Buy full spares vs St Louis cut?

[Trob06]

Outside of price per pound, is there any benefit of buying a full rack of spare ribs and cutting it down to St Louis for competitions?

To save some time I often just buy and trim up the already cut st louis slabs. Am I missing something by not taking the extra time to cut down a full rack of spares?

Thanks.

 

[cpw]

I used to buy full spares only, since they were cheaper per pound. This year Publix had a killer sale on St Louis cut, and I stocked up. The time savings alone makes it worth the extra money, plus I don't have to feel bad about all the waste from trimming full spares.

 

[Qbert60]

Last night for this weekends SAMS event, I bought 2 of each. trimmed then down accordingly. I will respond after this weekends comp :grin:

 

[erichasaces]

I buy the 5 best looking racks of ribs that I can find. If they are St Louis? Great. If they are full spares? Great. A mix? Great. I don't mind trimming them down. I just want the best damn meat I can get.

 

[Jason TQ]

Yeah a big chunk comes down to if you use the rib tips (assuming quality of the full spares vs st louis are equal). I actually use the tips for cooking at home and the trimmings for sausage so the $/lb is worth it to me. Trimmed St Louis while more expensive than spares can come out to the same price if you throw away all that extra meat.

Here is what my trimming looks like

 

[gettinbasted]

I buy the 5 best looking racks of ribs that I can find. If they are St Louis? Great. If they are full spares? Great. A mix? Great. I don't mind trimming them down. I just want the best damn meat I can get.

Bingo

 

[SwineGuy]

I've been all St. Louis this year. I can see the bones pretty well in the bag while searching through the case and just try to find the straightest ones I can. Then I still give them a little trimming. But for me the time savings is well worth it. I personally have not noticed any difference in quality of the turn-ins between the two.

 

[SirPorkaLot]

To be honest, I like having the rib tips and trimmings around the house (carnitas anyone?). I buy full spares and trim myself.

 

[Okie Sawbones]

You can't always trust St. Louis cut ribs from the store. I've had some that I couldn't recognize how the heck they cut them, but they weren't St. Louis cut.

 

[thunderalley3]

I am fortunate to have an in with the local meat dept that will let me go through all of the St Louis cuts they have to see if I can make something of them. If not I will buy full spares and do the best I can cutting and trimming to get straight StLouis cuts.
As someone once said "You pay your money and you take your chances"

 

[pharp]

This opinion only applies to the Smithfield ET ribs. The pre trimmed St. Louis cuts only seem to come out "perfect" only 60-70% of the time. The full spares that I trim myself seem to always be spot on. Not sure what kind you typically buy, but I found this to be the case with this particular brand.