Spare ribs with meat.


 
M

Mike Marlow

TVWBB Fan
In Switzerland the butchers used to sell spare ribs with most of the belly meat still on and only the skin removed. My butcher will do that for me here. Anyone any ideas about smoking them this way. How much fat to leave. What other prep. would be necessary. Any ideas would be appreciated.
 
Methinks the belly meat would cook faster than that right next to the bone. I've noticed this with spareribs with the brisket and rib tips not removed. You could trim them to make St Louis style ribs or you could place a ziplock bag of ice on the portion with the belly meat for half an hour which will slow the cooking time down on this section.
 
That would be new territory for me. How thick are we talking here?

Just thinking off the top of my head, I'd consider removing the fat layer just under the skin down to the point where it becomes predominantly meat.

If it's a thick enough layer and marbled with meat, cure it into bacon.
 
Thanks for the ideas. Which method would you recommend on the smoker for cooking these. Would BRITU be the right way to go. Any suggestions would be very helpful. I have done normal short ribs and spares before but not sure of way to go on these.
 
How thick of a slab are they? I'd think it would just be a matter of extending the cook time to compensate for the thickness.

I've never done the BRITU, so I can't speak to that. I just put my rub on and start 'em cooking.

Being thicker and with more fat to render, the cook could be kind of halfway between ribs and a pork butt. Might be worth monitoring with a meat thermometer sometime into the cook.
 
Thanks John. I was thinking along those lines. The ribs + meat are about 2 1/2 to 3 inches thick so I was going to use my Maverick. Just wondered if anyone had an idea about length of time. I was going to take them to about 190/195F. Taking the temp. in the thickest part. We will see how it goes. Thanks again.
 
You're in uncharted territory from my experience. Thar be monsters here!
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At 2 1/2" - 3" I'd almost be thinking small brisket, time-wise. You might be looking at 9-12 hours depending on variables. Can't do any better than a rough guess.

Good luck! Allow plenty of time. You can always wrap 'em in foil and put 'em in a warm cooler for an hour or two.
 
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