Welcome to the EGGhead Forum - a great place to visit and packed with tips and EGGspert advice! You can also join the conversation and get more information and amazing kamado recipes by following Big Green Egg to Experience our World of Flavor™ at:
Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Instagram  |  Pinterest  |  Youtube  |  Vimeo
Share your photos by tagging us and using the hashtag #BigGreenEgg.

Want to see how the EGG is made? Click to Watch

Baby back bones

More of a brisket guy, but i have done quite a lot pork ribs and never ran across this. There is a row of bone fragments that are very close to the ribs, but not attached. Knife pointing to it in pic. There is a lot of good meat around them, but I am afraid someone could bite into one of these. Any insight? Butcher it? Let the meat shrink and hope they fall out? 
Rockwall, TX  •  LBGE, Big Hat Ranger offset smoker, Really old 22" Weber Kettle, Pile of Pecan and Post Oak... 

Comments

  • RRP
    RRP Posts: 25,880
    I'm in the trim them off camp. Early on I would cut them off and waste time trying to salvage what meat was around them. Now I just cut and discard. BTW when I buy ribs anymore I go for spare ribs as they have more meat, plus taste better. But to each his own! 
    Re-gasketing America one yard at a time.
  • Slippy
    Slippy Posts: 214
    I get spares a lot too. Wife prefers the “low fat” ribs. 
    Rockwall, TX  •  LBGE, Big Hat Ranger offset smoker, Really old 22" Weber Kettle, Pile of Pecan and Post Oak... 
  • Woodchunk
    Woodchunk Posts: 911
    You can make a small cut on each side and after cooking will pull out. The meat will have pulled back
  • dmchicago
    dmchicago Posts: 4,516
    Rib Tips. 

    Several Chicago BBQ joints serve them by themselves. 
    Philly - Kansas City - Houston - Cincinnati - Dallas - Houston - Memphis - Austin - Chicago - Austin

    Large BGE. OONI 16, TOTO Washlet S550e (Now with enhanced Motherly Hugs!)

    "If I wanted my balls washed, I'd go to the golf course!"
    Dennis - Austin,TX
  • Slippy
    Slippy Posts: 214
    dmchicago said:
    Rib Tips. 

    Several Chicago BBQ joints serve them by themselves. 
    Interesting. They are tiny little fragments smaller than a marble. I ended up cutting them out. Very time consuming, surprised a restaurant would even bother. 
    Rockwall, TX  •  LBGE, Big Hat Ranger offset smoker, Really old 22" Weber Kettle, Pile of Pecan and Post Oak... 
  • dmchicago
    dmchicago Posts: 4,516
    Slippy said:
    dmchicago said:
    Rib Tips. 

    Several Chicago BBQ joints serve them by themselves. 
    Interesting. They are tiny little fragments smaller than a marble. I ended up cutting them out. Very time consuming, surprised a restaurant would even bother. 
    https://chicago.eater.com/maps/best-rib-tips-chicago

    I would eat mine in the car on the way home with my takeout order. 

    Napkins are your friend here.
    Philly - Kansas City - Houston - Cincinnati - Dallas - Houston - Memphis - Austin - Chicago - Austin

    Large BGE. OONI 16, TOTO Washlet S550e (Now with enhanced Motherly Hugs!)

    "If I wanted my balls washed, I'd go to the golf course!"
    Dennis - Austin,TX
  • Slippy
    Slippy Posts: 214
    dmchicago said:
    Slippy said:
    dmchicago said:
    Rib Tips. 

    Several Chicago BBQ joints serve them by themselves. 
    Interesting. They are tiny little fragments smaller than a marble. I ended up cutting them out. Very time consuming, surprised a restaurant would even bother. 
    https://chicago.eater.com/maps/best-rib-tips-chicago

    I would eat mine in the car on the way home with my takeout order. 

    Napkins are your friend here.
    Those are a little different from I'm dealing with. These are like shards of bone on Baby Backs... Spare ribs have the larger tips. I bet those are good though. 
    Rockwall, TX  •  LBGE, Big Hat Ranger offset smoker, Really old 22" Weber Kettle, Pile of Pecan and Post Oak... 
  • njl
    njl Posts: 1,123
    The babybacks I get at Costco frequently have these.  I do my best to remove them all, figuring they're so small, I don't want someone eating one by accident.  I kind of wonder if as the meat shrinks, they might just fall away, but don't want to chance it.  A sharp knife and forceps is my recommendation.
  • Slippy
    Slippy Posts: 214
    njl said:
    The babybacks I get at Costco frequently have these.  I do my best to remove them all, figuring they're so small, I don't want someone eating one by accident.  I kind of wonder if as the meat shrinks, they might just fall away, but don't want to chance it.  A sharp knife and forceps is my recommendation.
    I just ended up cutting them out. No forceps in the house. Just a boning knife and patience. 
    Rockwall, TX  •  LBGE, Big Hat Ranger offset smoker, Really old 22" Weber Kettle, Pile of Pecan and Post Oak... 
  • pgprescott
    pgprescott Posts: 14,544
    I always assumed they where part of the spine. Poor butchering. I appreciate them leaving so much loin meat on the “loin back” ribs but cutting through between the bones when they are butchers like this is a real PITA. Rib tips are from the bottom of the rib cage, no? I believe this is the very top. Maybe?
  • gdenby
    gdenby Posts: 6,239
    Yes, poor butchering. I see them separate sometimes, sold as "riblets," and sometimes called featherbones. FWIW, some of the best pork I ever had were plates of those tiny bones cooked at a Jamaican restaurant. 1st time, I thought I was being cheated, cause the "racks" were just rows of bones about the size of a thumb. But they cooked perfectly. All the fat crispy, the meat juicy and full of jerk flavor.
  • SmokeyPitt
    SmokeyPitt Posts: 10,490
    I have not seen that before. I think I would have just cut out a strip of meat containing the little fragments and cook that separately. Probably easy to pick out the bones once cooked. 




    Which came first the chicken or the egg?  I egged the chicken and then I ate his leg. 

  • pgprescott
    pgprescott Posts: 14,544
    These bones are from the top of the pig @ the loin. I always prefer that they be cut off by the butcher. I seems to me it’s simply a matter of how they are run through the band saw.