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Rib ? Babybacks vs Kansas city style.

CharredApron

CharredApron

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Which do you prefer? I am heading to the butchers and I have mainly cooked Babybacks, but after looking at these posts all day, I am thinking that the larger KC style might be better cooked on the Smoker. For years I have done the BB's in the oven low and slow at 190 all day in a pan of watered down q sauce and then basted with beer. Then off to the gasser to finish. However, when I do bb's on the smoker I don't think the ones I get have enough fat to render and they aren't as tender as my oven roasted ones. Are KC style better?
:confused:
 
I was a long time loin back rib cooker. I didn't really like the thicker meat on the loin back especially the super thick part on the beginning and always found myself taking ribs from the end. I tried spares and while I liked the evenness of the meat and the flavor I hated all the cartilage and small bones. I then gave up and went back to the loin backs again. I just tried some KC trimmed spares, and fell in LOVE with them.. For me it was the best of both worlds no small bones and even meat thickness. It's all I do now.
 
Kansas City style ribs are like St. Louis Style ribs except that all of the gristle, flap meat and long strips of fat are trimmed off. (And smoked as "rib tips"). The result is a tapered slab. I'll try to find a picture or video... Somebody help me here.
 
shirknwrk said:
Kansas City style ribs are like St. Louis Style ribs except that all of the gristle, flap meat and long strips of fat are trimmed off. (And smoked as "rib tips"). The result is a tapered slab. I'll try to find a picture or video... Somebody help me here.
Click to expand...

Funny thing is that's how I sometimes trim my spares.....been doing that for several years. I didn't realize that was a particular style of ribs and always thought of that as St. Louis as well.
 
Have never heard of a differentiation between St. Louis cut and KC before. And the definitions of St Louis style ribs is the same as what Shrknwrk describes above as KC style. Rib tips are pretty popular around here as well!

Only thing I've ever heard about Kansas City style ribs has to do with the seasoning and saucing of them. Interested to see where this goes as maybe I'm missing something?

I'm also a bigger fan of spares than back ribs, as I think they are tastier due to the higher fat content
 
If you trim off everything except the meat & bones that are under the silverskin, you'd have a Kansas City trimmed slab. Only a little more than half the untrimmed slab.
 
shirknwrk said:
If you trim off everything except the meat & bones that are under the silverskin, you'd have a Kansas City trimmed slab. Only a little more than half the untrimmed slab.
Click to expand...

I thought this was St. Louis style? Am I missing something?
 
My spares look tapered after trimming. That sometimes fools my wife into thinking they're baby backs....and she prefers bb's over spares.....lol..
 
shirknwrk said:
Kansas City style ribs are like St. Louis Style ribs except that all of the gristle, flap meat and long strips of fat are trimmed off. (And smoked as "rib tips"). The result is a tapered slab. I'll try to find a picture or video... Somebody help me here.
Click to expand...

Kansas City style ribs
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofSS2393plM&sns=em"]traeger ribs - YouTube[/ame]
I prefer St. Louis cuts self, especially for comps
 
Per Wikipedia..
St. Louis style ribs (or St. Louis cut spare ribs) are St. Louis style when the sternum bone, cartilage, and rib tips (see below) have been removed. The shape is almost rectangular. Kansas City style ribs are trimmed even more closely than the St. Louis style ribs, and have the hard bone removed.



Per the man over at Amazingribs.com
Kansas City cut. Not a commonly accepted term, it is usually used to refer to what is otherwise known as a St. Louis cut. Sounds like a little Missouri rivalry to me.




Per here... http://texascookin.blogspot.com/2009/02/how-to-trimming-spare-ribs-st-louis-way.html
"Once you get past the last (12th or 13th) rib, you make the perpendicular cut to separate the thin tail meat from the slab of ribs. Cutting off that end as well as the chine bone and catilege is what makes a St. Louis cut into a Kansas City cut (so I've been told)."



Per here... http://www.bigdaddyskitchen.com/bbq&grilling/ribs.htm
"You may have heard of St. Louis style ribs and Kansas City style ribs. These are merely variations on spare ribs, and refer to the way the slabs are trimmed. St. Louis style has the brisket bone removed, while Kansas City style are trimmed even more having the hard bone removed."




So it sounds to me that no one really knows what the difference is. 4 Different sites with four different answers. Sounds like we have a debate on our hands...

Heck, even I don't know the difference and I'm a born and raised STL native..
 
Last edited:
Spares vs BB's is strictly personal preference.
We cook BB's both at home and when we competed.

I just found a slab of spares hiding in the back of the freezer that I am gonna try for some "bacon on a stick".
Just don't care to cook them for regular rib eats. 8)

TIM
 
The_Kapn said:
Spares vs BB's is strictly personal preference.
We cook BB's both at home and when we competed.

I just found a slab of spares hiding in the back of the freezer that I am gonna try for some "bacon on a stick".
Just don't care to cook them for regular rib eats. 8)

TIM
Click to expand...

****Thread Jack***
Uh, what? Bacon on a stick? More info please.
**end thread jack**

I get full spares around here and trim to KC or St. Louis, whatever they are called. I trim the tips and flap from fat/grissle/etc and make chunk them up and put them in a pan for smoking.

I prefer the spares over babybacks due to cost and I like more meat with the spares compared to the babybacks.
 
I prefer baby backs. I don't dig the fatty, cartilagey bits, even on a St. Louis cut. Maybe the spares around here just suck, but I still prefer BB's.
 
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