Spare ribs

[Mkrause]

These are the spare ribs i picked up from the local farm field table butcher shop... i just noticed the rib tips are still attached. I'm no butcher but i assumed these were St. Louis cut, if i would have trimmed them off to cook separately, the remaining ribs on one end would have only been a few inches long. They didn't have any ready to go in the case, but when i asked he happily went in back and cut them off for me. Did they short me on the rack? Obviously i only paid per lb. So i wasn't overcharged or anything but i would have preferred to get full ribs. Maybe I'm just being picky but is this normal or did they screw up the cut a little bit? You can see on the right side of the furthest bones where the tips are. I'm sure they'll be delicious but my wife is funny about having to nibble around bone and cartilage. I just don't want to sound like an idiot next time i go in and ask for a fuller slab.

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[MacEggs]

Based on your photo, that may not technically be a St.Louis cut, but it's pretty close.

Spares are my favourite cut of ribs.  I have followed the instruction that my buddy, Roxy, did on the Smoke Ring. Here is a link.
A sharp knife, some patience, and this is quite easy to do.

http://www.thesmokering.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=24759

my wife is funny about having to nibble around bone and cartilage.

Yeah, I find that a lot of people complain about this ... I think they prefer baby backs, or loin backs.

[Big Dawg]

Even though they are squared up nicely, they seem a little wide for a typical St. Louis cut.  I used to buy full spares and trim them down myself.   But  due the increase interest in BBQ and, in part I think, to KCBS in particular, pre-cut St. Louis seem to be more available than they were, say 10 years ago.  I just buy them pre-cut now.





BD

[Mkrause]

They were squared up nicely but they definitely still had the rib tips still attached, which makes me think maybe some rib was left on the pig... whatever the case, they tasted delicious.

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[Bubblehead]

They look pretty swell too!

[HoosierKettle]

Nice!

I buy 2 packs of whole spare ribs at sams. Those look like whole spare ribs that have been trimmed to look nice but still have the tips. I always cut the tips off prior to cooking and the ribs start out wide and taper down to really short ribs. I usually cut off whatever ribs are shorter than 3". I then cook the whole strip of tip meat and ribs separately but at the same time so I end up with St. Louis cut ribs and tip meat that I cut once cooked into silver dollar shaped pieces. I love the rib tips. There's probably only 2 good bites on each one but they are great.


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[HoosierKettle]

This allows you have nice looking, easy to cut and serve ribs along with some separate but tasty and relatively easy to eat tips.

However, some might prefer whole spare ribs as opposed to cutting them off so it's whatever you like best.


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