I think most folks who have tried both will choose spares over baby’s. The reason is spares have a greater fat content and mouth feel. Let’s face it pork fat rules. As mentioned baby backs come from the loin, are meatier but tend to dry out due to that glorious fat content.
It reminds me of a number of debates. Which is better - Chicago deep dish or NY thin crust?
sauce or no sauce ribs? Beans or no beans in chili. It’s all subjective. Beer vs Zima. Okay. I just went too far. Beer crushes Zima But hopefully my broader point makes sense. Baby backs can be great. Spares can be great. They can both be great for different reasons. Personally I mostly prefer spares but I do really like properly cooked baby backs.
Mr. Bones we've attempted a version RAO'S SUNDAY GRAVY. Been pretty happy with many of Rao's recipes.
This one asks for... 1 lb steak, 1 lb pork tenderloin, 1 lb sausage, 1 lb beef braciole (see *other* recipe for this, it's terrific!), 14 meatballs. The braciole by itself is its own meal.
The recipe on the website is different from their cookbook, as the website uses jar sauce instead of making your own
Nothing says Sunday supper with the family like a slow-simmering tomato sauce. Simply grab your biggest pot and choose a variety of Italian sausage, meatballs, and beef. Our homemade tomato basil sauce slow cooks everything to perfection; ladle over our tender penne pasta and enjoy.
I like spareribs or St. Louis cut ribs. I trim spares into St Looeys, and cook the tips along with the ribs. Tips make good snacks or "tide me over" appetizers since they get done sooner than ribs.
I don't care for baby backs because most places selling them anymore also include a wide slice of loin with the ribs. The loin strip can get dry during a long cook -- I think the loin meat should be removed and cooked separately, IMO.
Also BBs tend to be more pricey than spares around here.
There are restaurants around here (upper Midwest, USA) who serve rib tips as a special on "rib nights". It can be hard to get a meal of tips before they sell out, so I can't be the only one who enjoys rib tips.
If not cooking outdoors, I am cooking on the stovetop with my 14" carbon steel wok, 12" CI skillet, or in the oven with my two Lodge CI pizza pans, or two dutch ovens. I've also got a nifty Lodge carbon steel grill pan that rocks for veggies outdoors.
These days, I personally prefer St. Louis style spares, but end up choosing whatever I can get the best price on the past 2 years. At one point, I was always buying a 2 or 3 pack of full spares at Sam's Club and cutting them down to St. Louis style, and smoking the rib tips as well. That is probably my preferred method. I used to just smoke the full spares on my offset, but its a lot to deal with on the kettle or kamado, and its easier to eat with the tips removed.
Last ribs I smoked were a 3 pack of the meaty baby backs from Fresh Market, that I dropped into the deep freeze last summer when I found them on sale. I like to watch the Kroger, Fresh Market and Publix sales flyers each week, and find stuff that is on sale cheaper than Sam's or Costco and stock up the freezers.
Last edited by jfmorris; January 24, 2022, 10:49 AM.
STLs for me. BBs may be juicier, but just don't have the pork flavor. Just did a rack of STLs from Porter Road last night. Huge flavor difference from the commodity ribs I normally get from Costco.
John "JR"
Minnesota/ United States of America
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I always go with St. Louis style ribs. They are nice and square. They cook much more evenly and they are easier to eat. I am not really a fan of the loin meat on top of the ribs that you get from a Baby back.
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Normally get spare ribs, because they are the ones on sale around here most of the time, so I pick up 3 or 4 to put in the freezer for when my son is here. But last week I bought a hog and had it butchered. When I gave the processor instructions I decided to go with baby backs for a change. They are in the freezer, so I don't know if I liked them yet.
If you had a hog butchered you should have received BOTH baby back ribs and spare ribs. They come from different parts of the rib cage after all. It's not an either/or proposition. Baby backs are high up near the spine, the spare ribs are lower on the side and chest/belly... If you only got the one type back from the processor, then he kept the spare ribs for himself!
Each hog should yield two racks of baby backs, and two racks of spare ribs.
jfmorris, it wasn't the choice between baby backs and spare, it was the choice between chops with bones, or boneless chops and baby backs. Always got chops with bones previously, but this processor on their cut sheet gave that choice. I don't remember others explaining that choice. Sorry for not being clear.
I was favoring the BBs, but since the prices went up on BBs, I've been making spares. I do the St. Louis cut and cook the tips too. The spares are under $2 a lb for me when I buy a case!
My wife prefers spares and I am indifferent so we do spares most of the time. Here is a pic of some Porter Road spares on the LSG pellet grill, they were fantastic.
So I've often wondered about this - in spares you have that edge with all the cartilage and stuff in it - do you trim that off after cooking (is this the 'rib tips' I hear about?), or do you slice just like that pic above between the bones and have 10-11" long ribs? Those seem a bit cumbersome to me, and if they're very tender they come apart at the joint of the bone and cartilage. I'm just curious, I've never done spares and seldom do St. Louis due to the cartilage and fattiness.
Yes, those would be the riblets you mention. I leave them on as they don't bother either of us as long as they are really tender for my wife. As long as there is no part of the spine attached we are good. If it was spine I would cut that off for sure.
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