Spare Rib Trimmings


 
C

Curt Cole

New member
I've been smoking pork spare ribs on my 18.5 WSM for a few years now and I'm always at a loss as what I should do with the cutoffs when trimming St Louis style. There's a lot of meat on the cutoffs and I've smoked them a few times, but they are difficult to eat with all the small cartilage pieces.

I'm interested in what some of you do with these left over pieces.

Thanks for any suggestions you provide!
 
Hi Curt! and welcome to the forum....
You can smoke them as you do with the cut down St Louie ribs then break it down and save for chili or beans (it freezes well)... some folks actually put the meat in soups...
and as difficult as it is to eat with all the cartilage and stuff in there, it IS some tasty pieces of good BBQ pork... at times, i do prefer it over the rib portions...
and there are folks that will trim and discard. This is a practice i do not believe in.
When i make ribs, i'm hungry, and yeah, i'll eat that section if no one else will.

Anyway, welcome to the madhouse once again and get creative with those drop-off ribs portions....

EDIT:

Curt, check out this thread.... → http://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?388...trimmings-from-spare-ribs&highlight=trimmings
 
Last edited:
Get a good knife, smoke the trimmings then chop into 1 to 2 inch wide pieces, about the same width as an actual rib. When I cook ribs for parties, I give everyone else the st. louis bones while I hang out at the grill with people "in the know" and we chow on that fatty goodness.
 
I save them to grind into sausage or to add when I grind chuck and brisket for burgers. About 20% rib meat makes for a tasty burger.

Adding them to pasta sauce is a great idea. I'll pass that along to the lovely Janis.
 
Enrico Brandizzi said:
Throw those away!
Click to expand...

No way!
Like Tim said, rib tips are good eats.
Many bbq joints here have them too, and can also be bought uncooked at grocery stores.

IMGP2031.JPG
 
I like to rub and smoke them with the ribs but after they get nice color I foil and cook until they shred easily. You get rib meat flavor with a pulled pork presentation.
 
Bob Correll said:
No way!
Like Tim said, rib tips are good eats.
Many bbq joints here have them too, and can also be bought uncooked at grocery stores.
Click to expand...

I once got "tips and snoot" at a little hole in the wall bbq joint in St Louis. The owner said they were the specialty of the house.
 
I've taken to only buying whole slabs of spare ribs when I want ribs (once every couple of months they are a great price at Smart & Final). The rib tips, especially towards the end away from the sternum bone, are the best meat on the whole pig IMO. At that end there is little to no cartilage, and out of a good set you might get 4-5 slices that are the same width as a rib, but boneless and absolutely delicious.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top