Choosing comp ribs

mikerobes

mikerobes

Knows what a fatty is.
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When choosing spare ribs to cut down to St Louis for a comp, What am I looking for? Less marbling/fat? My thought is that the more marbling or fat, that they will render way down off the bone a not leave a lot of meat.I don't have a good supplier either, so my best bet may be the green label IBP's from Sam's. Any advice will help
Thanks Mike
 
Sorry, no advice from me, but I'm leaving a comment, so I can read other folk's advice. I hope you find the info you need/want.
 
IDK, if they are available to you, but Hormel 1845's are great ribs for comp. They are already cut to St Louis, and cook up great.....:thumb:
 
straight bones. even meat across the rack. good marbling. no shiners(bones you can see fom the top of the rack). 2.5 to 3.5#'s. if you cook more than one rack(highly suggested)keep them as close to the same weight as possible.
 
I second the straight bones, good marbling, and no shiners. I'd prefer even meat across the rack, but more often than not I've got to settle for meat concentrated one one side of the rack or closer to the middle - I try to get ones with the meat in the middle, as I know I likely won't be turning in the end pieces. But one thing that has been a problem lately that I haven't been able to see when choosing ribs is those with those little bits of cartlidge (sp?)(is that what it is? What do you call them?) that seem to run parallel to the rack - it seems they always show up once the meat is cooked and shrinking up a bit - I don't know if those are just found here in this area of LA and TX, or what.

Lynn.
 
gmholler said:
I second the straight bones, good marbling, and no shiners. I'd prefer even meat across the rack, but more often than not I've got to settle for meat concentrated one one side of the rack or closer to the middle - I try to get ones with the meat in the middle, as I know I likely won't be turning in the end pieces. But one thing that has been a problem lately that I haven't been able to see when choosing ribs is those with those little bits of cartlidge (sp?)(is that what it is? What do you call them?) that seem to run parallel to the rack - it seems they always show up once the meat is cooked and shrinking up a bit - I don't know if those are just found here in this area of LA and TX, or what.

Lynn.
Click to expand...

are you trimming st. louis style?

this is a given for competition spares. no cartilidge.
 
+1 on the straight bones. We've been having a lot of trouble finding them out here.

We prefer a zebra striped pattern (fat to meat......best example I could come up with) on the bone side of the racks. We can't notice that "zebra striped" rack until we get them out of the cryovac though. It's an iffy buy at best.

If you get strange stares and comments while looking over the spares, you're doing it right.
 
I pick them over, looking for even marbling, smaller slice looking fat cells, straight ribs, even distribution of meat/bone and none of the really wide curved bones in them. I like to trim them up myself, lets me do the rib tips the night before to try out my sauce and rubs, share with friends, etc. The last pack I did was Prairie Fresh, they trimmed up real nice, sliced well, cooked evenly and were overall a good choice in my opinion.

cheneyribs.jpg
 
i pretty much look for straight bones as well...as far as Hormel I know around my area anything Hormel is going to be enhanced meat so i shy away from it..

BTW great avatar..listened to that on the drive in today as a matter of fact
 
Rich Parker said:
Hey Mike - I have the wife pick up a three pack of ibp from Sam's and go with it. Seeya in GR!
Click to expand...

That seems like my only choice Rich. Meijers and WalMart's Ribs look horrible to me. I'm going to look at one more market, then IBP's it is
See ya in GR buddy
Mike
 
How can you tell if the bones art straight? I've bought quite a few and once I start trimming I've found that even though I thought they were straight they weren't
 
nice comp ribs

I have found the st. louis 3 and downs at GFS are pretty good. they have been cut so all are straight and all ribs are equal. membrance already pulled. they usually come out good.
 
Yes, I'm doing St. Louis style. I don't know what to call what I'm trying to describe - maybe pin bones? Tendon bones? They're little clearish pieces that stick out - you don't see them until after cooking the ribs. We never used to have those, but in the ribs we've gotten in about the last 6 months, regardless of who we bought them from, they've been there. They're a pain to trim off.

Lynn.
 
gmholler said:
Yes, I'm doing St. Louis style. I don't know what to call what I'm trying to describe - maybe pin bones? Tendon bones? They're little clearish pieces that stick out - you don't see them until after cooking the ribs. We never used to have those, but in the ribs we've gotten in about the last 6 months, regardless of who we bought them from, they've been there. They're a pain to trim off.

Lynn.
Click to expand...

Hmmmm.....if you're trimming your spares to a St. Louis cut there really shouldn't be any cartlidge, button ribs, riblets, rib tips, etc. left to deal with. Got any pictures?
 
yea.. they're gonna exist in every rack of spares you ever see. When trimmed to St. Louis style, they are gone.. if not, you're not trimming enough.
 
You really can't see them in any of the pictures I have, sorry. Now that I think about it, I started seeing these about the time the pre-trimmed to St. Louis style ribs started showing up in stores around here. Hmmm. Maybe those are just parts that should've been trimmed off and we might as well do our own trimming? So much for saving time getting pre-trimmed ribs!

Thanks!

Lynn.
 
gmholler said:
Yes, I'm doing St. Louis style. I don't know what to call what I'm trying to describe - maybe pin bones? Tendon bones? They're little clearish pieces that stick out - you don't see them until after cooking the ribs. We never used to have those, but in the ribs we've gotten in about the last 6 months, regardless of who we bought them from, they've been there. They're a pain to trim off.

Lynn.
Click to expand...
IMO you are better off buying spares and cutting them down yourself. I bought some trimmed already once..I paid more for them plus I still had to trim a lot off.
It literally takes a couple minutes to just trim them yourself and oyu will proably save a bit of money in the end as well
 
I actually prefer trimming them down, it's part of the caveman factor. I have tried pre-trimmed, but like feeling for the edge of the bone, cutting that one perfect slice and seeing the rib come together with that comp look and feel....plus, you do the rib tips that night for friends to judge your sauce and seasonings.
 
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