Pig wings


 
J

Jeff T Miller

TVWBB All-Star
Well my second weekend open in the restraunt business and things are a little smoother and more customers this past weekend.

I had sysco give me some prices on meat and such and am finding that Sams prices are equivilant at least in the meat department.

Anyhow back on subject 2 weekends ago I am in at sams picking up a case of ribs and waiting for a csr to help me. I am browsing through the case and I see boneless ribs. I remember looking at them before and just turned up my nose at them and went on. This time being in the restraunt business I see them with a different eye. Loin back ribs being $3.02 LBS by the case and $3.57 LBS by the cryovac of 3. The boneless at $2.68 is looking appealing. Especially since it all meat, no bones.

So I am in at sams last thursday and got talking to a guy in the meat dept. that really seemed to know what is going on. So I ask him about the boneless ribs. So he proceeds to tell me about it. They take the loin and cut it down the center length wise and slice them to make the boneless pork chops they sell. They take the other side of the loin, which he said is up against the ribs and is actually rib meat and cut it again length wise then slice to about 1 1/4 in thick. So I am looking at the package and say to myself just buy one cook it and try them out. I did just that. Saturday I use my BRITU rub that I had mixed up to rub the boneless ribs and throw them on the smoker for roughly 2-3 hours. Time kind of got away from me.
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So I pull them and can't wait to taste. Man they were tender and very tasty, Very tasty. So I give some to customers and ask their opinion. They all said they were good. A couple asked if they could order them.

My next step was to figure out how to sell them. Then it hits me. Pig wings! I don't know about the rest of the country but chicken wings around here are very popular. Seems like every town near me has at least 2 places that serve chicken wings. I know guys that go every sunday and pick up wings for the football game every weekend. Yea I know it is early but not far away either. So I am thinking Pig wings and maybe a couple of different sauces like they do on wings or even a different rub to spice it up or tone it down.

I am thinking of doing like they do with wings. At one of our local wing joints they sell boneless wings in either 8 or 12 then your sauce.

Anyone tried the boneless ribs? Ideas on the sauce or rub?

Here is a few pics of the boneless ribs that sams sells. Link These are quite tasty. I will post some cooked pics later this weekend when I cook them.
 
Jeff,

I haven't tried them but it does soound like a real good idea. I get tired of the chicken wings after a few weekends in a row and there is not much else like that for tailgating and football party's. I can see a good market for that. And like you said make a few different sauces, mild, sweet, hot , super hot, etc. Did you cut into small peices as finger food or leave it long strips? If your customers are asking for them then by all means make them happy, let the customers help pick out sauces etc.

Glad to hear you are off to a good start.

Randy
 
Bill I don't know how far Buffalo is from here. Heck I don't even know if you can get there from here.
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They are already finger food sized Randy. They are roughly 1 1/4 inch thick and wide and roughly 3 inches long. They are square in the center and the ends taper to a point. I didn't think of taking a picture. I will be buying some this weekend to add to the menu. I will get some pics then.
 
Jeff - so how would you compare the overall quality of the boneless with the regular baby backs? Are they equally tasty? They appear to be a better value dollar-wise and if they taste as good--sounds like something to try.
 
My concern for you would be supply. There's a lot of chicken wings out there - is there enough boneless rib meat to keep you in supply if you start to offer them in your business?
 
Dennis, I am not sure how to answer that question. It is something I would have to sit down and compare side by side and I didn't do that. Not mention several days have past. Going off the top of my head the boneless were very tender and had a similar tast of reg ribs. I used the same rub which helped with the flavor. Let me get back to you about that this weekend. I am planning on making both and I will try a side by side and get back to you.

Jerry, I sort of thought of that already. One advantage I have at the moment is being small. I am getting less than 40 people a weekend at the moment. This coming weekend is only my third weekend open. I had more last weekend than the week before so hopefully that trend will continue. I guess I may have to ask sams about saving them for me or even buy the whole loin and cut it myself. I will just let time have at it until it becomes a problem.
 
Sounds to me like you may have discovered the PET ROCK and Hula Hoop of BBQ all rolled into one. Good luck on supply and success in your business. I get to Tipp City from time to time....let me know where to find you and I will stop in and give you some business.

Paul
Hickory Flats BBQ
Versailles, IN
 
Paul here is a map on how to get here. Open Sat and Sun around noon til evening 7-8 usually.

Ok I did a taste test this weekend on the boneless ribs to real ribs. The boneless has some of what looks like rib meat on it which is red in color. The rest is a white meat. The red meat part of it tastes just like ribs. The white meat is still pretty good. It isn't as tender as ribs a bit more grainy for lack of a better description. Over all they are very good. For someone wanting ribs and only ribs will do you better just stick with ribs. On the other hand If you want something as good as ribs and want to spend a bit less go the boneless. 5LBS for $13 is a good price and there is plenty of rib meat for the rib lover in you.

I forgot to get some pics this weekend. Things were kind of busy. I was expecting my health inspector Sat morning. She showed up Sun at noon. and I burnt a heating element out of my steam table Saturday morning. It kind of felt like my first weekend. Sunday I left my last batch of pig wings out on the smoker too long and they ended up a bit dry. I am thinking about brining to see what that does.

The pig wings are seemingly turning into a hit though. I had many comments on how good they are. I reccomend them to whoever has a sams nearby. I am sure all of them sell them. I don't know if you can get them anywhere else. Remember pig wings is my name for them. Sams calls them boneless ribs.
 
Jeff,
Your original post said you cooked the boneless rib meat 2 to 3 hours. How do you know if the meat is done - temp, time, tear. . .??

Also, do these come in a "slab" or are they pieces?
 
Jeff,

Thanks for the map link and good luck in your endeavor. Opening a food establishment of any kind takes more nerve than I have. Catering is more my style (fair cook but no guts). I hope to get up to see you soon.

Paul
Hickory Flats BBQ
Versailles, IN
 
Your original post said you cooked the boneless rib meat 2 to 3 hours. How do you know if the meat is done - temp, time, tear. . .??
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Jerry, for me 3 hours has been working out to about the right amount of time. For the restraunt I am required to cook to 165 for my meat products. I have found that it is hard to get a temp on these puppies because of their small size. I need one of those tru temp or what ever they are called. Anyhow after about 2.5 hours they were at 160 and another half hour later they looked done if you know what I mean. As long as my temps didn't spike 3 hours seems about right. Sunday I had a couple of spikes and I went over on time about 20 minutes and they ended up quite chewey if you know what I mean.
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What is interesting to me is the cook to 165. I can go to a steak house and get a rare steak but I am not allowed to make tri tip or beef tenderloin unless I cook to 165 at my place. Oh well I didn't ask specificly because I don't plan on cooking either of those cuts. It just doesn't make sense to me at this point in time. rant off

As for the cut they are basicly 1 inch square and about 3 inches long. I forgot all about taking pics of them last weekend. I will get some this weekend.
 
Howdy Jeff, Pig wings sounds like a great idea. They would fit right in with the "flying pig" theme down here in Porkopolis (Cincinnati). Let me know where your resturant is located and I'll try to make it up there. Good luck
 
Jeff T

You got the wife and me intrigued with your pig wings. We went to Sam’s Club and picked up some for the weekend. This will be my fourth time cooking with my WSM. Hope they turn out as good as yours. My first three attempts came out good so my reputation with the wife is on the line. Any hints you haven’t covered yet? If they don’t turn out good I guess I’ll have to head up to your new place.

Curtis
 
Craig C I posted a link to a google map several posts up from yours.

Curtis couldn't be simpler. I sprinkle with BRITU rub and put on smoker for 3 hours @ 225. If your temps are higher the cook time will be shorter. I put the smaller ones on the center of the rack and the bigger ones to the outside of the cooking grate. Thats about it no secrets here. I am thinking about marinating them over night though. I may give that a try this weekend.

Let me know how they turn out.
 
Jeff,
The Link to the map did not work for me. What is the address of your new business? I am only an hour away and would like to come up some weekend. If you have the GPS coordinates, even better. Thanks.
 
Sorry about the map I could have sworn that I clicked the link to make sure it worked. Anyhow I did fix it for those interested.

Matt, Xenia unless you live south or east of Xenia it shouldn't take an hour. More like 45 minutes I would say. There is a guy from xenia that works for my dad's company who drive from xenia everyday. Do you know Ryan Thomas? Anyhow I am on the west side of the dayton airport. Probobly about 2 miles west as the crow flies. If you want gps still let me know I will take a reading with my phone tomorrow when I am there.

I took some pics of the so called pig wings this evening look for the link in the first post. I will get some cooked pics this weekend to add to it.

It sounds like this could be a busy weekend. My sister in law runs a restraunt in Troy and someone who works there said they were going to bring a party of maybe 30 down to eat and picnic. Then My buddie calls me up this evening and said someone who came last weekend took a few flyers that I had out and some people at work are planning on coming down and eat some Q. It sure makes it hard to plan on what to make and how much. I was just thinking I was only going to cook 6 slabs of ribs this sunday as the last 2 sundays I ended up taking 3 slabs home. Which isn't all bad if you know what I mean.

Oh well on to other things. check the first post I will put the link there when I get the pics up. Shouldn't take but a few minutes.
 
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