Rib Question


 
Jeff Langer

Jeff Langer

TVWBB Fan
I have cooked both baby backs and spare ribs with great results. My question is why would anyone want to cook spares when you have to trim before cooking them when you could just make baby backs? Is there really that much of a difference?
 
First off, you do not have to trim spare ribs. It is a personal preference. Secondly, yes there is a difference. Spares are larger and have a bit more meat.

Here is a fun experiment. Cook all three styles of rib and see what you like.
 
I'm not trimming mine... Gonna smoke these Sunday at 250/275 for about 1.5 hours, wrap them in parchment paper for maybe an hour probably less, back on the smoker unwrapped with sauce

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I've fallen in love with Country Style ribs. I can get them for a much better price. Around here ribs are astronomically priced.
 
ChuckO said:
I'm not trimming mine... Gonna smoke these Sunday at 250/275 for about 1.5 hours, wrap them in parchment paper for maybe an hour probably less, back on the smoker unwrapped with sauce

FB983DEB-40D5-4918-8527-B4BF9963F9E8_zpsxrb4xaw5.jpg
Click to expand...

ChuckO, I've never used parchment. Do you use smoke the whole time?
1.
 
I have fun cooking the whole monster slab of spares like that as well and they seem to always be cheaper around here. ChuckO how do you like using the parchment paper vs. butcher paper? Ive never been able to find butcher paper. Do you use parchment paper on everything you wrap (brisket or butts) or just ribs?
 
Jeff Langer said:
I have cooked both baby backs and spare ribs with great results. My question is why would anyone want to cook spares when you have to trim before cooking them when you could just make baby backs? Is there really that much of a difference?
Click to expand...

Jeff, I grew up eating spares at home (probably untrimmed, I was a kid and didn't pay that much attention at the time) and whenever we'd go out or barbecue I'd get rib tips. When I started cooking my own ribs I found that spares have much more meat and a lower price price point. I couldn't figure out why anyone would pay more fore baby backs and get less meat. Then I learned how to trim spares down to St. Louis style. That was a great day, because now I'm able to not only have good ribs, but also to get those yummy rib tips that I grew up enjoying!

So my reasoning for cooking spares comes down to:
1. Generally more meat per bone
2. If I trim the tips I can use them later (beans, soups, etc.) or save them up and have a meal of just tips (like when I was a kid)
3. They are usually less expensive than baby backs.
 
I think a lot of it has to do with marketing. That whole Chili's Baby Back Ribs campaign made them insanely popular, and there's something about "baby" as a term that seems to make menu items more popular. "Baby" carrots, "baby" arugula, "baby" swiss...add "baby" to something, it sounds cute, petite, more tender, whatever, and more people will buy it.

In my experience, prepared in the same way, baby back ribs might be a little bit more tender than spares, but I've never noticed much difference in flavor. Spares are generally meatier and usually about 2/3 the price of baby backs, and me being a cheap bastid, that's what I typically go for. Actually, the local warehouse store (BJs) recently started carrying "Pork Brisket Bones" for $1.99/lb. These appear to be the trimmings from full spares to make SLC, which I've cooked a bunch of times (any time I get full spares, actually; I almost always trim them to SLC), so I'm planning to pick some up soon.
 
Brian Johnson said:
Jeff, I grew up eating spares at home (probably untrimmed, I was a kid and didn't pay that much attention at the time) and whenever we'd go out or barbecue I'd get rib tips. When I started cooking my own ribs I found that spares have much more meat and a lower price price point. I couldn't figure out why anyone would pay more fore baby backs and get less meat. Then I learned how to trim spares down to St. Louis style. That was a great day, because now I'm able to not only have good ribs, but also to get those yummy rib tips that I grew up enjoying!

So my reasoning for cooking spares comes down to:
1. Generally more meat per bone
2. If I trim the tips I can use them later (beans, soups, etc.) or save them up and have a meal of just tips (like when I was a kid)
3. They are usually less expensive than baby backs.
Click to expand...

I totally agree with you Brian, Less expensive and I always use what I trim.
 
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