Alright. I'm gonna try ribs again

[CUTigerQ]

I'm gonna try some spares again but need some advice. Can someone please explain to me what St. Louis cut is? I think part of my problem on my first attempt was that I tried to cook the whole rack still together, not knowing there was a huge bone in there that my knife just wouldn't cut through. Can I get someone to just tell me or even show me with pron how to trim these things and cook them on the UDS.

Thanks guys!

[Woodreaux BBQ]

http://grilladelic.files.wordpress.c...H8H58AbWx-CCDg

[Woodreaux BBQ]

http://grilladelic.files.wordpress.c...03/stloius.jpg

this is a pic

[thirdeye]

Spare ribs are the classic barbecued ribs. They are the bones left over (spare) when a pork belly is trimmed for making bacon. They consist of the lower portion of the rib bone along with the cartilage that joins the ribs to the breastbone. I think the taste and texture of these "belly ribs" is much better than baby back ribs. They come in slab form or a rack, trimmed down to St. Louis cut. Serious pit bosses will select spare ribs that are “three and under” meaning that the rack weighs 3 pounds or less, but don't worry if you can't find them in smaller sizes. Given time, they will cook themselves tender.

Here is how to trim the slab:



First, the ribs need to be trimmed and prepared. Turn the slab rib side up and slice off the skirt meat, flush with the bones. (the skirt is the lean muscle that covers the breastbone and cartilage)



Next, remove the membrane. Start in one corner, work an edge loose then use a paper towel to grip it, and peel it off. If it is really stubborn, coil the ribs with the meat side to the inside of the coil. This will stretch the membrane and make it release easier.


Using a sharp knife and starting at the wide end of the slab, cut just above the ends of the bones down the length of the slab, cutting through the cartilage. (You can cut off one or two of the ribs on the small end if you wish). Trim off any large areas of fat. Fat deposits, like the ones seen on the 5th & 6th ribs from the left should be scraped off with a teaspoon or the back of a knife. Many refer to this method as a KC trim. A St. Louis cut still has the skirt meat intact.
Save the strip or “rib tips” and the skirt to cook along with the ribs. They are good snacks or can be chopped later for beans etc.


Here is a picture showing the trimmed ribs, the skirt and the strip (cut into pieces) and the amount of fat trimmed off. Note the triangle shaped area of fat that was trimmed off of the wide end of the rack.

[Saiko]

Edit: Thirdeye beat me to the punch with his excellent pictorial above. I'll keep my reponse here anyway, what the heck.

Virtualweberbullet.com has a very good tutorial on youtube on trimming spares to a St. Louis cut:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYMNL...eature=related

One thing to keep in mind, you will have lots of trimmings leftover and if your UDS only has one rack, you may not have enough room for both the ribs and the trimmings. Trimmings make for a great snack or lunch, or for beans, brunswick stew, etc., so it's a shame to have them go to waste.

If you don't have enough room for the ribs and the trimmings, you may want to consider babybacks since you don't have to find room for the trimmings. It kind of depends on how many racks you plan on doing. Costo sells spares in packs of 2, so I usually do a total of 4 racks. This leaves a LOT of trimmings, so I'll pack them in on the bottom rack of my WMS and do the ribs on the top rack, as shown below. If you are only doing 2 racks, you will probably have enough room on the UDS for the ribs and the trimmings.

When I smoke the trimmings, I'll pull the skirt after 3 hours (the skirt is explained in the video), while the rest of the trimmings stay on the same amount of time as the ribs.

Trimmings from 4 spares on lower grate of WMS:



4 St. Louis cut racks on upper grate:

[CUTigerQ]

Thanks for the tips guys...that video helped a LOT, as did that detailed explination!

[cireksu]

3-2-1.

[CUTigerQ]

Originally Posted by cireksu

3-2-1.

Absolutely 3-2-1. BTW, what temps should I be at?

[Midnight Smoke]

Originally Posted by MariettaSmoker

Absolutely 3-2-1. BTW, what temps should I be at?

For me 225º-250º

[landarc]

I really prefer ribs done at 225F or a little higher.

[Nick@ParkAQ]

Very cool pictures and instructions thanks guys that was most helpful. But what did he do with all that good stuff he cut away?

And all those lonely grills... I guess folks don't yet know about Park-A-Q's yet.
Park it.Grill it! Eat it!

[sdb25]

The Roadmap is your friend. Do some reading there, it has a nice thread on the 3-2-1 method. It basically has answers to all your questions.

Good luck!

[thomasjurisd]

Great Pictoral! I had no idea...last week when I did ribs in the Bandera I just threw the whole rack on....tasted great but this looks much better.

[thirdeye]

Originally Posted by thomasjurisd

Great Pictoral! I had no idea...last week when I did ribs in the Bandera I just threw the whole rack on....tasted great but this looks much better.

There's nothing wrong will cooking an untrimmed slab.

[Big George's BBQ]

Great pictorial Very helpful