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Spares question


 
B

Billy S

TVWBB Member
So I did spares for the fourth time this weekend and I've noticed something. Maybe it has to do with the way they have been trimmed (twice by me, twice by Publix butcher) but every time my wife and I eat these we come across lots of cartilage/gristle/connective tissue. Not sure which one of those it is but we always encounter it.

I do know the value fat adds when it renders but what is going on with all this stuff we are biting into?

Has the trimming been incorrect or is this common for Spares?

Could it be the quality of meat?

I am truly a rookie and I smoke in a 22.5 weber kettle. I've done BB's once and we liked those much better.

Thanks in advance for any repsonses!
 
What you had was the full spare untrimmed. The cartilage you speak of is in what known as the rib tips. Triming that off before cooking and squaring up the rack is known as a "St Louis" trim. If you asked the butcher for that, they would not have the tips.

Alot of people do leave them on. No harm. But for asthetic purposes, many do trim them up.
 
Have they been trimmed to St. Loius style? I have had 2 local butchers that apparently don't know what St. Loius style is. Trimmed them both myself as they came with the skirt and all the cartilage still attched. If they are trimmed to St. Louis style, all that cartilage etc... will be removed and they will look rectangular like a baby back. That might be the problem. There is a good video turorial on here about trimming spares to St. Louis style.
 
doing my first two racks of spares today. the store I went to had them pre trimmed as st louis style already. well sort of
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when I opened the vacuum seal and got them out they weren't trimmed very good at all. skirt still on them as well as lots of cartilage etc. I cleaned them up but not as good as I should have. membrane on one came off just fine. the other one had a lot of fat left on the underside. after cutting away what I could only about half the membrane wanted to come off.
 
Stick with spares, and after you learn the in's and out's of them, you will be well pleased with your results.

Whole spares trim out beautifully into St. Louis cuts which looks like a bigger and thicker baby back. But it is far superior in my opinion, and has more meat and moisture.

If you trim off the skirt and riblets (this is the cartlidge you mentioned), you can save that to boil in water and make pork and rice. Or save that broth, add dry beans, and make a hearty dish with beans,riblets and trimmings.

The St. Louis ribs are hard to beat once you master the cleaning and trimming style that works for you. Best rib value in price as well.
 
I do remove the membrane.

One thing I didn't mention is every time I foil them we've had to eat with fork. Perhaps too tender causing everything to scatter about?

I've wanted to make them where we pick them up to eat but I'm still getting my process down so haven't gotten them perfect yet.
 
Sounds like they are not trimmed to be "full" St. Louis, where all of those little cartlidge bits are removed. The video posted above will help you immensely with that, it's really pretty simple will give you a good looking, and cartlidge free rib.

As for the foiling: Yes, too long in foil will give you the ribs that just come right apart. Foiling greatly speeds the cooking process, as well as steaming them, causing the bark to deteriorate and not hold the meat onto the bone either. If you like to foil, try cutting your foiling time in half from where you are now, or, skip the foil all together. I used to foil, but now I no longer do, and teh results are much better.
 
I read that there was a difference between St.Louis and Kansas City cuts. The article said that they both have the tips cut and ends could be squared but the only difference was that the St.Louis still had the small flap attached and the Kansas City didn't.I doesn't seem like that much to me but is this info correct?
 
I never let my butcher trim my pork/beef. Too many times I get the cartilage on St. Louis. Watch the video as recommended on a previous post by Chad.

Foil works, but like Mike posted cut it in half. I use to do the 3/2/1 method, but never foil my ribs now.

Funny thing is I went to Oklahoma Joe's on Friday and they had the same issue that day. However, some of the best ribs I've had.
 
If you buy cyrovac spares from Costco or a supermarket you usually get the full rack which includes all that stuff with the wee bones. If you want St. Louis, you can get it, but you will pay more. I take it how it comes and cook it all. I save the tips for adding to something like beans or making tacos, or I give them to teenage boys. In any case, they always disappear.

I never foil for more than an hour except for a half rack for my wife who likes them extreme FOTB.

Enjoy!
 
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