rib tips question

BigA

making rib tips this weekend? should these be cooked just like the ribs, low and slow? about how long do they take?

gdenby

Where I live, rib tips means the trimmings from spare ribs that have been cut to St. Louise style. There is at least one other cut I've come across that is also called tips, but I'm assuming what you have are what is often sold by Smithfield as rib tips.

Yes, they can be cooked like ribs. There are some differences. One end, the chine bone end, is almost all bone, and the other end,the flap is almost all meat, but quite thin. Its handy to cut into 3 sections. The bone end, the center (good stuff) and the flap end. The flap end will cook somewhat faster, so set it off to the side. The middle section will probably take a standard 5 hours or so. The chine bone end, likewise, about 5 hours. If I've cooked a lot, some of the cooked flap is seasoning for other dishes, and sometimes I just save the bone section, uncooked, for stock.

At any rate, it all is most toothsome.

2Fategghead

BigA, Here is my spare rib slab trimmed St. Louis style.



I trim the chide off and any big chunks of boneless meat to grind into sausage later.

I usually smoke my tips with my trimmed slabs and some of the tips come off early for snacking. I say keep an eye on them. Tim

thirdeye

I couldn't have said it any better. This box of trim was cut from these spares..... It's actually my favorite.

Hawg Fan

Silly question, but do you need a meet saw to trim the ribs? Do you have them trimmed at the butcher shop?

Thirdeye - those are some fine looking ribs!

Thanks.

2Fategghead

Hawg Fan, No meat saw needed. You just need a sharp knife. Here is a site to learn to trim a spare rib St. Louis style. Hope this helps. Tim

http://bbq.about.com/od/ribs/ss/aa010607a_3.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpJxnnVOLiM

fishlessman

if the spares arent trimmed sometimes i cut the flap off and leave the ribtips to cook with the spares attached, cut it off and eat the spares, rib tips i like better from the fridge the next day. now theres also riblets that look like a rack of babybacks but much shorter, are those what you have, they can be cooked a little higher temp for a shorter time,275/300 for 45 to maybe 90 minutes

BigA

no i have rib tips that have been trimmed from spares!

Hawg Fan

Thanks for the info and the link 2Fategghead.