Pork Loin Back ribs????


 
V

Vince B

TVWBB Pro
Ok after doing ribs on the wsm about a half a dozen times I still am working on how I like to do them. From searching the forum here it seems that we always refer to ribs as spares or baby backs. The ribs I usually get say Pork Loin Back ribs from Hormel. They weight in at about two and half pounds a slab or more.

My question is what are these ribs spares or bb's? I'm guessing more like spares. I have done the 3-2-1 and the 4-1-1 and after searching I question the amount of time I am cooking these.

Also I am considering the amount of foil time or not foiling at all. I normally can keep my 18 wsm between 250-300* without a problem and usually shoot for about 275*.


Advise welcome and always appreciated. Vince B
 
The weight sounds like loin backs (baby backs to some). Loin back bones are curved where as spares are straight (well, almost straight) .. That's the tell-tail sign.

I prefer my ribs dry but I like to change things up every once in a while and go wet. Depending on your WSM temps, 6 hours will work fine for loin backs. Foiling or not is preference. I don't, but what ever works best for you.
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Bill
 
Did BB's and Spares side by side on Performer (and a few in the oven as a test). Cut them all in half for serving and quicker cooking.

2 hours at 275-300 w/hickory chunks
1 hour foiled w/ apple juice
45 min unfoiled and mopped at 275-300.

Both sets are great, the oven batch tastes like restaurant ribs (Chili's, etc), the ones on the Performer have more smoke taste for sure. My preference was the Performer batch, but the ovens were SURPRISINGLY good. Could be helpful in bad weather or in a pinch.
 
"Baby back" ribs originally connoted loin back ribs under a certain weight (ostensibly from a younger animal, and therefore more tender), but came to be used more often to describe any pork loin back rib, in order to make them sound more special. As noted above, spare rib bones are straighter, while loin backs are more curved. If you have difficulty deciding whether trimmed spares are spares or loin backs, the loin backs will not have that diagonal band of meat on the bone side that spares have, called a skirt.
 
Spare ribs will usually always have the breast bone attached. St Louis style are spares with the breast bone removed. Baby backs or Loin back ribs are cut right from the loin and are the first part of the ribs that come off the backbone (vertebra) The curved bones in pork chops (rib chops) are actually the ribs that are called back ribs (baby backs, the loin is boned out off the ribs and are cut into bnls pork chops, bnls pork loins, butterfly chops, etc, the ribs are trimmed up (back bone part cut off) and and put out as loin ribs.
Spares start at the breast bone and as Doug mentioned will have the "flap" meat on the breast part (skirt).
At 2-2 1/2 pounds sounds like back ribs (baby back)
 
Thanks guys. Not sure what I was thinking. I feel really dumb now!
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I have purchased the spares that you have mentioned and trimmed them down to the St Louis style. Used the cooked trimmings for snacks while making the ribs and also used some in beans on the smoker.

These loin back ribs or baby backs some times have a small row of bones on the tips of the ribs. They also always seem to be pretty thick meat wise. I guess they are just poorly trimmed. I'm still learning the cuts of meat please excuse me here. Please refer to the 2nd and third sentence in this post! LOL

As for the time on these, it seems in the past that I would always cook these pork loin ribs for like 5 hours to get them done. Today I made two slabs in 4 hours cooking at the same temp I have done my last few batches. Maybe cooking more at one time added to the cooking times in the past.

Today I foiled at 3 hours and checked them after an hour in foil. They were falling apart. I changed two things on this cook. First was I used some kosher salt on the ribs for about 20 minutes before applying the rub. Secondly was I used some RO lump for the first time. I honestly do not believe that lump would cook them faster if the temps were the same as when using K.

Worked out pretty good and I actually think I could have done these quicker if I had to. The wild thing is here in Chicago it was in the low 40's. I figured it was going to take longer than it did. Next time I think I might foil after 2 hours for about 45 minutes and then check them. If they seem to be getting soft to where they are getting close, I am pulling them out of the foil. Then put them back on the smoker for about 30 minutes and then sauce for a bit.

So if you buy spares and cut them down to St Louis style, do they cook in the about the same amount of time as baby backs?

Thank you for the comments.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Vince B:
Ok after doing ribs on the wsm about a half a dozen times I still am working on how I like to do them. From searching the forum here it seems that we always refer to ribs as spares or baby backs. The ribs I usually get say Pork Loin Back ribs from Hormel. They weight in at about two and half pounds a slab or more. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Vince, these ribs are probably Hormel "Always Tender" Loin Back Ribs. If so, they are enhanced ribs.

Here is a photo of Hormel's "Always Tender" St. Louis Style Ribs.

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