Difference between whole and St. Louis ribs?

[DavidD]

I saw a poll on this forum asking about whole vs. st. louis and the overwhelming majority was St. Louis. I know what that means, the rib is trimmed way down, rectangular. Does whole mean "kansas city style"? I just saw a show with Raichlen talking about the popularity of Kansas style. Is all he did was trim the flap off and pull the skin off the back.

Why isn't this popular, though he says it is.

 

[derek_d]

They are virtually the same. Both are trimmed spareribs (remove skirt, sternum cartilage, & membrane).

The exception is the KC style has the triangular point (that boneless piece of meat at the narrow end of the ribs) removed & the St. Louis style leaves the point.

 

[Alan D]

Derek,

I usually try to square mine up, but are you saying that the KC style cuts it down along the top of the bone?

First I head that...but seems it would render those small bones on the end pretty worthless as they are so short.

 

[derek_d]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Alan D:
Derek,

I usually try to square mine up, but are you saying that the KC style cuts it down along the top of the bone?

First I head that...but seems it would render those small bones on the end pretty worthless as they are so short. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

No. Both have the same horizontal cut (removal of the sternum cartilage).

It is my understanding (everybody seems to have their own understanding) that KC style ribs are trimmed just a bit more than St.Louis style. Although I think the terms are used interchangeably by lots of folks (hence the confussion).

I've heard people say that St.Louis style ribs have both the skirt meat and the end point left on. I've also heard St. Louis to mean just the point is left on (as well as both the point & skirt removed). Confussed? Me too.

I trim both the skirt and the point off my spare ribs to make them look nice and rectangular.