run through a butcher's band saw several times!

Country ribs have their place. I like to have a mixed grill going. Butt on the bottom grate. Ribs (usually spares, but wife prefers loin backs) on the top. I'll do some country ribs on the top grate too. They finish earlier than both the other cuts and make a nice snack, whilst I waits for the ribs and butt.

Added plus is the price per pound is usually around $1.00.

AR

p.s. If you search for "country style" you will find many posts about this cut, both pro and con. Again, they have a place on the grill, at least on mine.

here in Southern Indiana, the country style rib is sold in just about every store. And usually pretty cheap!

They are really popular in Canada.

If you are in a hurry they work well on the grill too. Rub 'em. Let them get friendly with the rub for awhile.

Preheat grill to medium. Sear 'em over direct heat for 10 minutes, turning once. Then, transfer to indirect and continue at medium for about 1 hour.

Serve 'em dry with your favourite BBQ sauce on the side or brush them with sauce in the last 10 minutes or so.

They are are real crowd pleaser and make great leftovers cut up and mixed with BBQ sauce in a bun or pita pocket. I add a bit of Miracle Whip as well.

Had them to work for lunch today as a matter of fact. Which I had a cold one to go with them, eh!

P.S. Can add green onions or lettuce or slaw etc if you like.

When I find country style ribs on sale (.89/pound), I throw a bunch on the WSM.

I do mine by rubing them with whatever rub I've made recently and place them in a half chafing dish aluminum pan. I usually don't use aluminum, but this is one exception.

I place them in the WSM at around 225-250 with a med-light smoke of hickory. Smoke them for two hours and then cover them with foil. WSM them for another 2 hrs and then pull them.

You can usually pull them apart with your fingers... Plus they make a pretty good bark.

Just my $0.02

-Matt

I treat them like I do BBQ chicken. Indirect heat, sauced at the end to get a good caramalized finish. Gotta be careful because the sizes are inconsistent. I do some trimming and watch them carefully. I fix them on my Chargriller rather than the WSM.

There have been a name change, it is now advertise as "country styly-pork here in kcmo.I enjoy cooking these when I dont want to spend all night/day smokeing a whole butt. It only takes about 3 or 4 hours to smoke, depends on the thickness of the cut, plus you can taste the flavor of your rub/smoke in every bite. family relly enjoy them. if you have a food processer you can put them in there(bone remove) and hit the button a few times and BAM! pork on bun to go!