To Trim or not to Trim, that is the question!

magyar

When I buy spare ribs there  is usually a lot of extra fat and meat on them which I trim off and grind up for another use  I  then pull off the skin on the bone side and end with, I guess, St. Louis style spare ribs. Do I really need to do all this? You can tell I'm a relative newbee. 

lousubcap

I always "convert" spares to St Louis style so can't help that way.  One of the reasons I do it is because I'm cooking ribs and at some point in the process (either on the front end or back end) the trimmings will get in the way.  Not sure how the cook would go with the flap meat on the ribs.  You could do one trimmed and one not, run a taste test and let us know your results. 

fishlessman

ive always peeled the membrane but have not always cut them down to stlous style, i do cut that section off when serving the ribs and put the rest in the fridge, i like that section better served cold for a breakfast snack

Griffin

I trim mine. I find that skirt or skirt meat on the bone side of the ribs cooks differently than the ribs. Also, the ribs tips, containing a lot of cartilage and part of the sternum also cook at a different rate. I usaully just season like the rest of the ribs, throw them on the Egg and eat them earlier. We call those cook's treats.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Good call Grif. The flap does cook much faster than the rib meat. I trim it and eat it off the egg after an hour or 2. I don't always convert to st. Lou....maybe 50/50 spares to st Lou.

magyar

Thanks, guys.  I think I'll continue to trim. Might throw that flap on the egg and have a snack while I'm waiting for the ribs to cook. Also, think I'm going to try the 50/50 conversion. Let you know how they come out.

lilwooty

I always take the trimmings off the egg after about 2 hours or so and chop them up and add them to my smoked beans side dish.