"Faux baby backs" from spares?


 
J

John Henderson

TVWBB Fan
My wife brought home "spare ribs" for me to BBQ last week from Albertson's. Or so the package said. My first reaction was, "Hmmm...that's a pretty narrow package for spares. Perhaps they are St. Louis cut," although there was no mention on the package of them being St. Louis cut.

The night before the smoke, when I pulled them from the package to prep, I was initially confused. I had to probe around a while to figure out that I had. They took a whole spare rack and cut it in half lengthwise, and these were one-half. Where there were ribs, they were no more than and inch and a half long. I had the sternum and all of the cartilage. Basically, what they packaged is spare ribs is the "leftover" you'd have after trimming spares to a St. Louis cut.

Just a warning for those who haven't done many of these, like me.

I smoked them all day anyway, but we were not pleased with what we got. It was just hard to eat. It was hard to get a single, big bite alongside a actual rib.

I was wondering what they did with the "good" part of the spare they cut off. I think I read that this is done and those are marketed as some sort of "faux spare rib." Can anybody tell me what those are called?
 
Sounds like you got the trimmings. It makes sense for the market to sell them instead of throwing them away as waste but they should not be marketed as spares. Were they discounted? If not I would be having a conversation with the manager. But, I guess it really comes down to you or in this case your wife. You bought them and could see them before you did. (I am assuming that they were packaged in clear plastic)
 
They were packaged meat-side-out and it was difficult to tell the bone structure. I would have probed them for the bones, but my wife didn't know any better. She does now. I expected, though, when I bought "spare ribs," that it meant a certain cut, and this wasn't what I expected.
 
I bought 3 packages when they had the buy 1 get 2 free special. Got them home and found out they were the trimmings. I was highly upset, can't have ribs without any bones! I took them back and got my money back and then emailed corporate. How can you sell ribs without any bones in them. A couple of weeks later, say an Albertson's ad for spare ribs, bone-in! OMG, I don't know how they can sell trimmings as ribs, no bones - no ribs, just pork! Last time I buy ribs from Albertson's.
 
And no, they were frozen and you could see some bones (the bones were only 2 inches long) and you could not tell they were the trimmings, very deceptive.
 
And in my wife's defense, when she went to Wal-Mart in the past and bought something marked "spare ribs," she got spare ribs. The whole thing.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by John Henderson:
And in my wife's defense, when she went to Wal-Mart in the past and bought something marked "spare ribs," she got spare ribs. The whole thing. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I think it's perfectly natural to see a label that says spare ribs, something that looks basically right, and to expect to have, you know, spare ribs.
 
I had a fleeting thought this weekend when I was thinking up an appetizer for a shrimp boil we were going to of getting a couple of slabs of big, untrimmed spares and having the butcher cut them in half, lengthwise on the band saw, then trimming up the cartilage end and cooking them as "mini-ribs", about half the size of a normal rib. I thought that would be just about right for an appetizer.

Instead, we did crostini topped with sauteed spinach, onions, garlic and sun-dried tomatoes topped with melted mozzarella. They were good, but I think the ribs would have gone over better!

It is just plain wrong to sell something labeled as something it is not!

Pat
 
You definitely got trimmings from St. Louis or other prep by the sounds of it. They aren't bad and you should cook them the same as spares. They should not be considered waste in any way! But you should not be hoodwinked by the seller. 3 for 1 sounds like the price should have been right if you knew what you were getting and the price per pound overall was appropriate.

Hey - now we know where all the trimmings from prepping ribs to be sold to Burger King Corp as "Fire Grilled Ribs" will go
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Think I read that BK sold so many of the first round trial they ran out.

Fire Grilled AKA "half ribs"

BTW - I actually did try the BK ribs. Was on a drive back from a fishing trip in central PA and the BK in Clarks Summit had them. Hey I was starving and this was one of the few places available. Walked in and saw the ribs so picked them, couldn't help myself.

I will take the mea culpa later, but was glad I picked these rather than anything else on the menu. Frankly, they weren't "fall off the bone" which was a relief and a surprise. And the char on the outside was a reasonable replacement for smoke flavor. Another plus was they didn't try to imitate smoke flavor (which I hate). They tasted like unadulterated, flame cooked ribs and had a good tug. And - they were not served slathered in anything. Not even a try at imitating a rub. So IF I have to pick FF for a road trip "survival" meal these might be my pick. In this situation a Chic Filet is what I typically try to look for. I actually did the double order and ate them "dry". Being cut this way I think they hit a road food target. As in "easy to drive and eat them" God bless me, I think I would do it again in this context.

I rarely stop at FF chains. But do find myself in need of a road food solution on occasion. I personally think they will continue to sell out.
 
If they're selling you the rib tips, plus an inch or so of spare bones, at the same price they're selling their St Louis cut spares then that's just wrong. They shouldn't be selling you the brisket meat and cartilage, which is tougher, for the same price as the rib meat.
 
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