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?

Mastering the Flame » Pork

What are St. Louis Style Ribs?

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

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