Ref; St Louis Spares from Spare Ribs

[TomKnollRFV]

I am just curious if any one here actually cuts regular spares to St Louis spares? Or is this one of them things where the 50 extra cents a pound for St Louis cut is worth it?

 

[noboundaries]

I did for a while, but now I just leave them intact. If I need meat for beans or some other recipe, I'll cut them off after the rack is smoked. My grocer often sells vacu-pak'd rib tips for just over a $1/lb. I'll buy them and freeze 'em.

 

[Nole4L]

I trim them but put the scrap in the smoker, freeze it, and use it with beans the next time I cook.

 

[Jonok]

The tips are the best part. If you do 3-2-1 or some iteration of that, cut off the tips before you wrap (usually, they’re pretty much done by then) and do what you will with them.

Personally, I glaze them and toss them back in until the glaze sets, and then somehow they magically disappear...

 

[zwiller]

Rib prices are all over the place here. Often times BB are cheaper and "pork ribs" are more expensive the SL. Anymore I just wait for SL to go on sale and I often get them for like $1.50/lb. I much prefer SL over BB. BB will often go on sale for $.99lb but I pass. If the prices were normal and SL costing another 50 cents I'd buy them and trim. There are some pretty good videos how to do it. Odd at first, but quite simple once you do it. I would trim the the tip and use it and the flap for sausage myself. There is like a pound per rack from memory.

 

[TomKnollRFV]

Rib prices are all over the place here. Often times BB are cheaper and "pork ribs" are more expensive the SL. Anymore I just wait for SL to go on sale and I often get them for like $1.50/lb. I much prefer SL over BB. BB will often go on sale for $.99lb but I pass. If the prices were normal and SL costing another 50 cents I'd buy them and trim. There are some pretty good videos how to do it. Odd at first, but quite simple once you do it. I would trim the the tip and use it and the flap for sausage myself. There is like a pound per rack from memory.

Alot of times if the prices aren't sale prices the BB cost much more here. I suppose learning to trim them will be in order though.

Though the rips have all the cartilidge, how do you make sure people don't like, bite into that in a batch of beans and spit it out or choke or some thing? Or do you not just dump them into the beans? Maybe I'm not quite understanding the usage.

 

[Jonok]

...
Though the rips have all the cartilidge, how do you make sure people don't like, bite into that in a batch of beans and spit it out or choke or some thing? Or do you not just dump them into the beans? Maybe I'm not quite understanding the usage.

That’s why you cook them first and manually separate the meat from the costal cartilage.

 

[Nole4L]

I use it from the previous cook and add that to the beans so it's already cooked and I can pick the meat from the cartilage, etc. I put the recipe I use down below. I'm not claiming that I created this....found it online and saved it :-). These are the best beans I've ever had and have ruined all other beans for me.

1 can Bush's "original baked beans" The "big boy" #10 can. About a gallon.

2 large yellow onions; chopped

2/3 cup of your favorite bbq sauce

1 entire green bell pepper - diced

1 entire yellow bell pepper - diced

1 entire red bell pepper - diced

1/3 cup maple syrup

1/3 cup molasses

1/4 cup "sugar in the raw"

2 tablespoons dry mustard

2 cups pulled pork (This is what I use the leftover rib scraps for)

1/4 tspn fresh ground black pepper

1/4 tspn chili powder

1/4 lb uncooked bacon slices; cut into pieces (I usually skip this)

3 tspn texas pete hot sauce


Mix in a large disposable, and smoke for 4+ hours. Some people place the pan under ribs or butts to catch the drippings.