Denver area spare ribs


 
C

chris comer

TVWBB Super Fan
King Soopers has cryovac frozen spares for 99 cents a LB. Thought it might be a mis-print on thier weekly add. Went over early this morning loaded up 6 slabs, they rang up for about 25 bucks. Might have to pick up a few more this weekend. Ribs looked pretty good, for that price you can't beat them.
 
They are the moist and tender enhanced ribs. At that price I might try a few and leave the salt out of the rub. I have been wanting to do a side by side test enhanced vs. not. Might be the time to try it.
 
I purchased some of the .99 lb enhanced ribs from King Soopers(Krogers in some parts). I also picked up a rack (not enhanced) from my local butcher. I wanted to do a side by side comparison for myself. I have read so much information on this subject and cooked so many ribs this summer (mostly non-enhanced) that I was becoming confused and not sure if I hated enhanced ribs or not. I knew I should hate em but could not remember if I really did. I do remember having a waaay too salty rack a couple of times but that was before I knew there was a difference. So....off I went to conduct my experiment.
I trimmed them both to a St Louis cut. Did a light rub with half Byron’s Butt Rub and half raw sugar. I usually like a lot of rub but did not want to end up with a salt lick with the enhanced ribs so I used a light hand on both racks. I applied the rubs only 15 min. before putting them on the smoker, here again trying to give the enhanced ribs a fair shot. Smoked em for 5.5 hrs 240 degrees til tender-no foil. They both were done at the same time. Served two ribs from each rack (dry no sauce) to the other two members of the family and asked them to keep samples separated and give me their opinions. I only told them that I had purchased the ribs at different stores and wanted to compare the two. Did not tell them anything concerning enhanced or not. I also ate two ribs from each rack. My wife comments were "no difference in flavor, they both taste good but the texture is better in the sample from the bottom rack (in photo)". My wife's daughter’s comments were "I like them both and I can't tell you why but if I had to choose one I'd say the ones from the bottom rack are better". I agreed that the ribs from the bottom rack were the better product. (The bottom rack in the photo is the one from the butcher shop). I now have an understanding what people mean when they refer to meat as being "mushy". It took this experiment for me to figure that out though. The enhanced ribs were not un-edible by any stretch and I would cook them again if I didn't have other options. I can honestly say they were tasty ribs. They were not too salty and not cured thru (meat in the middle was grey-brown not pink). I think using a light hand on the rub and not letting them set too long before cooking helped tremendously. The texture was simply not as good as the non-enhanced rib.

The ribs for three times the price from the butcher shop:
Awesome in every way!
As long as I can afford non-enhanced ribs that's what I will buy. But, if I find myself with some enhanced ribs in the future I know I can cook em where they will taste pretty darn good. Sorry no photos of the ribs cut up. I got all caught up eating and forgot.
Ribsupload.jpg

Steve
 
Hmm... to buy or not to buy.... thats the Denver question.

I think I might have to pick up a few for the freezer....

Just for the random... lets que up some ribs days.

Chris and Dave.... Did you try them? How do you feel about them if you did?
 
I grabbed a couple racks but they were already frozen and I didn't see a reason to change that. I'll post an update when I get around to cooking them.
 
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