In loving memory of Kenis D. Keathley 6/4/81 - 3/27/22 Loving father, husband, brother, friend and firewood hoarder Rest in peace, Dexterday

Baby backs vs. St Louis

Discussion in 'The Smokehouse' started by BigPapi, Jul 22, 2017.

  1. BigPapi

    BigPapi

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    One?? Clean that freezer out, man! :D

    Just funnin' ya - we've been thinking of adding another freezer.. If we put it on stilts, (so out won't float in spring) we could fit one in the basement.. Being the frugal yankees we are, we tend to stock up on good sales.
     
  2. FatBoy85

    FatBoy85

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    Trust me I have one fridge freezer and one tall sears freezer, its loaded with a lot! But I think I can figure out some room. Football and burning season is upon us and I intend to fulfill that food duty.
     
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  3. TurboDiesel

    TurboDiesel

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    Yes.
    Label said $22.00 on it. For one pack of uncooked ribs.
     
  4. FatBoy85

    FatBoy85

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    Gah at costco it was reaching 45-50 but that was with 3 racks in one pack at about 3.59.
     
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  5. TurboDiesel

    TurboDiesel

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    Grab them all, brother! Thats an awesome price!!! :yes:

    I don't get PO'd or jealous. No time for that.:handshake:
     
  6. FatBoy85

    FatBoy85

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    :thumbs:Well I only meant that if you like your ribs I didn't wanna "rub it in" by showing you :) the whole picture rule to claim thats all.
    Now that I think about it, this would make a nice thread for showing prices around the country for reference.
     
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  7. TurboDiesel

    TurboDiesel

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    A friend of mine should have a pig farm on line by the end of the year. That should bring the price of pork down pretty well here...:thumbs:
     
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  8. FatBoy85

    FatBoy85

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    And your freezer stuffed eh? :D
     
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  9. BigPapi

    BigPapi

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    Man, homegrown organic pork that you can see on the hoof the day it hits the skillet is great. When I was brewing heavily I gave all my spent grain to a buddy that was part of a farm co-op. my reward was some fresh loin and a couple chunks of belly. Got a chicken out of the deal, too. Good stuff.
     
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  10. FatBoy85

    FatBoy85

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    I should make my way to the grill thread but I just finished bbqing one rack of the spares. In the oven for a little bit, cook up a macaroni salad and get an adult drink in the interval...
     
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  11. Highbeam

    Highbeam

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    I cooked one rack of those spareribs from Costco over the weekend on my Englander pellet grill. Family was not impressed, they very much prefer baby backs. Far too much fat, grissle, bone and other junk in the spares. We ate them of course, they were good but it was messy and you couldn't just eat like a caveman.

    Too bad they come in three packs. I might try some other cooking methods next time. Foil seems to be popular for some reason!
     
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  12. SKEETER McCLUSKEY

    SKEETER McCLUSKEY

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    baby backs rule!!!
     
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  13. Horkn

    Horkn

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    Consensus pretty much says the spare ribs have better flavor, but there's more meat on baby back.

    This is St Louis vs baby back, not spare ribs, but st Louis and spare are essentially the same thing. St Louis are just trimmed spares.

    RIBS SHOWDOWN! ST LOUIS VS. BABY BACK RIBS...
     
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  14. Highbeam

    Highbeam

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    Good read. I probably cooked them too cool for too long. Almost 5 hours at 225 and I still never got to pull apart doneness. Not dry but not falling off the bone either. Three hours huh?
     
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  15. Horkn

    Horkn

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    You don't need 3 hours if you foil them.;)

    Also, if cooked to "falling off the bone", that means they are over done. There should be a little chew.
     
  16. BigPapi

    BigPapi

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    Spares are a little more work, imo. Did you trim them up square? There are two long bones and some "knuckles" that I always knock off for a nice neat rack, as well as the flap on top and the couple little end pieces. The trimmings are a great snack for the cook, and the girls appreciate ribs that look neat and are easy to handle. It's a win-win. ;)

    Also on the cook, I have learned not too under cook them - I like to hit 190, but get there slow. Usually six hours. This will get all that connective tissue to loosen upand make some nice juicy finished product.
     
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  17. FatBoy85

    FatBoy85

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    Try them in a crockpot if you can. Just smoke them and then when done just let them bubble in the crock with some bbq sauce or some kind of marinade. I think I did mine just perfect a couple days ago. It was soft but wow really flavorful with smoke. Definitely worth having again.
     
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  18. Highbeam

    Highbeam

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    If I'm going to wrap them in foil I may as well use the oven! I did not trim, just removed the silver skin and applied mustard/rub. Too much junk on the ribs that was either deemed to hard to get at or deemed to be grissle. I've got two more racks to try some experiments. They will be cooked on the pellet grill. No oven, no crockpot, and foil maybe for part of the cook to really steam them.
     
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  19. Horkn

    Horkn

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    Experiment away! Eat the evidence!
     
  20. TurboDiesel

    TurboDiesel

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    I was at the grocery yesterday and took a pic for y'all.
    This might have been the same sticker and i didn't look at it close enough, but,
    is this just a sucker price? "Look you're getting a dollar off! Buy me. Buy me!"
    $4.99 per pound is still ridiculous!!!
    untitled (47).jpg