What do you do with trimmings from spare ribs?

ponder · July 2014

Doing my first run at doing a St. Louis trim on spare ribs. Doing a cook for a church meal tomorrow. Wondering what I can use the trimmings for? Rib tips? Roll it all up together and make a fake pulled pork? Suggestions anyone?

lousubcap · July 2014

Nothing creative here-I toss them on when the ribs go on. Then depending on the flap meat cut and other trimmings, I will cook test (eat) some (the treat) but mainly once cooked I will either toss in a pot of beans or use in tacos, omelets, quesidillas etc-great filler for most any pork recipe. FWIW-

wpendlegg · July 2014

Do that or dice it up and throw it in the freezer for when it's time to make soup or stew

ponder · July 2014

Thanks! Hated to think of just tossing it, but had no idea what to do with it.

RRP · July 2014

Depending on how much I have as it does seem some spares are larger than others then I always lay the boneless flap meat on the grill and snack on it half way through the cook. Otherwise using a sharp deboning knife I trim off the meat into chunks and freeze them for wok meals.

Richard Fl · July 2014

I boil mine and then use along with pulled pork for chili or beans. Some grind it for sausage and others just leave it and cook.

cook861 · July 2014

you can use them as taster to see how your ribs are coming along

ponder · July 2014

Thanks to everyone. I was hoping to come up with a way to use them to make something suitable for the...dentally challenged. There is a couple, both in their 90's who have 5 teeth between them after a lifetime of backwoods Appalachian home dentistry, and I am pretty certain ribs are not something they could enjoy. Was thinking along the lines of cooking them along with the ribs one way or another so they would turn out tender enough for them, either as a fake pulled pork, boneless rib tips, or shredded after cooking.

ponder · July 2014

Off to start prepping and trimming. Will update after I have finished. Thanks again to everyone!

caliking · July 2014

I save the rib rips for another cook, and the flap meat gets saved for stir fry. I get 3 cooks out of a full rack of spares.

Ladeback69 · July 2014

I cooked 2 out of the 4 with my ribs and served them as appetizers. The other 2 went in freezer for another time.

ponder · July 2014

Ok, so what I did was just put the flap meat along with the ribs for the cook. The rest of the trimmings I put in the freezer for later grinding when we make our lamb/pork sausage....which may be sooner rather than later...while waiting for the egg to come to temp I heard my youngest daughter crying and yelling stop...went out to the barn and the ram had butted her through the fence and knocked her down...took a chip out of her tooth. Was a little worried before I got there, but when I did I found her with a bloody lip and a hoe handle trying to brain the ram through the fence...she was more mad than hurt.

travisstrick · July 2014

Beans as a side dish.

ponder · July 2014

Yup

. They'll go on after the ribs are done.

SGH · July 2014

@ponder‌
I eat them as is right off the smoker. I love them! They are a prelude to the main course of ribs to me!

ponder · July 2014

@SGH I was tempted to try the turbo cook you did last night:). But since this is my first run, I am going to do it the traditional low and slow...besides, I need the practice regulating the temp and learning my Egg. Now, come next weekend when we are going to have 20 or so people here for a birthday party, I may try the turbo route on some baby back ribs I have in the freezer. Not very optimistic about this one...think I had too much smoke too early, also I screwed up and cut the racks in half not thinking that I had a large enough cooker now not to have to do that to ribs...then probably overloaded the two grates...live and learn I guess...

SGH · July 2014

@ponder‌
Just a suggestion my friend. If you have never tried turbo before go with 325-350 degrees until you have a few cooks under your belt. At these temps the cook is much more manageable and forgiving. At 450 degrees there is room for very little error my friend.

ponder · July 2014

@SGH Thanks for the advice, I will do that. I really appreciate you (and everyone else here really) sharing your knowledge and experience.

RRP · July 2014

SGH said:

@ponder‌ Just a suggestion my friend. If you have never tried turbo before go with 325-350 degrees until you have a few cooks under your belt. At these temps the cook is much more manageable and forgiving. At 450 degrees there is room for very little error my friend.

100% in agreement with you! Low and slow is like duck hunting at night with a rock so you can sneak up on it. While turbo at 325 -350 is more like duck hunting with a shotgun as you may not aim right but you'll nail it, but at 450 you're duck hunting with a rifle and you better be a d*mn good shot! LOL

SGH · July 2014

@ponder‌ @RRP‌
Thank you for the kind words my friends.

Wolfpack · July 2014

Snack for the cook-

HDumptyEsq · July 2014

@ponder. For the dentally challenged brigade can you make some sort of rillettes?

Cook them long and low with a drop of wine and any herbs/spices you fancy, a bit like the way the French do duck or pigs' trotters. You can reduce it to almost a paste - no teeth needed.

See if Google has something that may appeal.

ponder · July 2014

@HDumptyEsq‌ Thanks, I'll look at that...next time. This was a disaster. All the mistakes I listed above, plus I failed to flip in time so I 've got charred areas...overloaded the smoker...cut in half when I should have left whole and therefore couldn't use the rib rack...too much rub...should have spritzed...cooked too long in the foil...oh, well - at least this has been a learning experience...I've got a list of about 7 things I did wrong and won't do again. The ribs are edible (barely), but I'm embarrassed to even take them. They smell great, but they look like hammered ass and taste like something the gas station would throw out after being under the warming lights too long. Crap.

HDumptyEsq · July 2014

@ponder. I did St Louis ribs last weekend. Turbo'd at 350, indirect for an hour with a LITTLE homemade rub.

I sauced with some Williamson Bros Original BBQ sauce and foiled 15 minutes more. Rested for 15 minutes. They were good enough to wear on your head.

It's easy and relatively quick with solid results every time.

ponder · July 2014

@HDumptyEsq‌ Man, I appreciate the advice...so let me make sure I'm getting this correct...get the egg to temp at 350 set up indirect...1 hour later take off, sauce, foil for only 15 minutes more...take out of the foil and rest for 15 minutes...serve...that's it? Would that also work for baby backs?

HDumptyEsq · July 2014

@ponder. Yes. Just leave the foil on when resting. Don't forget to remove the membrane on the bone side of the rack before applying the rub.

texaswig · July 2014

I leave them on ,too lazy to trim.... Then I eat them.

HDumptyEsq · July 2014

texaswig said:

I leave them on ,too lazy to trim.... Then I eat them.

You dog……………..

tksmoke · July 2014

With spares, I do 350 for 1:45, sauce for 20 minutes, nothing else. No foil, no liquid in the drip pan, no touch other than saucing. Perfect ribs every time!! Some of those with palates much more finely tuned than mine (or my guests) will clam that there is a difference in the "pull" of the meat off the bone with L&S. Almost every time I receive the "best ribs I've ever had" endorsement. You be the judge - 3 hours total, including prep, or 6-7? Some like to turn their turbo ribs once during the cook. I never have, but I'm certainly willing to try.

Also, doing turbo ribs, you can put the trimmings on 1 hour into the cook, and they will be done with the ribs. I typically don't use them for a snack, because I fill up on them and can't comfortably pig out on the ribs.

Enjoy!!

CtTOPGUN · July 2014

I sear them and put into a pot of "Sunday Gravy" along with the meatballs and sausages.

ponder · July 2014

I really appreciate all the information and instructions guys. I am definitely going to do turbo next time at 350, following the advice of @SGH, @HDumptyEsq, @tksmoke and others. As an update, I did a little doctoring of the ribs today before serving. Removed some of the char by simply moistening it with a gloved hand and sauce then gently rubbing it away, after which I put them in a large roasting pan, glazed with more sauce and a little apple juice in the bottom, foiled the pan and put in the oven at 300 for 25 minutes, pulled and portioned then another light saucing massaged in with hands, which removed excess char and rub. Most everyone went back for seconds, and they were tender enough that the older couple I mentioned before were able to eat them. They still LOOKED like hammered ass, but they tasted OK. Doing a cleaning burn right now and getting everything ready for Saturdays birthday cook when I will be doing baby backs turbo style.

What do you do with trimmings from spare ribs?

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