Would you be mad if I served you these ribs?

[pineywoods]

They look very good and with a couple sides I'd buy it for lunch for sure maybe a slices of garlic bread in the box if it would fit.
I would not use the word mini anywhere in the description i think people would already think "small" when they saw the word mini. I do like "Rib Bites" and think it fits with what you got there

 

[forktender]

My mistake I was reading without my glasses on......OOP's Sorry about that!!!

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

I hear what you talking about. Talked to Bro last night and went to store to get rack. $30 for one rack. I got lucky and caught a $1.99 sale and loaded up. Those look great and like others said call them riblets.

 

[BaxtersBBQ]

Does your standard price of $20/half-rack also include sides or is that a stand alone price?

I've been to a few places that sell rib tips, but those were hit and miss with the crowd, they were better in the bar as a happy hour appetizer usually with some waffle fries or fried dill slices. I have been to 2 or 3 places that had STL ribs cut in half on a bandsaw and they called them 'ribbers' or 'rib fingers' or some snazzy name. And if a half-rack of normal size ribs was $16, the 'ribbers' would be $8 or $9, but .... each place had the option to pair them with a second meat, like a hot link, or 1/4 pound of turkey for another $2. And this add-on price only applied to the ribbers. This was actually a pretty attractive deal, like a mini BBQ platter kind of thing.

You could always run a special a few days a week to test out your idea, but if you price your version too low, it will be hard to raise the prices later.

I currently don’t sell ribs at all. There isn’t any money to be made when I have to pay roughly $10 per raw rack and food cost at a restaurant should always be under 30%. The $20/$30 prices were based on other local restaurants.

 

[BaxtersBBQ]

6 pieces at 2" is about 2 whole bones ?

with the spare rib cut there’s more pieces either with those smaller bones or no bones at all. It’s probably more than 6 pieces just a big scoop to fill the box but there’s a lot of meat.

 

[chopsaw]

It’s probably more than 6 pieces just a big scoop to fill the box but there’s a lot of meat.

I figured that . Just lead me in the direction of how many bones per rack , and how many bones the scoop equaled . I think the cut pieces would be an idea people would like . Looking at some old pictures , I'm seeing about 10 full bones to a rack of spares . The trim would add to the amount .
Just interesting to me , because I had a couple sauces I wanted to try out . So I smoked a rack of spares with salt and pepper only .
I cut them into singles . Put some sauce in a pan and tossed two ribs in the sauce to thicken . I was shocked how good they were like that , and how much 3 ribs filled me up . I did one more in an Asian type sauce .
2 Meaty full spares .

 

[Bearcarver]

That's a Great Pic to be with it !!
Like.

Bear

 

[BaxtersBBQ]

I figured that . Just lead me in the direction of how many bones per rack , and how many bones the scoop equaled . I think the cut pieces would be an idea people would like . Looking at some old pictures , I'm seeing about 10 full bones to a rack of spares . The trim would add to the amount .
Just interesting to me , because I had a couple sauces I wanted to try out . So I smoked a rack of spares with salt and pepper only .
I cut them into singles . Put some sauce in a pan and tossed two ribs in the sauce to thicken . I was shocked how good they were like that , and how much 3 ribs filled me up . I did one more in an Asian type sauce .
2 Meaty full spares .
View attachment 521918

those look awesome! I’ll let you know next time I cut some up. I’m assuming it’s about 3 ribs per meal but I won’t know until I actually assemble a lunch box.

 

[thirdeye]

I currently don’t sell ribs at all. There isn’t any money to be made when I have to pay roughly $10 per raw rack and food cost at a restaurant should always be under 30%. The $20/$30 prices were based on other local restaurants.

Oh, gotcha. Not having ribs on the menu might work in your favor, making the new offering the only choice. If you sell takeout BBQ by the pound, you could work out a pound price for the ribs too.

Just interesting to me , because I had a couple sauces I wanted to try out . So I smoked a rack of spares with salt and pepper only

I took a competition cooks class one year and as a baseline flavor one of the guys made a few racks of spares with nothing but garlic, salt, and pepper. They were amazingly good.... but he did baste with melted lard a couple of times.

 

[Fueling Around]

...
Just interesting to me , because I had a couple sauces I wanted to try out . So I smoked a rack of spares with salt and pepper only .
I cut them into singles . Put some sauce in a pan and tossed two ribs in the sauce to thicken . I was shocked how good they were like that , and how much 3 ribs filled me up .
...

I cut most of my ribs into 1-3 rib portions, depending on the size and amount of meat. Many get vac pac and frozen for later.
All my left-over ribs go for meals at the farm. Toaster oven if we're around the shop. Tractor manifold if we're in the field.

 

[tallbm]

I currently don’t sell ribs at all. There isn’t any money to be made when I have to pay roughly $10 per raw rack and food cost at a restaurant should always be under 30%. The $20/$30 prices were based on other local restaurants.

Man you are primed to to make this work well since you have no rib offering!!!
Whole spares may run less money and you get more meat and less bone if you ban saw the whole thing. There is that whole area above the bone and cartalidge that would be good and edible and servable.

I'd also suggest you ban saw up some Pork Butts for "Country Style Ribs" and it would lower your cost overall to mix both spares and CSR allowing you to offer more reliably to the customer. You just market as "Rib Bites: A mix of spare and country style ribs..."

The thought is you can always keep a great tasting product at a good price point to the customer without lying about it. Spare + CSR bites would be fantastic!!!

I performed an experiment where I "unrolled" a pork butt into 3 slabs about as thick as ribs to attempt "boneless ribs" and wow it tasted JUST LIKE my smoked spares/St. Louis ribs!!
Why this experiment? Because ribs are an arm and a leg AND I just pull all the bones out anyways when I pull them off the smoker and the ribs are just for me (I vac seal and also eat ribs all week when I make a bunch).

Here is my post on it:

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

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...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

I figured that . Just lead me in the direction of how many bones per rack , and how many bones the scoop equaled . I think the cut pieces would be an idea people would like . Looking at some old pictures , I'm seeing about 10 full bones to a rack of spares . The trim would add to the amount .
Just interesting to me , because I had a couple sauces I wanted to try out . So I smoked a rack of spares with salt and pepper only .
I cut them into singles . Put some sauce in a pan and tossed two ribs in the sauce to thicken . I was shocked how good they were like that , and how much 3 ribs filled me up . I did one more in an Asian type sauce .
2 Meaty full spares .
View attachment 521918

I do all my ribs unsauced and only add sauce at the table. SPOG+Paprika all the way, smoked unwrapped the whole time. Flavor is amazing without sauce and just gets better with sauce!
I use a sugar free BBQ sauce and others can use whatever I buy from the store for them. No need for them to eat up my Head Country Sugar Free which is fantastic but harder to come by and more costly than plain Kraft haha.

Oh, gotcha. Not having ribs on the menu might work in your favor, making the new offering the only choice. If you sell takeout BBQ by the pound, you could work out a pound price for the ribs too.


I took a competition cooks class one year and as a baseline flavor one of the guys made a few racks of spares with nothing but garlic, salt, and pepper. They were amazingly good.... but he did baste with melted lard a couple of times.

I preach all the time about the magic of SPOG on meat. You had 3 of the 4 seasonings and loved it. A little Onion and it gets even better!
SPOG on any meat makes it simply amazing. No need for fancy rubs or seasoning blends. Additionally if you want to go "BBQ" flavor you just add Paprika!
From SPOG you can add a few seasonings here or there and go any direction you want (Mexican, Italian, Asian, Cajun, etc. )

I cannot overstate how good SPOG is on meat and nothing else. I encourage everyone to simply make a hamburger patty in the skillet this way. Just form up a not super thick ground meat patty. Season both sides well with SPOG and fry it up in the skillet and eat it. OMG wild how good the flavor is!!!

Then just move on to SPOG on chicken, pork chops, etc. etc. :)

 

[thirdeye]

I preach all the time about the magic of SPOG on meat. You had 3 of the 4 seasonings and loved it. A little Onion and it gets even better!
SPOG on any meat makes it simply amazing. No need for fancy rubs or seasoning blends. Additionally if you want to go "BBQ" flavor you just add Paprika!

I'm guessing you make your own SPOG? Maybe we can swap recipes?

thirdeye's All-Purpose Garlic Pepper Seasoning
Ingredients:
3 teaspoons Garlic Powder
3 teaspoons Black Pepper
1 teaspoon Canning Salt
1/2 teaspoon Toasted Onion Powder
1/4 teaspoon Paprika

 

[tallbm]

I'm guessing you make your own SPOG? Maybe we can swap recipes?

thirdeye's All-Purpose Garlic Pepper Seasoning
Ingredients:
3 teaspoons Garlic Powder
3 teaspoons Black Pepper
1 teaspoon Canning Salt
1/2 teaspoon Toasted Onion Powder
1/4 teaspoon Paprika

Kind of and yes hahaa. What kind of answer is that???

Well most of my life I just take the separate shakers of Salt, Pepper, Onion, and Garlic and just shake a layer of each on the meat. Flip the meat and repeat. Done!

These days I have LARGE shakers (like 1 pound capacity) and I fill them with about equal parts SPOG. I may go lighter on the Salt and heavier on the Pepper. In all you can't go wrong with equal parts.

I use that big shaker a lot because its convenient BUT basically mandatory for doing a large cut like a Brisket. My brisket seasoning is... you guessed it! SPOG :D

I save and repurpose these from spices I buy at Costco:

I also have a a large shaker with SPOG + Paprika. Again about all equal parts. For the same reason of handling big racks of ribs or pork butts or whole chickens. I mean I use it on smaller pork and chicken parts but it's mandatory to have 1 shaker for bigger cuts.

Your All Purpose Garlic Seasoning looks great!
You do equal parts of all of your seasoning, except maybe a little lighter on salt, and you have my Pork and Chicken BBQ seasoning (but can really be all purpose, beef doesn't care with this combo).
You do all equal parts, again except ligher on salt, cut the paprika and you have my SPOG :)

I don't used toasted onion and I use what salt I have on hand (kosher usually but table sometimes) but your combo sound fantastic! I DO mostly use dehydrated/minced onion because that is what Costo carries and I LOVE the flavor from the onion pieces. It is also very nice when it rehydrates up and doesn't disintegrate all the way and u get little bits of actual onion on the food. Just fantastic!

 

[chopsaw]

I've been doing almost all my smokes with just salt and pepper for quite awhile now . That's the way I like them . My comment above was about cooking in the sauce on the stove top . Almost fried in sauce .
I strive for no sauce need . Just smoke and meat .

 

[daspyknows]

Famous Dave's does a rib tips option. Southside Rib Tips Memphis-Style, dry-rubbed Rib Tips, jalapeño pickled red onions, spicy Hell-Fire Pickles and our Southside BBQ sauce for $13.99 as a starter, I am sure your ribs are better.