Trimming St. Louis Ribs for Competition

[MikeyP]

Those all look great! I was considering mail order too, but also felt nervous about not being able to see them beforehand.

[CandySueQ]

Picking out "good" slabs of ribs for competition is the hard part! I look for straight rib bones, prefer small bones (younger hogs) and thick slab all the way across. Very seldom do I find all 3 of this criteria met. I seem to find it more with Allegiance St. Louis ribs (single slab package). I don't like mail order ribs -- too expensive and too much variation. I usually cook 2 slabs for a contest. If I find one good slab, I'll look for another that is the same height and bone size. Here's pix of my last 2 rib turn-in boxes.

This box came in DAL! I did get a comment card saying it was a beautiful presentation.

This is classic presentation design. 9's in appearance from every judge. Finished 22 out of 38 teams

[Mr. Bones]

KS!!!
Hee-Hee!!!

[Sweaty Paul]

Salutations from Hays, Kansas!

[MikeyP]

Thanks! It was a pretty relaxed competition, so they haven’t sent me the judges’ notes yet, but from what I understand I was in the middle-back of the pack. It being my first competition I’m not too discouraged, especially because I was competing amongst a bunch of pro teams. Heck, my goal was to finish above last! I’m very happy with how everything turned out, but think I need more experience in finding exactly what flavors the judges are looking for!

[MikeyP]

Thanks! I was in such a rush to turn in everything on time that I didn’t even think to snap a quick photo. I won’t make that mistake again!

[ecowper]

Welcome aboard! It looks TripleB gave you some great answers! Love to hear more about how you did.

[HawkerXP]

Welcome to the Pit!
It hasn't been mentioned yet but we love pictures!

[bbqLuv]

Hello from NW Oregon.
You searched for competition - Meathead's AmazingRibs.com
Competition Rib Recipe St. Louis Pork Sparerib How to Barbeque by Harry Soo SlapYoDaddyBBQ.com - YouTube
Happy BBQ to you.

[smokin fool]

Guyz, I cry like a baby cooking meat for her.
If I did that to anything else on the planet I'd be arrested.

[MikeyP]

I ended up going to the three rib squares too, but purely by luck. I just found them easiest to cut that way. It took a few racks to get enough pieces for my box, because I was trying to keep everything uniform, though.

Sounds like your in-laws have the same taste as mine!

[Jfrosty27]

🤣 That pretty funny about your SIL.

[MikeyP]

It was a KCBS contest, but a fairly lax one at that. Thanks for the detailed answer, this is certainly helpful!

[MikeyP]

Thank you!

[smokin fool]

I used to go mostly untrimmed when doing ribs, now I do trim for for three rib squares.
Easier to cook and eat.
The end flaps as I call them are good for mid cook snacking as they are done.
Or for people like my SIL who like there meat completely and utterly incinerated to the point it is carbonized enough to make natural diamonds.
....will have to watch for shiners too....