Trim 3 lb Baby Back Slab?


 
B

Brian B.

TVWBB Fan
I've done numerous racks of baby backs, but the last one that I did and the ones that I just bought yesterday were just over 3.1 lbs per slab. This seems like a pretty large amount of weight for BB and all of the examples on this board talk about slabs that are just over 2 lbs.

When I cooked the last slab I didn't feel like the texture was as good when they were finished. There was nothing wrong with the flavor, there was just something "off" about them. When I'm looking at the rack, the longer bones seem to have more meat on top side of the rack that I think is normally trimmed off. Has anyone else experienced this or have any thoughts about what to do? If I trim them a bit on the top side, what should I do with that meat?

Thanks

Brian
 
Ok, so after trimming them it appears that quite a bit of tenderloin and some other part was left on the racks. I didn't take a picture of them before I started because I'm not that bright, but here are the results.

These are the finished results after I trimmed. The one of the left is an untrimmed small end of one slab, the middle is as completely trimmed as I felt like doing and the right is with just the tenderloin piece taken out.

FF77EE59-E4A7-43D5-BE37-4E892FD92479_zpsftqyujx7.jpg



Here is a good view of the one where I just took off the tenderloain, but left on the meat on the right side.

5D64028D-CFF1-4D9A-BAF1-A51CF304CE20_zpsgwb9mem8.jpg


Holding the tenderloin piece back in:

3EB732EA-6100-4BBF-90AC-757837D39B5F_zpsgdhyqynw.jpg


Here are my remainder pieces from trimming, notice all the junk I cut off in the upper left.

AB303D7A-532C-4379-85B8-A299BCF5A720_zpscpushwlf.jpg
 
Brian, I think you may be over analyzing those baby backs... no insults here intended... :)
but I would season 'em and smoke 'em the way you like 'em and enjoy 'em...
perhaps, considering the weight of those ribs, they may take a bit longer to achieve the doneness you're looking for.

good luck man, let us know the results....
 
Jim Lampe said:
Brian, I think you may be over analyzing those baby backs... no insults here intended... :)
but I would season 'em and smoke 'em the way you like 'em and enjoy 'em...
perhaps, considering the weight of those ribs, they may take a bit longer to achieve the doneness you're looking for.

good luck man, let us know the results....
Click to expand...

Jim,

I can tell my your number of posts that you are a relative newcomer here and don't know what you are talking about.....:) My paranoia stems from the commentary of my better half who noted that they look different and that they tasted different last time. I also looked at the ones in the rib prep picture on here and mine look nothing like those unless I trim them. That being said, with the grass cut and one beer down they somehow look better and I'm happy that some trimmings will be coming off sooner rather than later.

I'm going with a little more heat (250-275) and will see how that turns out.

Just to make sure the comparison was completely even, I seasoned one with Stubbs, one with Wolfe Rub Bold and one with Wolfe Rub. Just needed to make sure I had enough variables in my smoke.

Thanks for the help.

Brian
 
Brian B. said:
So now the real question is how do I cook the remainder pieces (hereafter referred to at "timbits")?
Click to expand...

Season them & Smoke em along side the ribs for an hour and either snack (cooks treat) or freeze to re-use in chilis or beans or stews.
Save the "junk" and use that as a natural fat to fry things like taters and onions.

Tim
 
Last edited:
Brian B. said:
Jim,

I can tell my your number of posts that you are a relative newcomer here and don't know what you are talking about.....:) My paranoia stems from the commentary of my better half who noted that they look different and that they tasted different last time. I also looked at the ones in the rib prep picture on here and mine look nothing like those unless I trim them. That being said, with the grass cut and one beer down they somehow look better and I'm happy that some trimmings will be coming off sooner rather than later.

I'm going with a little more heat (250-275) and will see how that turns out.

Just to make sure the comparison was completely even, I seasoned one with Stubbs, one with Wolfe Rub Bold and one with Wolfe Rub. Just needed to make sure I had enough variables in my smoke.

Thanks for the help.

Brian
Click to expand...

Love what I perceive to be sarcasm.

Jim knows his stuff! Sage advice!
 
Miguel M said:
Love what I perceive to be sarcasm.

Jim knows his stuff! Sage advice!
Click to expand...

There was indeed a bit of sarcasm in that post, hence the reference to his post count.

The final verdict is in and the ones that I trimmed were liked better by the family. The untrimmed ones just had too much meat on them and it wasn't the right texture.
 
I always buy 3 lb slabs. I got 4 going on my wsm 18.5 today. I actually did trim them this time but not like you are describing. I just trimmed off a bone or two on the skinny side and one on the fat side if it looked bad. This was just to make them uniform in size to fit on the rack so they'll fit the wsm. And yes I will be smoking the trimmed pieces. They'll go in the baked beans!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top