Do I not understand ribs or just a bad rack?

[bbq_esq]

Picked up a rack of SLC ribs from Wild Fork. Didn't really notice when I bought them, but when I thawed and took them out of the bag, they seemed very short. I also noticed that they still had that piece of meat on the back side, and the rib tips were still there.

While I understand people do enjoy the rib tips (I do, personally) but most people I'm serving are going to be thrown off by some extra bony bits. So I lopped those off and saved them, but when it was all said and done. I had a rack of ribs that were about 4 inches long - like, babyback sized.

Was this just a bad rack from Wild Fork? Am I correct that ribs advertised as St Louis cut should be trimmed down to just the rib bones themselves?

[Spinaker]

This should not be the case. Especially considering what you pay for these. I would contact them and see if they will offer you a discount on your next purchase, or if they will send you a new rack-o-ribs! SLC ribs should be meaty, not 4 inches long.

[bbq_esq]

I do spend quite a bit at WF, and I'm usually pretty happy with my purchases, so I will say something. These almost seemed like someone split a very big rack of spares in two or something.

[Spinaker]

yeah, given the fact that a negative review can tank a company, I am sure they will be willing to help you out. (Not that you would do that, but online purveyors are typically pretty good about this stuff)

[TripleB]

I don't buy from Wild Fork or really any other distributor. I'm cheap and don't know better. But I ran into the same problem when I bought a rack of SLC ribs from my local market. Bones were short, rib meat and a lot more cartilage. They did not come out tender, but a bit tough though I took them up to 204d. They still needed more time to get tender, but they were SLC ribs and usually only take 3 hours in my smoker.

So I would say just a badly cut rack of ribs.

[bbq_esq]

We have an actual WF store near me, and it's really one of the regular options for a lot of cuts. Generally I have been happy with their products but this was an anomaly.

[Jfrosty27]

I buy 80%+ of my meat from WF. The last few racks of ALC’s I got were as you described. Wifey won’t eat them anymore because of the tips. She hates them because of the cartilage. I on the other hand think they’re the best part. 🙄

So now it’s strictly BB’s in my house. (from WF) I n fact I did a rack thus last Sunday. They were great. AND the wifey was happy. 😊

[bbq_esq]

Interesting. I wonder if it has to do with their current supply. Next time I am there I am going to poke around and see if they are all around that size. I didn't really "shop" much when I bought them - I figure they are SLC ribs, I am paying for them to be butchered right.

I have cooked the tips as a snack before and enjoyed them, but I am definitely more accepting of the "interactive" eating experience.

[FireMan]

Don't have much to contribute, cept I don't buy SLC Wibs. I buy a whole rack and trim it to whut I want. Don't use a temperture thingy with Wibs either, cuz I use Meathead's bend test. I am cheap and uncomplicated with Wibs.

[Uncle Bob]

I was one of the early adopters of WF on here when they were relatively new to the market. I liked nearly everything I got from them. Over time, as they grew and expanded their offerings, things began to change. Some products remained satisfactory, some not so much. Between covid and deportations my guess is their processing facilities had lots of turnover and the trainees might have had some learning curve issues. There are some products of theirs I once relied on I no longer buy because of quality concerns. As with any mail order operation, even the high priced ones, you get what they ship you as opposed to your being able to go through a local display case and choose whichever package suits your standards. Yeah, there's always the ability to complain, after the fact, and hope for a positive remediation, but that's an extra step I have little patience for these days. QC isn't always handled well by some companies. When you find one that is highly consistent to your standards that's a win, when not, it's time to shed either the company or a specific product choice.

[bbq_esq]

Just to clarify, I have an actual WF location so the selection is all on me. I have found some of their products to be great, others are inconsistent, but in NJ there aren’t a ton of other options.

[Oak Smoke]

I don’t order online meat anymore. I like to sort through the ribs at my local supermarket or Sam’s for what I need. To a certain extent a market hog is pretty generic. You can get great ribs from several retail sources and select the exact one you want before you buy them. One of the local grocery stores had Smithfield SLC trimmed ribs on a BOGO sale the other day. I picked out a couple of really nice racks that were similar in size. There were a few that were not as large as I wanted. I figured those were for crockpot ribs or what ever. I do buy the full spare ribs at Sam’s and either trim them to SLC or just smoke them whole depending on whether we are having people over or they’re just for us.

[cruiseplanner1]

I fell out with the SLC ribs a few years back. Didn't have enough meat to my liking and have been smoking BB's for the last years. And when I want some rib tips in a sauce with some bite I will buy a box of strictly tips. I have not done a full rack in a few years but thinking of maybe doing one again. We are good with just doing the BB as they are easy to handle and have a lot of tender meat on them. I usually smoke them when we are having guests on the deck so it is also more convenient to get four or five racks in the offset for the amount of meat per inch area.

[Mosca]

I noticed this, too. I think what happened is that the definition of St Louis cut changed for a while, then changed back to what it used to be.

St Louis cut is actually a pretty severe trimming of a full rack of spares. It cuts off the brisket bone, the tips, the flap (which is beyond the 13th bone), sometimes even the 13th bone if it’s just a little thing hanging there, and the skirt (that piece of diaphragm underneath). You’re left with a nice square rack of ribs… about the size of a rack of baby backs (but with less meat than baby backs have these days).

Baby backs, left. St Louis, right


St Louis, left. Baby backs, right.


For a while, I was getting racks that weren’t called St Louis, but instead were marked something like “spare ribs, trimmed”. Those were full spares with the brisket bone removed, and some of the cartilage, but with the tips attached. I think people might have been calling these St Louis cut.



If you were going to make this a true St Louis cut, you’d go down about an inch and a half, and cut straight across. The flap has been trimmed off the right edge already, and the 13th bone as well.

But yeah, a true St Louis Cut is about the size of a rack of baby backs. It depends on the vendor, how meaty either will be. Every now and then it comes up on how baby backs are so thick now; believe me, that wasn’t the case 20 years ago! And regular spares tend to have more meat between the bones and less on top of the bones; that makes sense, they’re further down in the chest cavity. I’ve been to a couple BBQ boot camps where we’ve trimmed full spares; a proper St Louis cut is about the same size as a rack of baby backs.

Baby backs upper, St Louis lower.

[Oak Smoke]

Well said.

[bbq_esq]

Very helpful, thank you sir!

[mrteddyprincess]

My preference is to look the ribs in the eye before I buy them. I don't trust strangers in another state to ship the ribs to me. If I'm buying whole spare ribs I'm looking for something over 6 lbs total. I find if I go with anything under that, I'm a little disappointed in the St. Louis style cut that is left to cook because the ribs seem small.

Also, if you cook the rib tips and then slice them, people can see where the cartilage is and eat around it. (My favorite part too.)

Brian

[Oak Smoke]

The Members Mark full spares I’m getting at Sam’s now have the chine or brisket bone already trimmed off. I can usually find several meaty ones to bring home.

[mrteddyprincess]

Mosca just to clarify, I am talking about buying whole spare ribs, cutting off the tips, and cooking the St. Louis style racks separate from the tips. I have not tried leaving the tips on and cooking the whole spare ribs together.

[Mosca]

Gotcha. I actually was thinking that you meant cooking the whole rib with tips. That’s what I usually do, leave the tips on the end of the ribs.

[Steve B]

I’ve also run into this in recent times. And it doesn’t seem to matter where I get Stl. Ribs from. Be it WF, which I have a local store near me, Creekstone, local supermarket or local high end butcher. Pretty much all Stl’s have the tips and most, the meaty flap on the underside.
I got away from BB’s for quite a while based on people’s opinions here, saying the Stl cut ribs were better.
I think I’m gonna go give some BB’s another chance.

[Mosca]

I’ve decided I love both equally. The one I’ve actually given short shrift to is the full spares, brisket bone and all. I have a couple of those I’ll do up, next time I do ribs.

[bbqLuv]

Do I not understand ribs or just a bad rack?

Is this a Multi choice question?

[bbq_esq]

I suppose it could be both

[Prof Bunky]

Sometimes it's not you.