Trimming St. Louis Ribs

Practice is maybe the best answer. But I like to use a stiff blade utility knife. Kind of like a fillet knife but stiff. It gives me more control at the end of the bones. Sometimes called a boning knife.

I'm not sure what you are asking, Pags. Are you asking how to trim a full slab of spares down to a St. Louis cut which does not have have any of the cartidge left on the rack. If this is what you are asking, I just put the full slab on the cutting board meat side down. Then I run my fingers along the top of the ribs to get an idea of where to make my cut. Your scimetar should just cut right across the top of the ribs.

That being said, I cut my full spares parallel to the bottom of the ribs at a live the top of the longest rib on the rack. While this does leave some cartlidge on the rack, it gives me a rack that is the same length on each rib. But this is just me.

Pags,both of these fine ribs cooks has a great answer.

We like the scimetar,just don't ask about cutting turkey leg tendons with a Forshner. We are cutting several slabs,perfectly,for comps.

I know a couple of meat cutters ,that work part time for large bbq joints and trim up twenty cases at a time,and they like Todd's knife.

We own and use both.

Yep. You understood what I didn't state clearly RibDog. Thanks for the responses guys.

I've got a couple good boning knives as well as the Cimeter. So the decision becomes "clean cut" vs "even ribs". Both have merits.

I have a tendency to do things too quickly. Some of my cooks and repair work around the house can serve as examples of that. If I really wanted a clean cut, a little patience would have served me well.

Thanks again.

quote:

Originally posted by Pags:
Smoked 3 slabs of St. Louis ribs last weekend, and they turned out great. Flavorful, moist, smokey.

I've almost always done baby backs, and these were my second or third attempt at St. Louis style. I had a few pieces of cartilage remain with the ribs when trimming the full spares to St. Louis. Are there any tricks to the trade for slicing the ribs? I have a very sharp Forscher Cimeter that cut the ribs like butter but would like to know if there's a simple technique for trimming cleanly to St. Louis style.

Pags, I've thought of getting one of these Forschner Cimeter blades before, but I've never handled one. What is the blade length on yours, and what jobs do you find it best suited for? Do you have a plain edge or Granton?

Tom, I have to ask ... how about cutting turkey leg tendons with a Forschner?

I should point out that even though I have a cimeter knife and think it is best suited for certain jobs, I rarely use it. The only times I've ever been cut badly enough to have to leave work were two times using such a knife. I was slicing something, say ribeye for example, and cutting between my thumb and forefinger. As I pulled the knife back and the handle dropped, the tip of the blade elevated and cut a beautiful 3" gash across my palm. I liked it so much I did it again a few months later. The knife is still in my knife bag, safe and warm in it's little knife protector. Sadly, I am apparently too stupid to use such a sophisticated cutting tool.

Mine is a 12" Forschner without Granton blade. Smokin liked his (although I believe his was 14") so I got one with a few others. I use it to cut ribs and other large cuts like brisket or prime rib. Due to the curved blade, it also comes in handy for chopping/cutting down through larger cuts. I also have a 12" Forschner slicer with a Granton blade that I use for cutting thinner slices on larger cuts.

quote:

Originally posted by Pags:
Smoked 3 slabs of St. Louis ribs last weekend, and they turned out great. Flavorful, moist, smokey.

I've almost always done baby backs, and these were my second or third attempt at St. Louis style. I had a few pieces of cartilage remain with the ribs when trimming the full spares to St. Louis. Are there any tricks to the trade for slicing the ribs? I have a very sharp Forscher Cimeter that cut the ribs like butter but would like to know if there's a simple technique for trimming cleanly to St. Louis style.

Pags, as per trimming full spares down to St. Louis:
Remove them from the Cry-O-Vac and lay them on a cutting board bone side up. Cut away the excess diaphragm meat that is hanging over the bones. Set it aside.
Now remove the paper skin attached to the underside of the bones.
Next remove any globs of fat remaining that may be attached to the underside of the bones.
You should now see where the rib bones are attached to the riblets, which run down to the breast bone. Cut along that line, removing the riblets and breast bone.
Now just square off the ends. The 1st long bone is usually a bit "scraggly" - cut that away. On the opposite end, you'll find one or two "scraggly" bones...cut those away.
You should now have a St. Louis cut. Save all the trimmings.

Having said all that, unless you're squeezed for rack space on your smoker, or prepping ribs for a competition turn in box, just cook the entire rack as it is. OTOH if you wish to trim spares down to St. Louis, those trimmings can be converted into fabulous Sicilian Tomato Sauce (the Sopranos call it Gravy ) PM me and I'll fill you in on the recipe.

Thanks MaxQue. I was fine in removing the skirt and the skin till time to cut along the line. I'll be careful to watch and cut the line as you and RibDog describe.

Oh. And the Cimeter is also great for cutting pizza. Start with the curved part down and the straight edge up over the pizza. Roll the blade down and cut through the toppings and cheese. Drag the curved part through the crust along the line you just made for a clean cut. Works better than my 2 pizza cutters.

Funny you mention this. I did some new photos of Ribs 101 this weekend.

One of the photos has the Cimetar shown below, not THIS is a knife. About 14" and with my arthritis, makes short work of it.

The key is SHARP, scary sharp.

I actually will talk about two methods. Method 1 is to cut based upon the longest bone, Method 2 cuts along a fat line (like, follow the dotted line simple)



Here is where I get mine:

http://www.knifemerchant.com/p...t.asp?productID=1654

I'll post the photos later when I can get them uploaded.14" Cimeter Forschner at Knife Merchant

When cooking larger turkeys,I cut the bottom of the leg tendons,to allow them to shrink away during the cook.

I'm used to using a lot of German knives,which are very hard and a whack at the tendon bottom will sever them.

I know my comp Forschners are very sharp,but not too hard steel.

I had been trimming some huge packers and my new Forschner was at hand,so I used it.

I neatly put two indentations ,deep into the edge,where it hit a tendon twice.

I called Ben[who makes our EdgePro sharpeners],out in the NW and sent him my knife.

He laughed,resharpened the blade and left the two dents as a reminder to use wire cutters from then on.

Smokin's is bigger than mine.

I was going to get the 14" Cimeter, 14" bread knife and 14" meat slicer, but when placed into a horizontal knife rack, they wouldn't fit into my kitchen drawers. Went with the 12" versions.

Tom. Next time you do a turkey, would you consider taking pictures to show us how you trim/cut the tendons and how the finished product should look?

Not an argument with "the bigger is better",but sometime it is the use of the instrument.

Even some good butchers may break down a beef 1/4,or half with a six in boning knife.

The team has 12 and 14 in granton edge slicers for briskets.

The 14 in can be more flexible and a little more difficult to use well.On an overcooked packer that weighs 20 lbs,you might want the length to push straight down thru the meat and it is great.

On a 16 lb,trimmed to 14 lb,and cooked down to 10,the twelve inch may work better for us to get very exact slices.

Of course,we all have way more knives than we need,and our two-or three favorites.

This thread need not even touch on electric,and cordless electric knives for slicing.

Smokin' will correctly tell us to start a new thread-so folks can find the info.

Yea. From trimming full spares to knives. I thread jacked my own thread. Oh. Oh. Another sleepless night for Smokin.

While we're on the subject,guess I won't be trimming any spares. I just got back from Sam's and the IPB loinbacks were on special 2.47/lb. Dang couldn't past up a couple big packs of them.

I guess I don't need one of those scarey knifes for these?

Nope ,just peel the membrane off the back,cook at about 250*,for a little over 3 hrs,until you check them with the toothpick for doneness,no tricks needed,just eat them.

I see Tyson has bought the brand,hopefully they don't become Tyson/Smithfield ribs.At least Sam's doesn't sell the injected ones.

On a scale of 1-10 (10 being hardest), how difficult is it two trim the spares St. Louis style?

I need to do about 6 slabs for a cookout this weekend and am debating between having my favorite butcher do it and buying the ribs at Restaurant Depot and doing them myself. I don't own a Cimetar but have other knifes that should work just fine.

quote:

Originally posted by SlimJim:
On a scale of 1-10 (10 being hardest), how difficult is it two trim the spares St. Louis style?

Honestly? I'd say a 2.

You just need a sharp knife. Don't pay a butcher money to do it. With 6 slabs, you can learn fast and by the 6th one you'll be saying "Ole' Smokin was right it's not that hard"

I took some photo recently and I'll post them. There are also some good sites out there.

It's not that hard with a SHARP knife.

Well. It might be a 2 for Smokin, but it's a 3 for the rest of us.

Honestly, it's not difficult. I just wanted mine clean cause I had a little cartilage with the ribs. They still turned out great. Any good sharp knife will do the job. The Cimetar just looks good when you use it in front of company.

Here is a good Video on how to trim Spares to St. Louis style. Should be required for all beginners. Save $$ instead of buying the babybacks.
http://video.aol.com/video-det...bulletcom/4098142461

Thanks guys, I'm going for it!

I'll post my photos shortly, waiting for a server fix before I can. Chris' Video is good, some day I'll do Video's too, but for now it will be photos.

I saw some other videos on trimming spares on YouTube as well. It looked easy enough, but wanted to hear from the experts first.

One more question. The RD spares say "Spare Ribs Lite" on the package. And something like rib 4.2 and down. What does the lite mean and is that a good section on the ribs?

Never heard that term "lite" used with ribs My guess is per PD, they charged you to make them "lite"

You'll just have to look at them and see. They can get pretty creative about trimming, but leaving some extra pieces on to increase weight.

Key is regardless of what you get, learn the structure of the ribs and you CAN trim them yourself.

Posted some new photos here:

http://forum.cookshack.com/eve...=759107924#759107924

Thanks SO. The lite was a typo on their label for "light" which apparently is the size of the slab. 4.2lbs or less for light. I didn't see other sizes, but supposedly that have a medium and heavy too.

Nice pics by the way.

Thanks for all of your help. The trimming was a breeze and I still have all my fingers too!

The membrane on some of them was a little tricky, but I'll get better at it with time.

You guys saved me a bunch of cash and I'm loving Restaurant Depot!

I have reviewed several St. Louis threads and feel good about how the trimming went. Smoking them tomorrow. What do I do with all the trimmings? I have trimmings from three racks and don't want to waste.

quote:

Originally posted by SmokinOkie:
Posted some new photos here:

http://forum.cookshack.com/eve...=759107924#759107924

OK-Went to this link and got some ideas.
Smokin- The pics at this link have disappeared. Can you fix?

quote:

Originally posted by iSmoke:
I have reviewed several St. Louis threads and feel good about how the trimming went. Smoking them tomorrow. What do I do with all the trimmings? I have trimmings from three racks and don't want to waste.

RIB TIPS!!! YUM!

Cook's treats. They'll finish earlier than the ribs. As they finish, munchies.

Put the ribs in at 6:15 this morning, but without the trimmings because I wasn't sure what to do with them. No cook's treats! Took AndyJ's suggestion and did a search for Rib Tips. I'd seen posts about them before, but it wasn't a priority at the time. Think I will smoke tips after company leaves this afternoon and freeze the other trimmings for another use (something else to learn).

I am using the Trigg, MaxQ, Pags treatment on my spares with high hope of a good lunch!

For rib tips, cook the trimmings as you would ribs, but cook them til they are a little more done than your ribs would normally be. There are no bones, just the cartilage, so over cooking just a little makes it much easier to eat. When done, cut them up into bite size pieces, toss with some of your favorite sauce and serve.

I smoke the trim with the ribs then cool and pick all bones etc. out, pulse in a food processor to an acceptable chunk and then vacu-seal in one lb. pouches for use as a add-in for beans or anything else that strikes my fancy.

Nothing ever goes to waste.

quote:

Originally posted by iSmoke:

quote:

Originally posted by SmokinOkie:
Posted some new photos here:

http://forum.cookshack.com/eve...=759107924#759107924

OK-Went to this link and got some ideas.
Smokin- The pics at this link have disappeared. Can you fix?

It'll take time, but I'll upload them to the new location in Photobucket so you can see all my photos in one album. Give me some time.

In the meantime, check out my video in Ribs 101, it's a better option at the top of this sub-forum or here you go:

Spare Ribs (trimming to St. Louis)

Baby Backs