non trimmed spares ?

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Mark_d

Knows what a fatty is.
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Does anybody have experience with not trimming spares down to st. louis style, if so how did they turn out? I really can't find anything about not trimming so i figured i'd ask the brethren.
 
I cook them untrimmed, or sometimes with just the flap trimmed. I make sure the fat end faces the heat and cook away. It takes a little longer is all.
 
When I started I never trimmed my spares. They turn out just fine. They cook a bit unevenly, but it's no biggie. After some years, I finally did a websearch and found out how to trim spareribs. There are many videos out there and illustrated websites. I tried it myself. It's not rocket science and turned out really fast and easy, even for me. I found the results much more enjoyable and now always trim.
 
I just saw an untrimmed spare a few weeks ago . . .

I just saw an untrimmed spare a few weeks ago when I was judging a contest in Ohio. It happens so rarely that it shocked us a little at the table. The comments were " they must not known what they were doing to have turned in something like this" The rib was OK but probably didn't receive the score it would have had it been trimmed to eliminate all the excess cartillege etc. Hope this helps a little - Professor S.
 
Crazy Harry said:
I don't know how to trim spares so I don't. no one has complained yet.
Click to expand...

I recently used this as a reference...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpJxnnVOLiM
From the BBQ Pit Boys channel on youtube
Love that guy!

Still newish to all the self cooked Q stuff, my first rack this year was not trimmed,
and when I took a big bite into the cartridge.. I found it fairly gross and unexpected..
as all I ever ate before I learned must of been trimmed. So now I trim.
 
It is said that the trimmings cooked along with the trimmed ribs will cook faster than the ribs themselves so they are snacks for the chef. I have never experienced this myself. I always ruin them and wind up throwing them away.

When I leave cook ribs untrimmed, the part I would normally trim off seems to cook slower than the ribs themselves because the fat is not rendered and more attached to the meat.

I would trim for comp but untrimmed for a crowd. I figure if people want to naw around the fat and get the meat off the big end then so be it. At least it is not getting waisted.
 
professor smokeybones said:
I just saw an untrimmed spare a few weeks ago when I was judging a contest in Ohio. It happens so rarely that it shocked us a little at the table.
Click to expand...

I mostly judge in Iowa & northern Missouri and we do see untrimmed spares every once in a while. It's not real common but not so unusual that it shocks the judges, at least around here.
 
I always trim mine. There are plenty of references on the intergoogle to help you learn how to trim. Basically though, remove the meat flap on the underside, remove the membrane, cut as close as you can to the top of the longest rib and then follow the ends of the ribs as you cut across.

On a side not about the trimmings, last weekend I trimmed and smoked 3 slabs. I took the trimmings and cut out all of the cartilage. I think ground up the meat that was left and smoked it like a fatty. It was a little dry as it probably needed more fat to keep it moist. Other people will use the trimmings for their beans, chili, sausage. Its still good meat, I just don't like cooking them as riblets and as mentioned above, usually have issues with the pieces cooking properly.
 
You can take the trimmings from the ends and place them in an aluminum pan, pour some sauce and apple juice over them and braise in smoker for 5 hours, makes a good mess of braised rib tips.
 
Since I don't do comps, and I just cook for regular folks... most often the wife and sometimes brother and his wife as well, I cook untrimmed spares. My sis-in-law prefers the rib tip end, so she'll eat most of that that while the rest of us eat the meat off the ribs. If I'm using the Chargriller which has cooler and hotter areas(by about 15-20°), the untrimmed spares can be cooked very evenly. I just had to learn my grill well and move things around accordingly. I think I have it figured out to where those "hot spots" on the grill surface come in handy.
 
I cooked 9 racks of spares recently in my little wsm, and while I almost alway trim, this time I only trimmed four. I wasn't surprised that the untrimmed won out over the St. louis ribs I overcooked.:doh: However, I thought they ended up better than the best of the St. Louis ribs, as well. They just seemed juicier and more flavorful. Turn the tips to more heat to get tender before the bone ends start drying out if you can.
 
on my videos you see several times I trim only what I call the knuckle bone. I do not square them up either... to prevent the drying out of the edges i slightly overlap... in fact, as many know, I trim mine in the shape of a "p" for popdaddy.

I committed next time that since so many over my freakish size... the ribs anyway... I am committed to even leaving the flap on as well. I trim the top of the rib square though. This leaves me with the possibility of selling my "Ribs and Mo" package. This includes sauce and beans, pickles and pickled onion thrown in with a 3rd of a link of Czech sausage, to freakishly large ribs, a bit of tips and a sizable chunk of knuckle bone they can throw in some beans... some take the trimmings though and sell them separately... which is wiser actually... But I am charging 10 for charity and have only one combination.
 
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