"Commodity Bone-In"??

[kbooker]

When shopping for spare ribs, what does "Commodity" Bone-In mean? I get the "bone-in" part. I do BBQ catering jobs from time-to-time and the St. Louis spare ribs I've been getting from Costco are so small. So I'm thinking of buying full-sized spares and trimming them myself so I can leave a little bit of the brisket/rib tips on for bigger ribs when serving. In looking at the Costco website, I see that their business center sells untrimmed spares, but they're labeled "Pork Spare Ribs Commodity Bone-In". I have no idea what that means. Thanks for your help, folks.

[Huskee]

I'm guessing it's because spares are cheaper per lb than trimmed ribs, so perhaps it just means 'cheaper priced'.

[_Keith]

It's funny, I've always bought whole rib racks and trimmed them down to St Louis cuts, using the rest for char siu. I've recently decided to stop doing that because the price difference just hasn't been enough for the pain in the butt it is :-) Also because the char siu comes out better when I make it with shoulder.

[Papa Bob]

I use the trimmings for Posole, and last week took some out of the freezer (we have lot cuz of practice for some competitions we do) and plans changed so I salted them for a couple of days, rubbed them with a little cumin and gran. garlic, onion put them in a roaster with 1/2 gal water in the oven for 10 hrs. on low approx.175 and after they cooled separated the meat and bones, put in the fridge, two days later stripped the meat from the bones and fat and when I took the stock out I had this beautiful layer of lard on top of this gelatin that when barley heated turned into this wonderful liquid that will be my injection for my next pork butt cook

[BruceB]

It may have something to do with how they are packaged, probably in restaurant packs of 3 or more racks.

[HC in SC]

Sounds like how Sam's has them packaged. They require ALOT of trimming; but you also get ALOT of good lean pork to do a stir fry or something.

You get what you pay for, but you have to manicure it - not like those neat, ready to hang rack you get at Publix or Piggly Wiggly.

[Strat50]

As I understand it, commodity has to do with random sizes of the racks. Per the USDA, commodity trim allows a thicker fat cap, up to ¾ of an inch.It also allows the sternum bone to be included. They are not given a classification number like St. Louis ribs (416A) or Babybacks (414).

[kbooker]

Thanks, Strat50. I've been looking for an answer to this question for almost a year.

[kbooker]

I appreciate everyone taking the time to help answer my question. This forum is the best!

[Strat50]

Any time sir! It's folks like you that make this forum the best. I'm sure, in the future, you will be able to help me or someone else. We pay it forward for each other.