Spare rib prep..

[broncocoach45]

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• broncocoach45
• Mar 20, 2017

So the wife is out of town taking care of our three week old twins who are finishing up their stay in the NICU. Being 4 hours away, haven't been sleeping very well, so I thought I'd do a little night time rib smoke. Question though, as I've never done spare ribs like this. What do I need to do to prep them?

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• broncocoach45
• Mar 20, 2017

 

[noboundaries]

What you have is an untrimmed rack of spare ribs.  That's how I buy mine, preferring the untrimmed ones over the St. Louis cut, trimmed versions. 

If you want to trim it down, do a search here, or on YouTube, for St. Louis cut ribs.  You get about 30% trimmed off you can smoke at the same time to add to beans. 

Or you can smoke 'em just like that, which is what I do.  You get the enjoyment of gnawing the meat off the cartilage knuckles.  Heck, even my wife enjoys that.  

Most people remove the membrane on the bone side of the rack. Slip a butter knife under the membrane, turn the knife, then grab the membrane with a paper towel pinched between your fingers, and pull it off.  In my WSM, I don't bother with the membrane.  I just put it toward the heat source.  The membrane turns paper thin as it smokes.

Have fun, and I hope and pray all turns out beautifully with the twins.  We had identical twin girls, and my wife spent 6 weeks in the hospital, flat on her back, to avoid delivery at 30 weeks.  She was sent home after the hospital stay, then the girls decided to be born a week later so they could celebrate Christmas at home. 

Keep us posted on the ribs and the babies!

Ray    

 

[SmokinAl]

There are as many ways to smoke ribs as there are members on here.

Everybody has their own method.

Since this is your first try with these spares. I think I would keep it simple.

Just a little salt & pepper & throw them in the smoker as is.

This way you will know what basic pork ribs are like.

Then you can start to mess with different rubs & techniques.

Personally I like Babybacks, but when I do smoke spares I do them just like this.

Al

 

[russmn]

I agree with Al .. keep it simple .. less variables the better .. I don't trim much off ...I come from a large family so We dont waste food lol that's just me! I'll trim em up when finished .. just so the kids and wife know what's what

 

[sauced]

I too like the spare ribs. I like to put rub on mine, coat the slab with cheap yellow mustard, the sprinkle the rub of your choice. You can wrap the ribs and let sit in refrigerator or put them right on your smoker. They are gonna take about 6 hours at 225 - 250 degrees. Check out SmokinAl's posting of doing ribs.

Enjoy!!

 

[gr0uch0]

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• broncocoach45
• Mar 20, 2017

So the wife is out of town taking care of our three week old twins who are finishing up their stay in the NICU. Being 4 hours away, haven't been sleeping very well, so I thought I'd do a little night time rib smoke. Question though, as I've never done spare ribs like this. What do I need to do to prep them? [GALLERY="media, 520951"][/GALLERY][/quote]
Priority 1:  take care of Momma and the newborns

Priority 2:  take care of yourself.

Priority wayyyy down the list:  a rack of spares.  KISS for the first time:  salt, pepper, onion, garlic, and some paprika for color, imho.  If you have room, do them whole:  if not, halve the rack.  For another day, you can search how to do St. Louis style and trim them down.  Follow Noboundaries directions and you'll be fine.  Best of luck to you and your family!