"Bonless Pork Ribs" Attempt, Success!!! - Q-View Inside

[tallbm]

When I smoke pork ribs for myself I like to pull all the bones out while the meat is still hot enough. It's a me things where I like to fork and knife most of my food hahahahaha.
I had a small pork but (6.5) pounds that I needed to cook so I decided to experiment. I deboned the pork butt and then cut 3 "slabs" as close to rib rack thickness as I could while unfolding the pork but meat as I went along. I grilled the smaller less uniform slab and ate it separately so only 2 slabs of "boneless" in my smoke.

I smoked 2 racks of St. Louis Ribs that were on sale for $1.99/lb. I smoked 2 slabs of the Pork Butt that were $0.99/lb to simulate boneless ribs.
Low and behold SUCCESS!!!!

QuieView :

2 racks of St Louis Ribs

2 Slabs of "boneless ribs" from the Pork Butt

To my surprise they tasted identical after the pork butt sat for a day.

So I cooked the St Louis and the boneless slabs to an IT of 198F each (SmokingAl's method but I go 198F) unwrapped the entire time.
The boneless have a bit of more flat in the slab that includes the top of the pot butt. This slab needed to rest to not be so gooey.

So I ate on ribs and some of the boneless ribs yesterday when I smoked them but today I ate o them again.
After sitting they taste identically!!!

Now if you attempt this boneless experiment yourself, understand one important thing. IT IS NOT EASY to get a uniform thickness when cutting a flat slab of meat out of a pork butt hahahaha.
Some spots were thinner some were thicker but I think I did ok. Don't fret if you cant get it perfect there will be some thin spots and they may be barkier then other spots.
I think to do it again I would get a way bigger pork butt like a 10 pounder, but this time around I only had this 6.5 pounder in the garage fridge from the last week of last year and forgot about it hahahaha so I had to cook it ASAP.

What good does this experiment do?????
Well pork ribs are not on sale that often in my area nad when they are its like $1.99/lb. Pork butts go on sale like once a month or so for $0.89-0.99/lb.
Soooooooo I love pork ribs but not the prices and pork butts go on sale regularly. I now have a completely viable substitute AND no bones for me to pick out when I smoke them just for me hahahaha.

Also, if I was going to do pork fajitas this would be the route I would take with cutting slabs out of a pork butt. I would have taken this route anyway but now I have a little more experience unfolding cuts of a pork butt into slabs :)

Thanks for watching and I hope this sparks up some curiosity in you guys to try hahaha :)

 

[ChuxPick]

Hey tallbm thanks for sharing.
Looks like an experiment I need to try and duplicate.. We have butts go on sale here about the same as you do.

 

[jcam222]

They sure look good!! Nothing wrong with doing boneless style “ribs” when you can get butts cheap. Same reason I like doing buckboard.

 

[Fueling Around]

Great job C. Love your thinking out of the box or butt in your case.

I wish I could get pork for those prices.
I know the weight of bone from a pork butt I record weights from many cooks and most cures, but not cooking ribs.
I've never weighed the bones from a St Louis rack of rubs. I probably don't want to know percentage of discards.

 

[Hamdrew]

i've been doing this a lot lately too. hate spending more on the heat than the meat! here in the pork hub, "rolled boneless boston butt roast"'s go on sale for ~$1.20 all the time, and they are not butchered well (to say the least..).

real real good for a short cure, too. i aim for ~200*F myself, and most seem to prefer it foiled for 1-2hrs so it's really falling apart. holds up better to slicing, though

 

[Hamdrew]

It's only discarding if you discard it

i think of it as ~50%, but you get a little less (i.e. can eat a lot more) the same way you can a 70/30 Quarter Pounder W/ Cheese is to a relatively close (fat-wise) burger made out of coarse chuck; differences in how/what temp/how quickly at said temp/etc. the fat will render out.

 

[chef jimmyj]

Looks good and nice color/bark...Butt Steaks are great smoked or, the way I had them growing up, Pan Fried and topped with Caramelized Onions. The Grocery Store Meat guys will cut anything you ask for. 3/4" thick is perfect for me. They are thick enough to sear well, without overcooking. I would go a bit thicker for Faux Ribs...JJ

 

[Hamdrew]

i grew up on (seared to death) thin cut "pork steaks" (i.e. pork shoulder steaks)

once every few years you might get one sliced right for searing and it was heaven.

 

[mike243]

country style ribs are butt sliced with the band saw, normally a good price , also good grilled hotnfast

 

[Dantij]

Where do you live? Ribs for $1.99 are a steal in my area!!

 

[tx smoker]

Not only does all the meat look outstanding, huge props for creativity. A really nice job and thank you for sharing the idea.

Robert

 

[smokerjim]

They look great

 

[normanaj]

I like doing the boneless ribs too.They're usually pretty cheap around here.

 

[Teal101]

This is a perfect candidate to make a McRib out of! Those came out looking delicious.

 

[tallbm]

Hey tallbm thanks for sharing.
Looks like an experiment I need to try and duplicate.. We have butts go on sale here about the same as you do.

Thanks! It is a cool experiment and seems hard to mess up.

They sure look good!! Nothing wrong with doing boneless style “ribs” when you can get butts cheap. Same reason I like doing buckboard.

Yep that was my thought too!

Great job C. Love your thinking out of the box or butt in your case.

I wish I could get pork for those prices.
I know the weight of bone from a pork butt I record weights from many cooks and most cures, but not cooking ribs.
I've never weighed the bones from a St Louis rack of rubs. I probably don't want to know percentage of discards.

Thanks! Never have measured myself but yeah bones to meat ratio for ribs is going to have way higher % of bones vs the bone to meat ratio of a pork butt

i've been doing this a lot lately too. hate spending more on the heat than the meat! here in the pork hub, "rolled boneless boston butt roast"'s go on sale for ~$1.20 all the time, and they are not butchered well (to say the least..).

real real good for a short cure, too. i aim for ~200*F myself, and most seem to prefer it foiled for 1-2hrs so it's really falling apart. holds up better to slicing, though

Yep you get the idea! With me running an MES I've found I don't have to foil ribs, pork butts, briskets, or beef ribs and they come out fantastic! All systems are different if I wasn't running an MES and needed to foil at some point I wouldnt hesitate.

Looks good and nice color/bark...Butt Steaks are great smoked or, the way I had them growing up, Pan Fried and topped with Caramelized Onions. The Grocery Store Meat guys will cut anything you ask for. 3/4" thick is perfect for me. They are thick enough to sear well, without overcooking. I would go a bit thicker for Faux Ribs...JJ

Oh yeah for sure on those butt steaks. I cut into "steaks" or strips and grill all the time. I rarely pan fry a steak or stuff in oil beyond browning because I don't want to clean up the mess in the kitchen but I know exactly what you are talking about :)

i grew up on (seared to death) thin cut "pork steaks" (i.e. pork shoulder steaks)

once every few years you might get one sliced right for searing and it was heaven.

Ooooh i love the super thin pork chops that are fried hard and get that crisp to them!

country style ribs are butt sliced with the band saw, normally a good price , also good grilled hotnfast

Yep, I usually buy a whole pork butt when on sale and cut em myself and usually grill em.

Where do you live? Ribs for $1.99 are a steal in my area!!

Dallas, TX area. $1.99/lb is the sale price that St Louis and full Spare ribs go for every now and again. Pork butts go on sale about once a month... well maybe closer to twice a month with the 3 grocery stores right by me. When one chain sells them then the next week it is often that the other chain sells them. It's interesting like that and I dont mind one bit! :D

Not only does all the meat look outstanding, huge props for creativity. A really nice job and thank you for sharing the idea.

Robert

Thanks Robert! I had never seen it posted and figured since I did it and it was a great success I would share for all you guys who like to try all kinds of stuff :)

They look great

Thanks jim!

I like doing the boneless ribs too.They're usually pretty cheap around here.

It's good to have some options with pork butts if they go on sale fairly often. This was one of my better experiments with trying oddball pork butt things hahaha.

This is a perfect candidate to make a McRib out of! Those came out looking delicious.

Oh you it is hahaha. This kicks the living crap out of any McRib or anything it ever tried to be hahaha!


FYI, everyone I'm using this meat to eat on like ribs AND as the meat for my lunch salads. All I can say is that it is making salads I could never get tired of hahaha.

 

[SmokinEdge]

+1 for sure nice looking spread. Smells great! Can’t taste it though. Lol
Nice job all around.

 

[tallbm]

+1 for sure nice looking spread. Smells great! Can’t taste it though. Lol
Nice job all around.

Thanks! The boneless ribs are gone and today's lunch included the deboned St Louis ribs.
I gotta say the flavor on the bonless was better but I think that's strictly because both sides got of the boneless had bark and smoke and seasoning where the underside of the St Louis had bones and membrane removed to expose unseasoned, less smoked, and barkless meat hahaha.

Don't get me wrong these St Louis ribs are awesome too. The best way to describe the situation is like getting 3 scoops of ice cream vs 2, you win no matter what hahaha :D

 

[Fueling Around]

I usually rotate and flip my meat while grilling and or smoking.

I'm not a fan of boneless country spare ribs which are made from wherever the meat cutter calls it.
A true country spare rib is upper shoulder with rib bone intact and my favorite rib cut but hard to find in my parts without paying $$$.

We do so many thing from things from the lower shoulder, why not a boneless rib patty?

 

[MJB05615]

Looks great! Another innovative Butt idea. Gotta try this one too. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Hamdrew]

someone graced me w/ this pic earlier today when i asked about butt ideas-