St Louis or just Spares?


 
Chuck-roaniecowpony

Chuck-roaniecowpony

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I had mostly done babybacks because that's what my wife preferred. But I started doing whichever was cheapest since the pandemic. Sometimes I find Costco St Louis on sale, sometimes it's full spares, and rarely babybacks from either Costco or Sams. They're all good. The Costco St Lou ribs seem to be not a proper competition St Lou cut if I understand it. More of a restaurant cut to use the whole rack. That's fine.

Anyone have a preference for St Lou over spares? I mean for home eating, not competition. Why?
 
St Lou comes from Spares. Just cut the back section off.

I don’t like to trim and futz around so I do St Lou almost 100% of the time. But I won’t spend more than $3.59# for them. Not worth it to me above that price.
 
Chuck-roaniecowpony said:
I had mostly done babybacks because that's what my wife preferred. But I started doing whichever was cheapest since the pandemic. Sometimes I find Costco St Louis on sale, sometimes it's full spares, and rarely babybacks from either Costco or Sams. They're all good. The Costco St Lou ribs seem to be not a proper competition St Lou cut if I understand it. More of a restaurant cut to use the whole rack. That's fine.

Anyone have a preference for St Lou over spares? I mean for home eating, not competition. Why?
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I usually buy spares and trim them down to St. Louis style. I either season and grill the trimmings, put them in a pot of beans or freeze them for later use. Nothing from a pig goes to waste around here.
 
So, I understand St Lou's are just trimmed spares. I've learned to trim them myself. But my question was whether you prefer one or the other and why.
The reason I ask is that, it seems that spares can be had a dollar or more a pound cheaper than St Lou's in my local stores. I've been buying spares at around $2.39/lb. St Lou's cost me $3.59-3.99. Same for babybacks. The wife seems to like the full spares.
 
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Chuck-roaniecowpony said:
So, I understand St Lou's are just trimmed spares. I've learned to trim them myself. But my question was whether you prefer one or the other and why.
The reason I ask is that, it seems that spares can be had a dollar or more a pound cheaper than St Lou's in my local stores. I've been buying spares at around $2.39/lb. St Lou's cost me $3.59-3.99. Same for babybacks. The wife seems to like the full spares.
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To purchase, I prefer buying spares and trimming to St. Louis. You're essentially paying for the St. Louis slabs you end up with and getting the rest of the meat free. You can do some tasty things with the trimmings too. If your wife prefers spares, you can trim them just enough to get rid of the really thin parts and square them up a bit so they cook more evenly. You won't have as many scrumptious trimmings but, as they say, "Happy wife, happy life". As an end product, I prefer St. Louis because they cook more evenly and are easier to eat. No messing with cartilage, crusty end pieces and globs of fat.
 
Bob Bailey said:
To purchase, I prefer buying spares and trimming to St. Louis. You're essentially paying for the St. Louis slabs you end up with and getting the rest of the meat free. You can do some tasty things with the trimmings too. If your wife prefers spares, you can trim them just enough to get rid of the really thin parts and square them up a bit so they cook more evenly. You won't have as many scrumptious trimmings but, as they say, "Happy wife, happy life". As an end product, I prefer St. Louis because they cook more evenly and are easier to eat. No messing with cartilage, crusty end pieces and globs of fat.
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Your thoughts align with mine. But my wife is the kind of person that makes a hobby of picking the meat off the cartiladge. Oh well. I should probably just cook full spares for her and be happy she's happy with them.
 
I like whole spares. It makes a big eating rib. And I don't have to deal with the tips. I once trimmed them to St louis but just don't bother any more. Though I just made a big batch of chile from rib tip that had been in the freezer for a while.
 
I like a good St. Louis.

What I pick depends on the appearance and price at the time of purchase. Sometimes my local market has specials on one or the other, sometimes both. Sometimes the baby backs look better, sometimes the St. Louis.

But I prefer a St Louis; a bit bigger to fit full racks on my WSM, but it can be done. Plus I *like* the taste/texture of the St. Louis over a baby back - I dunno - denser/porkier?

That's just me.
 
If I’m doing a big pot of beans or collard greens to go with my ribs I will do spares. I cut them down to St Louis and smoke up the rib tips with them. Than use the tip meat in the beans or greens. Adds a nice smoky taste.
 
Chuck-roaniecowpony said:
But my question was whether you prefer one or the other and why.
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St Lous, because i don't have the extra time to trim up ribs to shape them and i'm not a fan of the extra meat flap and small ribs leftover. i just don't have a use for the "spare" parts. for symmetry and convenience, i can get a 3 pack of St Lous squared off, de-membraned, seasoned and ready to get on the grill in 60 mins, all while the grill is getting up to temp.

maybe when i stop cooking for 4-6 people each meal, i'll have more time to play with food. but i still don't know what i'd do with the "spare" parts. even for the lower price per pound, i'd suspect that once you trim up a spare, if you're not cooking them whole, your price per pound for the remaining st lous isn't that much different than just buying st lous to begin with.

and you still get to cut off 3 ribs on st lous to flavor another dish. and st lous cook evenly, usually, and are less subject to time fluctuations that spares will always give. and i can easily get 4 st lou racks onto my E6, so bonus for size consistency.

if your price is $1 different per pound, you're saving $3 a rack. so for two racks, you "saved" $6. is the $6-$9 (for three racks) worth the pre time? only you can answer that question. if you make $72 an hour in your profession, i'd rather just be more time efficient than save $9. note, $72 an hour is just an example of time versus value. i do not want to ignite an income argument. purely just an example.
 
Erik Tracy said:
I like a good St. Louis.

What I pick depends on the appearance and price at the time of purchase. Sometimes my local market has specials on one or the other, sometimes both. Sometimes the baby backs look better, sometimes the St. Louis.

But I prefer a St Louis; a bit bigger to fit full racks on my WSM, but it can be done. Plus I *like* the taste/texture of the St. Louis over a baby back - I dunno - denser/porkier?

That's just me.
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Costco seems to leave their St Lou ribs pretty large and they don't cut off the end ribs, well maybe one. I like em all as long was they're seasoned nicely and cooked tender but still have some moistness. Frankly, my favorite ribs are the short end of babybacks, where the meat is thick and well striated with fat like the point of a brisket. But I also like the bit of crunch from the other end rib. So, my ideal plate has one from each end of the babyback rack. On my full spares, I like the little short end ribs, taken off about the time the bark sets and is darkening on the big ribs, then eaten outside by the pit with a beer.
 
I'm with Lynn. I used to cook St. Louis cut but I've since gone to cooking full spares. That bite of "knuckle meat" is one of the best. Rib tips are awesome. Why get rid of them?
 
I will buy spares if they are on sale & I always trim them down to St. Louis style. I freeze the trimmed pieces for future sausage making. The St Louis style also take up less grate space if you do not have the room.
 
EricV. said:
I will buy spares if they are on sale & I always trim them down to St. Louis style. I freeze the trimmed pieces for future sausage making. The St Louis style also take up less grate space if you do not have the room.
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I have bought spares before at Stater Brothers on several occasions when on sale, and the butcher there cut them down to be St. Louis at no extra charge; wrapped everything up at the spares sales price.

BBQ the St Louis ribs, throw the rib tips into a crockpot to make carnitas.

Agree about the grate space - esp on my 18WSM. I prefer a flat cook of full racks - I can't get two full racks of spares on for a flat cook.

ymmv
 
Just saw this thread since I picked up some spare ribs today to be grilled/smoked tomorrow... and debating whether to trim them up to St Louis style but cook the rib tips at the same time, or just want to just cook as is.

We've done spare ribs and St Louis style. If I had to choose one over the other, I would choose St Louis style. With spare ribs, the very end of the rib (rib tip portion) has a cartilage piece. So it just takes a little extra care when getting the meat offif that end of the rib without chewing on cartilage.

For tomorrow's ribs, I think I'm set on trimming them up. There were 1.97 a pound St Louis style were over 5 bucks a pound. But the key difference now would be that I'm going to cook the rib tips on the grill at the same time as I'm cooking the racks. And I think the rib tips will get pulled early and be an appetizer.
 
Sounds like Walmart prices here. Spares are $1.97/lb. for single slabs and 2 packs for $1.74/lb. I almost always buy spares and trim to St. Louis style, especially with that kind of price difference. Sometimes will cook the rib tips at the same time but, more often than not, I'll freeze them and make Carnitas or toss them in a pot of beans at a later date.
 
Bob Bailey said:
Sounds like Walmart prices here. Spares are $1.97/lb. for single slabs and 2 packs for $1.74/lb. I almost always buy spares and trim to St. Louis style, especially with that kind of price difference. Sometimes will cook the rib tips at the same time but, more often than not, I'll freeze them and make Carnitas or toss them in a pot of beans at a later date.
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Walmart prices Smithfield brand :)

So when you trim the spare ribs, do you also chop up the rib tips to get the cartilage out before you, in your case, freeze them?
 
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