Smoked ribs

Smoked ribs

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    26
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Bill

Bill

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So, you're going to smoke some ribs, do you grab the baby backs or St Louis cut?

Me, I usually get the St Louis cut as I like their meatier nature and the extra fat gives more flavor.

You?
 
:D:D
Bill Jennings said:
So, you're going to smoke some ribs, do you grab the baby backs or St Louis cut?

Me, I usually get the St Louis cut as I like their meatier nature and the extra fat gives more flavor.

You?
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You are just so wrong :D . Anybody with any sense knows that rib nirvana is with the baby back ribs. That fall off of the bone tender delight. I would have thought you would know better. :p Highly disappointed.
 
Morgan3820 said:
:D:D
You are just so wrong :D . Anybody with any sense knows that rib nirvana is with the baby back ribs. That fall off of the bone tender delight. I would have thought you would know better. :p
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Ha! St Louis ribs will fall off the bone too! Just gotta go in low and slow.
 
I dunno why there isn't a "both" vote. Ribs are just good eating, whether pork or beef. Whether short or St. Louis. Just good eatin'...
 
Bill Jennings said:
Ha! St Louis ribs will fall off the bone too! Just gotta go in low and slow.
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This might be smoker blasphemy, but as I don't have a smoker, I just sous vide the St. Louis ribs for 36 hours with Costco's dry rub, then finish them off in the oven for 5-10 minutes. Would a good, solid smoke ring be better? Heck ya!
 
St Louis cut.
 
rtk11 said:
I dunno why there isn't a "both" vote. Ribs are just good eating, whether pork or beef. Whether short or St. Louis. Just good eatin'...
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I didn't limit it to one choice, click on both!
 
Either, both:

I will say that on the competition circuit that spares cut St Louis style are what is normally turned in for judging. They are usually more consistently sized from rib to rib. Baby backs have too much variation. But the last time we got a ribbon in ribs, we turned in back ribs, so whatever...

For home - I like the back ribs because you get the better meat:bone ratio.

But...since I get the whole spares and trim to St Louis style myself, I end up with all sorts of riblets and other snacks to nibble on that I don't get from back ribs.
 
Bill Jennings said:
Yeah, I cut the long slabs in half to fit my egg. Makes for about the right number of bones per serving as well!
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That works just fine.

I prefer to cook them flat, but on my home smoker I have to set them on edge in a rib rack like yours.

Contest cooking is very different from home cooking - each rib (6 minimum) turned in has to be perfect. The farther out you get on each slab the more well done each rib will be. Getting 6 perfect ribs may mean you take three middle ribs from one slab and 3 from another. Then you might find that one slab doesn't have straight ribs, so you cut 3 from yet another slab.
 
Baby back all the way. Tried spares once and just didn't like the lack of meat to effort ratio.
 
Matthew said:
That works just fine.

I prefer to cook them flat, but on my home smoker I have to set them on edge in a rib rack like yours.
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I dry rub them and smoke for 2hrs at 250 in the rack, then pull them, coat with sauce, then flat cook them another 3hrs at 300 in a tin foil tent. Well sealed to preserve moisture. This recipe for me results in very moist flavorful fall off the bones St Louis cuts.
 
Bill Jennings said:
I dry rub them and smoke for 2hrs at 250 in the rack, then pull them, coat with sauce, then flat cook them another 3hrs at 300 in a tin foil tent. Well sealed to preserve moisture. This recipe for me results in very moist flavorful fall off the bones St Louis cuts.
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There is a 3-2-1 method: 3 hrs, then 2 hrs wrapped, then 1 hour unwrapped. That's OK, I guess, but I think it results in overcooked ribs. So it's a good start, but I end up finding that a 2-1-1 or other variations works out better for me any my setup.

In the contest world "fall off the bone" is generally considered overcooked. Something that takes a slight tug and then pulls off cleanly is the target. But taking a bite, a slight tug, and then pulling all the meat off is also overdone. It's a very small cooking window.

My method is pretty similar: Dry rub, cook at 225 for a while, then drizzle on a little honey and a bit of brown sugar and foil-wrap to finish at 225. Contest ribs usually get another coating of a sauce for a glaze and then back on the smoker for a few minutes, unwrapped, to set the glaze. I'm not a big fan of that, but "candied ribs" are what most teams turn in so you sort of have to do that.


Edit:
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luvflyin said:
Damn. It used to be so simple for me. Ribs was ribs. Now I know about like 10 different kinds. I can’t make up my mind...
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Coffee was like that at one time. Coffee. 10 cents a cup. Free cream and sugar.
Now it's designer coffee, hand made by a trained barista (with degrees in sociology and nuclear physics), served with soothing background music (get yer CD at the counter) and free in-store internet.

Designer ribs somehow seems appropriate for the times...
 
I like both but have better luck with spare ribs than baby backs when I cook them. I like to do them in the oven, using the turkey roaster, propped up on a V so that air is on both sides. 5 hours at 250 and they are good to go.
 
I like both, I get whatever’s available. The baby backs are nice because they are usually done in about 3.5 hours, the St Louis usually takes 4.5 to 5 hours.
I love pork!
 
I've smoked them both and beef as well. I think some have mentioned they liked my St. Louis more due to more meat on the bone. 4 hrs smoked at 250, I prefer hickory, oak, or mesquite. Only use a dry rub, eater can choose to add sauce, a lot don't.

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I think we know who's gonna be in charge of the grill next Rough River meetup! absolutely no offense to the glorious effort put forth by @masloki
 
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