Buying Ribs

Banker John

I have never cooked ribs before, nor have I ever bought ribs. After reading the forum, my wife has asked that I cook ribs on Saturday for dinner. I'm confident the egg will perform. My problem is that I do not know what type of ribs to buy at the meat market. Is there a particular rib to buy. Baby Back? Spare Ribs? I plan on buying them on Thursday for a Saturday cook.

JSlot

Banker John,[p]You will get a lot of different answers here, John. I'll give you my 2¢ worth. LOL! I'm a sparerib man. More meat, less money, no brainer. That being said, spares and baby backs are two very different products and you may prefer the baby backs. Spares are fattier and there is a little bit more work in prepping them for the cooker. No matter which you choose, in my area (Charleston, SC), Sam's Club has the best consistency in the quality and price of their ribs (both kinds). As I mentioned in a previous post, if you ask someone in the meat department there to give you the case price, you will find you save 20-30% on the price over just buying one package. A case of spares is usually about 30 lb. (3 cryovac packages). Good luck and enjoy!!![p]Keep the smoke risin',
Jim

Shelby

Banker John,
Jim is right...he prefers spare ribs, I prefer baby backs. Another option is "country rib fingers" not technically ribs; more of pork steaks. But if the wife is wanting ribs, ya' better go with true ribs, maybe even ask her if she has a preference. Either way, you'll get plenty of help with prep/cooking directions.
Good Luck!

Banker John

JSlot,
At Sams, you mention a case and 3 cryovac pkgs. I have a medium Egg. Will 1 cryovac pkg (10#) fit? I have a plate setter and Vrack but no fire bricks. Hou would you suggest getting the egg ready. At what temp & how long?

JSlot

If your v-rack fits in the medium Egg comfortably, you should have no problem getting the 3 slabs in there. I cut the chine portion (everything below the knuckles) off and cook that separately or freeze it to throw in with sauerkraut or something. 5 of the half slabs go in the slots in the v-rack with the 6th on top or leaning against the side. I cook mine indirect at ~350° for 3½-4 hours. Bring the Egg up to temp before putting the ribs on. I use 3 chunks of hickory (unsoaked) spaced evenly around the top of my charcoal for smoke. I put that in as soon as I light the charcoal. For seasoning, I coat the ribs with French's mustard and apply my own special rub. If you are going to use sauce, apply every 10 minutes during the last 30 minutes of cooking. It will glaze up nicely! I use a pizza stone setup in the bottom of my Egg, but an inverted plate setter with drip pan is the way to go. Let us know how it goes.[p]Jim

Rumrunner

Banker John,
A little more info
http://www.ribman.com/abtribs.html
[ul][li]about ribs[/ul]

Banker John

JSlot,
Thanx. Today, I bought 2 racks from my butcher. He is a client so only charged me 0.99/# I hope he did not rip me off.

JSlot

That's a great price, John. I'm paying about $1.30/lb. at Sam's. Every now and then a local grocery will run 'em on sale at 99¢/lb., but the quality isn't real good. Glad you hit the jackpot![p]Jim