Advantages of spare ribs?

Call me crazy, but i prefer the spares. The fact that they are much less doesn't hurt either. From time to time, i see them on sale for $.99 per lb! They taste great, and the fat just adds more flavor.
This is what I usually do.. (i have some in the fridge right now - rubbed and waiting for a bbq tomorrow)
I rinse them in water, pat dry and remove the membrane.
I have tried mustard, but I normally just rub them, and set them in the fridge over night. I use different rubs. I like the combo of the cookshack spicy chicken and cookshack rib rub.
I put them in the CS at 225 for 4-6 hours. I check them after 4 hours. I do the bend / break test... Once they look done i take them out and wrap them in foil. I never check the temp with ribs. I will hold them in the foil for atleast an hour. If I am making a few racks, I will sauce some, and leave some as is...
Good Luck..
JW

Then I'm crazy too....I much prefer spares over baby backs.

I've done many a rack and they're much meatier, much tastier (yes due in part to a little more fat content)and much cheaper.

But actually alot of the fat gets rendered over the 5-6 hours of smoking, much like a pork butt.

I do pretty much the same as far as preparation, with the exception that I do use the mustard, mainly because I very rarely refrigerate overnite anymore. Found that there isn't much difference.

I wash, pat dry, remove the membrane, apply thin coat of mustard, then sprinkle with Southern Succor Rub. I cut the racks in half and hang with CS's rib hooks from the top rack of my Smokette.

Set it (225)...and forget it..for 5-6 hours. I do use a probe and bring them to 185-190. But to be honest, I've done so many that I could probably just take them out at 5 1/2 hours and I'd be fine.

Then double wrap in aluminum foil, and into the cooler for 30 - 60 minutes, depending on how impatient everyone is getting.

I don't sauce any of my ribs while smoking, much prefer the sauce on the side. Like to taste more of the smoke and spice. But I have tried saucing them, and they were good. It's more personal preference.

Hope this helps

i like the spares for two reasons
1- the price is right and from them with one knife cut you get both st louis style and rib tips. the rib tips i save in the freezer until i get a load of them and cook them off all together
2- to me they taste better and fat has never been a problem.

as far as cooking goes i like to dry rub them and let them set overnite. i never have used the slather thing but i guess it is because the 1st bbq joint i ever went to was the rendevous in memphis tn when i was stationed there in 69. since my family never bbq'd i used those as my yardstick (man i was lucky there) so i just dry rub. never have worked up my nerve to do ribs at 450 degrees though like they do
hope this helps some
jack
2 Greyhounds....SMOKIN!!!!

Ok guys, this is getting interesting. I too have never done spares. The only experience I've ever had with them was when a friend cooked them on his webber bullet. They were moist but ya had to fight and snarl like a dog to get the meat off the bone Is this normal? Or, can you get regular spares to the point of "falling off the bone" like my favorite BBacks? Would it help to cook with the meat-side down to render more fat?

Thanks in advance for comments and help!

At upwards of 5 bucks a pound for a rack of bones??? nah, I'll stick with my spares. More meat to bone ratio, cheaper and taste alot better than Baby back by far, alot better "pork" flavor, I find babies often rather bland. And if you're having to wrestle the meat off they were probably not cooked long enough. I just leave mine meat side up or on a rib rack til they want to start to break when you pick them up by one end and the meat is starting to pull from the bone, and also just tear a test piece off to munch on, the taste test never lies :-)
Jon

abmit it , we are all crazy(about our smokin)!! some times if there is alot of fat its ok to trim, remove membrane, rub, in the smoker.you might want to go lighter on wood amount since you will be eating surface with ever bite.the wive likes hers sauced, so shortly befor there done i fire up the brinkman pit master (lol, i do still use it) to around 250 deg. and then sauce and let cook down and glaze. most of the time we like them dry.glad to see some rib talk!!!

The sages above have covered a lot of points.

One I'll mention is forget internal temps.

I know there are some folks that swear by that,but I got relatives in Missouri and we need to see it.

The temp probe is handy to slide between the ribs and see if it is easy,though.[I use a toothpick]

I do not use any sauce while cooking. After smoking I like to glaze either type ribs with indirect heat on the grill using a mixture of KC Masterpiece, cut with cider vinegar, and current jelly. If the kids are here I'll substitute jalapeno jelly for the current on some.

I guess I am the anomoly here. I really don't like ribs all that much and haven't made any in several years. Too much "work" for too little payoff. Just like east coast crabs.

I'm with you Bodacious. I did some today and now remember why I dont do spare ribs. I think I'll just stick to doin butts.......Don

How do you guys cook the Tips?

wheelz,
this works for me on my bullet and what they heck i will give you everything i do
6 am start charcoal
6.30 add big ole hunks of hickory, put pan in place and fill with water
7 make sure the water is boiling like mad and place grill rack in bottom
7.15 put ribs on this is both top and bottom racks
after that every 2 hours i make sure the coals are still nice
about 11 i spray everything with moose juice which is a combo of apple juice and ancient age bourbon (oh by the way you need to sample that bourbon to make sure it hasn' gone bad)
i keep that up until 3pm.
never had a complaint
like i said i dry rub them
hope this helps you
jack

jw
i cook my tips just like the ribs
dry rub the nite before and my timing and moose juice thing just like above.
but man i do love rib tips
best part of the rib to me
hope this helps
jack

Thanks prisonchef - I guess I didn't make myself clear. I use a SmokinTex and was just wondering if one can get regular spares as tender as BBacks? Does smoking meat-side-down help to render a bit more fat?

The only way I've ever had reg spares was with the Weber Bullet and they were very tough, that's why I've stayed away from them. Shoot, If I can get em tender and a little less fatty with ST I'll sure give em a try.

Wheelz

You should have no problem getting spares tender. I do mine for about 5 1/2 hours meat side up and they come out just fine. No problem with fat either. I did some baby backs yesterday and found that I actually like the spares better.

Let's be candid.

Let's be frank.

Let's be .............blunt.

Spares are fat, and fat counts in BBQ ribs.

Fat. Dribblin' down your chin.

Not politically correct (no vegetarians here!) but tooooooooooooooo the point. Pig fat rocks!

Thanks Bama - I'll have to give some real "spares" a shot sometime soon.

Sorry i2BBQ but I have to disagree with your assessment with fat. Too much fat turns my stomach. If that what real spares are, I'll probably stick to the BBacks. Worth a shot anyway! To each their own!

Thanks for the info guys...

wheelz,I too have a smokintex and find if I cook my sparibs at 225 using 4-5 ponud slabs with Tony Chacheres her and more seasoning as a rub and let them smoke-cook for 3 hrs and take them out and wrap in heay foil and place back in the smoker oven still at 225 for another hour or 2 they come out moist and juicy and very tender and tasty!Enjoy!Good "Q" to ya all!!BillyQ

Sorry Wheelz,my spellin aint right .That was Tony Chacheres Herbs and More Seasoning I also used a mix of hickory chunks about 3 pieces and Jack Danials oak wood chips,maybe a handfull.They are very great tasting and fall off the bone tender.Melts the fat right out of them!Enjoy BillyQ

Wheelz,

The fat keeps it from drying out and when cooked right, it renders out so the final product at my house doesn't have a lot of fat and certainly has more meat than BBacks.

And I can't IMAGINE how the butchers get away with charging $5.00 a pound for Backs? It's a conspiracy.

Thanks everyone for the advice and suggestions. You've got me all fired up to try smokin' some spare ribs for the first time. I was hoping that you could make them tender with the fat rendered out, just like pork butt, and it sounds like if you smoke them right, you can. I'm glad to hear that most of you prefer them over loin back ribs -- especially since spares are almost half the price of loin backs at Sam's Club.

One question: With the spares you buy at Sam's Club, do you have to do any trimming (it says the brisket is left off)? What cut does Sam's Club sell?

I don't understand how to make the cut for rib tips ... can you do this with the spares that Sam's sells? Is the purpose of cutting off the rib tips because they are thinner than the rest of the slab and would get overdone, or does it just make the rack look better and more uniform? Or do people just like cutting them off because they prefer eating the tips separately?

Here is a pretty good explanation from ChrisA on the Virtual Bullet Site

Cutting ribs

Sam's often sells whole slabs,slabs with brisket bone removed,and fully trimmed St. Louis.

Not difficult to do yourself,with a little practice.