St. Louis Trim Ribs Pro/Con

Well, cooking the slab whole isn't really an ugly rib Heheee..... it's actually a good way to show off your skill on the cooker. It's also cool to serve something that hangs over the plate. I tend to really watch the whole slabs and will rotate (not necessarily turn) more often than trimmed down racks. I almost always have a mop handy when I barbecue the whole ones too. Overall, time wise is not that much longer, but if you over do the hour in foil, the tips can get way too tender.

As a minimum, I will remove the flap and cook it separately for snacking. But when you do the St. Louis trim.... You could always save the ends and tips for later, but I like to cook them at the same time as the trimmed rack.




I saved all the flaps from these ribs and made a small batch of sausage with it.

That flap meat on the bone side is terrible.
Mike

Send some of those my way!!

I don't use the 3-1-1 method, but I do trim to St Louis Style. The "pretty ribs" are more uniform, and cook up evenly. I save the raw trimmings, vacu-seal and freeze for an "ugly" rib cook at a later date. The trimmings take less time, and offer several snacks along the way, as the thin flap meat cooks up first. We love that second "rib" meal just as much as the "real thing"
(edited) I usually get about 5-6 lbs of trimmings from 3 whole racks of ribs.

I also trim mine St. Louis style and I'll just cook up the trimmings another time. Sometimes I even smoke them and cube them to make chili. Good stuff there!