Mastering the Flame » BBQ

What are St. Louis Style Ribs?

Tom — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 18:49:00 +0000

St. Louis style ribs are cut from spare ribs to make a more uniform, rectangular rack. Cutting a slab of spare ribs into St. Louis style makes the rack more uniform for easier cooking and serving. The regular slab is more awkward in shape and may lead to irregular cooking.

St. Louis style ribs are prepared by cutting through the cartilage near the ends of the ribs. This meat that is trimmed away is called rib tips, and can be cooked separately. More often than not there will be a loose flap of meat that runs along the slab, this is the skirt and it should also be removed. Finally in preparing spare ribs St. Louis style is the removal of the tough membrane. Slide a butter knife under the membrane and pry it up, at which point you can grab a hold of it and peel it off. If it tears anywhere along the way, just repeat the process.

What you have now is spare ribs prepared St. Louis Style. All that is left at this point is spicing it up with your favorite rub and throwing it on the barbecue.

Here is a good video that show the entire process of preparing spare ribs St. Louis Style.

Baby Back Ribs vs. Spare Ribs: What’s the Difference?

Tom — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 16:24:04 +0000

What is the difference between baby back ribs and spare ribs, and how can I tell the difference? It seems location makes all the difference in the world with ribs.

Image by galant

Baby back ribs are taken from the top of the pig’s rib cage, cut from the loin section. Thus they are sometimes referred to as loin ribs or back ribs. This loin section is where we get our pork chops. So a baby back rib is just basically a pork chop with the majority of loin meat removed. Since they come from the loin section baby back ribs are lean and tender in comparison to spare ribs. The shortness and tenderness of baby back ribs make them a popular choice.

On the belly side of the pig’s rib cage below the back ribs is where spare ribs or “spareribs” are taken. The spare ribs are bigger, tougher, and meatier than baby back ribs. Being larger, tougher, and meatier means that spare ribs will generally need to be cooked longer than baby back ribs to become tender.

You wouldn’t think that there would be that big of a difference in these two types of ribs, but section that each is cut from makes a big difference in taste and tenderness.

Later I will get into different variations of ribs, from St. Louis and Kansas City style to country style ribs.

What are St. Louis Style Ribs?

Do you Cheat? With your BBQ that is.

Tom — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 14:48:04 +0000

Cheater BBQ is a new book written by R.B. Quinn and Mindy Merrell, whom are both former food columnists and judged and competed in BBQ competitions.

The new cookbook Cheater BBQ suggests that we can cook barbecue anywhere, in any weather and at any time. I love to barbecue, so that sounds pretty intriguing. Anywhere and anytime though, how is that possible?

The authors, Quinn and Merrell state that all you need to BBQ more often is some liquid smoke, and an oven. They understand that most barbecue purists will frown on the use of liquid smoke. To be honest, I’ve used liquid smoke and an oven to make my own cowboy beans when I was in a time crunch and they turned out wonderful.

So, yeah I’ve cheated and from time to time will probably cheat again. However, I truly enjoy the barbecuing process. So given the choice of cheating or not, if I’m not in a time crunch, I’ll be out at any time and in any weather manning the grill or smoker.

You can check out the article about this new book and some recipes at The Providence Journal.

Cheater BBQ covers all the BBQ favorites and brings them indoors. This is a must have book to easily make barbecue anynight of the week. Intrigued by the idea of Cheater BBQ? Could it actually stand up to your regular barbecue? Find out now. Get your copy here!

It sounds like an interesting book worth checking out. Being a grilling and barbecuing fanatic, I will certainly have to put it to the test.

The Grading of Beef: Choosing the right cut

Tom — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 21:07:25 +0000

You’ve heard the terms Prime Cut, Choice Cut, and even Select Cut, but you may not really know what it all means. Here is an overview of the main grades of beef to help you pick out a better quality cut.

Image by phototram

Beef is graded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) based on the age of the animal and how the fat is distributed throughout the meat (marbling). The USDA has trained graders who inspect and grade whole carcasses for the meat processors. The USDA grade can appear in a variety of locations when you are choosing a cut of beef. Some of the designations appear as the USDA Shield, package label, and many times the cut of meat will be stamped itself with the grading.

So what is difference between the grading? The three main gradings you will see are: U.S. Prime Cut, U.S. Choice Cut, and U.S. Select Cut. There are several others, but most cuts of meat that you will find will be in these three gradings. As said before the grading is based upon marbling and the age of the meat prior to slaughtering.

U.S. Prime Cut – This cut of meat is the highest quality and has the most intramuscular fat. U.S. Prime Cut is in limited supply. You will mostly find this cut of beef in upscale restaurants and hotels.

U.S. Choice Cut – This cut of meat is high in quality and highly available. You will find this grade of beef in your supermarkets.

U.S. Select Cut – This cut of meat is lean and lower in quality. It is less tender than the prime cut and choice cut. You will also find select cut really available at your supermarket.

It is important to be aware of the grades of meat to insure you are grilling and barbecuing the highest quality cut of meat you can find and afford. With this bit of information you can be more confident in the quality of beef you are purchasing.

Carolina Barbecue

Tom — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 22:46:47 +0000

I came across a great article from Charlotte’s Creative Loafing site explaining what Carolina BBQ is.

I was surprised to find out that North Carolina barbecue is divided along old colonial lines.

Bob Garner, author of North Carolina Barbecue: Flavored by Time, explained that the meat on the Eastern side would have been more gamey because hogs were most likely left to forage in the wild or fed table scraps. The sauces used where hot, salty, and vinegar-based to balance out the gaminess of the meat.

Another surprise is that food historians assume that oysters may have been used to flavor the BBQ sauces of that time.

The Eastern side of the state the sauces are more vinegar-based and the Western side is more tomato based. That is said to still be the case today.

I found this to be an interesting read on the history and current state of Carolina BBQ.

You can check out the complete story here:

Eating high on the hog in Charlotte

Mastering the Flame » BBQ

What are St. Louis Style Ribs?

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Baby Back Ribs vs. Spare Ribs: What’s the Difference?

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Do you Cheat? With your BBQ that is.

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The Grading of Beef: Choosing the right cut

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Carolina Barbecue

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