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Beef Ribs - what not to buy


 
Eric Aarseth

Eric Aarseth

TVWBB Super Fan
Chris's Beef Back ribs "how to" gives great instructions on selecting and cooking beef back ribs. Despite these instructions, I ended up buying ribs that squarely fit in the "what not to buy".
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Photos:

Beef Ribs 1

Beef Ribs 2

Beef Ribs 3

Beef Ribs 4

These photos are glaring examples of buying ribs that not only have had too much meat trimmed away, but much of the meat trimmed out from between the bones.

I was fooled by the vacuum packing. It sucked the ribs together so you couldn't easily see the gaps between the ribs. In hindsight I probably could have seen some of this had I held the package up to the light. I actually was looking for ribs that met Chris's recommendation but just blew it.

Chris, I posted these photos for examples of what not to buy. Use them in your cooking topics article if you wish.
 
Yes, those are great examples of what not to buy....pathetic looking beef ribs. I hate when they try to fool customers like that. The place where I buy my ribs the rack is on one of those styrofoam rectangles covered w/ saran wrap. You can see all the meat and what is trimmed. Beef bones should be big and meaty..w/ all the meat between the bones.
 
Thanks for the info. Most of the ribs I get are from Winn Dixie. I met the butcher and talk to him everytime I go in. They cut theirs alot shorter and sell in the regular styro wrap pack which makes it a little easier to see what you are geting. Sometime they are a pretty good deal. My wife thinks thy are a little greasy but I don't mind they grease and think the flavor is great. Kinda like ribeyes on a stick.
 
I once bought some styro-tray ribs and the meat department had put a decent slab on top, effectively obscuring the overtrimmed bones underneath...
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Brad
 
Does anyone know-
When they cut the meat off the bones, is the meat in the steaks or does it get trimmed a second time(and then that meat then serves another purpose)?
 
Generally it's part of the steaks as these command more $. Best to buy a whole rib roast then remove the bones yourself (imo). You can then make the ribs meatier.
 
Great article and post. This is a problem on the east coast especially. Probably not as much of a problem in the south or west. Buying beef ribs on the east coast is a challenge. The priority is clearly steaks. And most beef ribs you find here are cross cut, not whole, which to me is even worse.

The best solution so far for me will be to buy the 7 rib roast and tell them to trim as I wish. Which will be to leave 1/4 to 1/2 inch of meat as they cut out the eye with a nice club of meat on the end. Then I will cut the eye roast into steaks myself for further use.

I have seen no good beef ribs or "dinosaur bones" availble yet in my area. It will all need to be custom cut for me.
 
That just ain't right. If I would have bought them I would have gone back to the store and raised royal He!! with somebody, Because IMO that's nothing more than soup bones.
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I put this right up there with enhanced meat.
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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by K Kruger:
Generally it's part of the steaks as these command more $. Best to buy a whole rib roast then remove the bones yourself (imo). You can then make the ribs meatier. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

That was my conclusion as well. If you want it done right, do it yourself.

Bryan S - I thought about returning them, but the kids were fired up for "dino" ribs (they are 5 & 7 and totally onboard) so I figured I would make do. They didn't turn out that bad - no complaints anyway - but could have been sooo much better.

The biggest thing was that I could have let them cook longer to render more fat.
 
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