Extra Meaty Back Rib opinions?

[Grillin Dad]

I was at our Sam’s Club the other day (we recently joined, so we’re newbies) and saw they had ‘extra meaty back ribs.’ These things were massive, most were well north of 8 lbs and all had at least an inch of loin meat! Has anyone had any luck cooking these up? I’ve always heard that, because of the extra loin meat, these dry out long before they’ve finished cooking. My only thought would be ‘super hot and fast’ on the vortex, but I have no idea. Could always wrap them up, but then I may as well throw them on the slow cooker.

[Jfrosty27]

This is a butcher trick that really ticks me off. They leave a thick layer of cheaper loin meat on the rib and sell it at the much higher rib price. There is a local butcher here that sells "custom cut" back ribs for $7.99/pound and that is the "on sale" price. A complete rip off. And yes the loin meat will turn to dust before the rib meat is tender. AVOID.

[jfmorris]

If I buy those, I use the old 3-2-1 method, and wrap them in foil for a couple of hours of the cook. Otherwise, that loin meat is just dry as a bone. My family likes them when I do the wrap though. I have literally done hundreds of those loin back ribs from Sam's Club, and those are the only ribs I do a foil wrap on. The SLS and spares I don't wrap.

[Mosca]

Agreed. This works well for these. That 2 hours of braising keeps them moist.

[Dadof3Illinois]

IF those are my only choice for pork ribs.....I cut that extra meat off the rack, cook it later hot and fast for a sandwich. This is one reason i'm not a huge fan of back ribs anymore.

[Stuey1515]

Yup, loin trimmings fried up with a couple of eggs makes a great breakfast

[theroc]

+1 with jfmorris . Wrapping is the only way we've been able to get a good, moist cook on the meaty back ribs.

[Steve R.]

I avoid those things like the plague, but if I'm forced to use them I definitely recommend just trimming off the "extra meaty" part before cooking. Then you can either toss it or find some other use for it. Those are the only ribs I have seen that can fall off the bone and be tough at the same time.

[IdahoJim]

We avoid "extra meaty" baby backs like the plague. We don't get ribs at our normal grocery store (Albertsons) because that's all they have. The loin meat is definitely tough and dry by the time the rib meat is good. We don't normally wrap our ribs.

[radiodome21]

The more you know. This explains why some of my most recent cooks from Costco came out bad. Last few racks I’ve done have been bought from the butcher and there’s clearly a difference.

[mgaretz]

Blasphemy ribs work well for these too.

[Mosca]

Blasphemy ribs work well for these too.

Also, rosticciana.

[Alan Brice]

Sounds great! I will try this next rib cook.

[DaveD]

I did a rack of the Smithfield "extra meaty" baby backs not long ago, which you can read about right here if you take a notion, but I lucked out because there wasn't nearly as much loin meat on top as many have experienced (including me, once before). They came out great with just my usual SOP of running at 250F/121C with a spritz or three during the cook. It's all about how much loin meat you've got - if it's a lot, agreed on wrapping those puppies partway through.

[Grillin Dad]

I actually read your post prior to posting this. These definitely have a lot more of the loin meat than yours did. Like I said, 8 friggin’ pounds! I usually keep my back to around 3 pounds, and my spares (before trimming to STL) to 5 - 6 lbs. At first glance, I thought they were beef ribs

[DaveD]

Wishing you luck!

[STEbbq]

These also annoy me and are why I have not cooked ribs for a while. Based on advice here, I am only going to buy ribs that are under three pounds a rack going forward or maybe give Porter Road baby backs a shot.

[Mosca]

I just pass on baby backs and get either St Louis cut or (preferably) full spares with tips. They taste better and usually run $1/lb or so less.

[STEbbq]

Mosca I dunno, I just prefer baby backs over St. Louis. I think it is eating the baby backs at Swiss Chalet from when I was a kid. Ah well.

[Grillin Dad]

I actually gave up smoking back ribs, and was doing STL exclusively, until I Vortexed a rack of backs last week. Game. Changer. They were awesome!

But I agree, keeping the racks small is key. Those were about 3 lbs and I’m not sure I would want to go much above that.

[bbqLuv]

The key factor to 3-2-1 ribs is the Pit Boss. Mind the time and temp.
Notes from my last 3-2-1 lbs. I rated them as 4/5 stars
**Easy to do hard to perfect, but tasty.**
1-Prep, trim and season
2-Smoke 3 hours @180 or to 160*F internal
3-Wrap in foil with brown sugar, apple juice, butter
4-Increase grill temp to 225*F
5-Cook foiled Ribs for 2 hours or until 205*F
6-Remove Ribs form foil, and brush sauce on both sides
7-Return to grill until sauce tightens, 30-60 minutes.
8-Rest Ribs a few minute

[Grillin Dad]

Cool, thanks for the tip. If I do end up trying one of these out, I’ll (roughly) follow these steps.

[bbqLuv]

Roughly follow the steps, that is the point. You're in charge, you're the Grillin Dad

[Grillin Dad]

Thanks all, based on the feedback (plus the fact that I scored 5 racks of spares on sale at my local grocer just last night), I think I’m going to pass on these. If I do end up getting a rack, I’m definitely going to wrap. I’d like to say that I’m just going to avoid them, but my father-in-law was just raving about some ‘super meaty and juicy’ back ribs he had at a friend’s house while on vacation, thus riling up my competitive spirit, so who knows.

[Huskee]

Hate 'em, I specifically avoid them if I can. Too thick of loin meat on top for me and for how I cook mine, can't do the bend test as well, take too long to cook, by the time the heat has travelled inward to do its thing the top layer is dry. Personally I look for back ribs to be <3lbs/rack. I think "extra meaty" is a sales tactic to get more cash outta the loin meat and makes folks think thicker pork ribs are better.