This question gets asked a lot, “What are St Louis Style Ribs?”. Basically St. Louis style ribs or as they are sometimes referred to St. Louis cut spare ribs, are just that, pork spare ribs cut St Louis style.
This style of ribs are cut to make a more uniform, rectangular shaped rack. This helps with problems such as uneven cooking when you are barbecuing them.
The spare ribs are taken from the belly side of the pigs rib cage below the back ribs and above the breast bone. These particular ribs have more bone than meat, but they also have a lot more fat than baby back ribs which make them more tender.
To get your rack of spare ribs into what would be referred to as St. Louis style ribs you need to remove the sternum bone, cartilage, and the rib tips. When you prepare these ribs definitely hold onto the rib tips as these are short little meaty sections that you can barbecue as well.
Once you’ve cut away the cartilage and removed the rib tips the last step in preparing St Louis style ribs is removing the membrane.These ribs are covered with a tough membrane that can be hard to remove. The best way to remove this membrane is to slide something like a butter knife underneath it and pry it up and just start pealing it away.
Now that your ribs have been prepared St. Louis Style you can add your favorite rub and through the rack on the grill or smoker. When spare ribs are prepared this way they turn out really good because they are more uniform and easier to cook.
It might seem a bit intimidating at first, but try it out, because after a couple times of trimming ribs in this style it becomes second nature.
If you are going to throw some racks of ribs on the barbecue nothing beats a really good rib rack. These rib racks are perfect for barbecuing or smoking St. Louis Style Ribs. Check them out here >> Steven Raichlen’s Ultimate Rib Rack. You’ll be glad you have one of these.