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Baby Backs Vs. St. Louis Cut Ribs

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TonyA
TonyA Posts: 583
edited August 2012 in Pork
As much as I love making pulled pork, at my house we love ribs.  I started out always cooking baby backs because they were quicker.  But I noticed I always tend to buy bigger baby backs and somewhat smaller St. Louis cut.  So I've got a rack each in the egg right now within 0.2 lbs of each other. Other than the cut, they will be identical - we'll see who the favorite is .. 
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  • chrisnjenn
    chrisnjenn Posts: 534
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    I prefer to buy spareribs and cut it St. Louis cut.  I like spares better than babyback.  I feel they have better flavor overall.  Everyone has their own tastes.
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  • TonyA
    TonyA Posts: 583
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    I'm anticipating a draw these both looked pretty good .... We'll see.
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  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,349
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    @TonyA-can't have a draw-nothing learned....just kidding-welcome and enjoy.
    Louisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood. # 38 for the win.  Life is too short for light/lite beer!  Seems I'm livin in a transitional period.
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  • TonyA
    TonyA Posts: 583
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    Well I'll at least know I'll never get a straight answer lol
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  • GreenhawK
    GreenhawK Posts: 398
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    Sounds like an interesting test.  I have always been a St. Louis fan because they have more meat.  I have never really noticed a flavor difference though.  One thing that I have noticed though is that restaurants that cook baby backs seem to over cook them.  It's probably more the cook than the cut of ribs though.  Let us know how it goes.
    Large BGE Decatur, AL
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  • TonyA
    TonyA Posts: 583
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    So far so good at there hours.
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  • The Cen-Tex Smoker
    The Cen-Tex Smoker Posts: 22,967
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    Sounds like an interesting test.  I have always been a St. Louis fan because they have more meat.  I have never really noticed a flavor difference though.  One thing that I have noticed though is that restaurants that cook baby backs seem to over cook them.  It's probably more the cook than the cut of ribs though.  Let us know how it goes.

    That's because they have to keep them warm for many hours to complete a food service. When you hold them hot for so long, it overcoooks them. It's the biggest problem in low and slow food at restaurants- you have to cook them all hours ahead of time, but your service can run 4-5 hours sometimes. You can't make more if you run out bucause they take 4 hours to cook! The people that do it right are very few and far between.
    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
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  • bigguy136
    bigguy136 Posts: 1,362
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    I think you will like the St. Louis ribs over the baby backs. I normally do 2 racks of St. Louis style but one of the racks starts as spare ribs. I trim it to St. Louis style, cook the trimmings for a few hours and chop that up into some beans. Wonderful.

    Big Lake, Minnesota

    2X Large BGE, 1 Mini Max, Stokers, Adjustable Rig

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  • SlowMotion
    SlowMotion Posts: 7
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    St. Louis is my pick
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  • TonyA
    TonyA Posts: 583
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    Not my best work. Both racks were done, I let them go a little further and the small St. Louis rack wound up a tad dry. I at least learned to trust my judgement. The big beefy baby backs were preferred but it's hardly fair. From a shopping perspective, if sizes are similar I willtake the baby backs.
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  • stevesails
    stevesails Posts: 990
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    My family likes baby backs. Last family meal before the kids go back to college. Some hobo potatoes in the foil packs
    XL   Walled Lake, MI

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  • ugafan
    ugafan Posts: 4
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    "big beefy baby backs"

    Am I the only one that found that description funny? 
    :D
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  • TonyA
    TonyA Posts: 583
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    Does meaty make it better or you thinking it's just an oxymoron?
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