??-??-? What times for St Louis ribs

Weather, family responsibilities and work have conspired to keep me from doing my inaugural cook on my CG. This weekend is it!! I've got 4 racks of ribs sitting in the fridge and I'm so excited to get going.

Here's my problem. My wife picked up 4 racks of ribs for me at Whole Foods. I told her to get Spares, and she says she asked for Spare Ribs. What she came home with are St Louis ribs. Now in her defense the label says St Louis Spare Ribs.

I looked around here and I saw the 3-2-1 method is for Spares and 2-2-1 is for Baby Backs. What time do you guys recommend for St Louis style ribs on the CG w/ SFB? Thanks in advance.

Jim

Don't have a Cg but do know the St louis ribs are spares its how they are cut. St louis or Kansas city check this out http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/ribse ... tml#styles

Jim, St Louis Spare Ribs are regular spares with the cartilage tips cut off. This is the way I normally prepare mine for 3-2-1. I cook the tips the same way as I do the ribs. The tips can the be "snacked" on or used to flavor beans. usually leave the shirt on but if you remove it then you have a Kansas City style spare rib.

yep, follow bob's advise and use 3-2-1 for your st. louis cut spares. fwiw... this is the cut i always use for spares but i usually trim them myself. i find the larger cut more difficult to eat.

Thanks for the link. That was some very interesting & informative reading. I PDF'd it and saved it into my cooking references folder.

In reality what I have are 4 racks of what they are calling Kansas City Style in the Virtual Weber link. They are closer to Baby Backs in size than full untrimmed Spare Ribs. Each rack is about a foot long and 5" wide. These ribs are definitely smaller in size than the ribs shown in the "How to Smoke Spare Ribs" pg 134 in HTG. That is why I'm unsure about the time. How long do people do the Kansas City version for?

Jim

cook them the same as the st. louis ribs. the only difference between st. louis and kc is the flap of meat on the back is cut off on the kc ribs.

Thanks chunk and Bob. That picture Bob put up, together with the Virtual Weber link were very informative.

3-2-1 it is. T-minus 24 hours and counting. Don't know whether I should break a bottle of BBQ sauce over the CG in honor of the maiden voyage. I'll probably just have a beer.

Jim

Got some rib racks coming any day now. Can I do the 3-2-1 with rib racks? Will the racks take the ribs with the foil?

I may be the voic eof the minority here, but 3-2-1 will likely give you too tender (ie, mushy) ribs.

Also, remember that 3-2-1 is just a guide. You'll proabably find 3-1-1 more appropriate for the ribs you describe.

In doing reading here about foiling the ribs, it sounds like the tighter and more airtight you wrap them the better. I've never foiled ribs on the gas grille due to the shorter cook time. I do know the Weber rib racks I've used on my gas grill would have no problem with foiled ribs.

Jim

I smoked some ribs last weekend and did a side by side test with two racks. One I cooked 3-2-1 which was wrapped in foil for the two hour period and the other I cooked 3-0-3 6 hours unwrapped (no foil used ) and continued to spray with apple juice. Neither rack was falling off the bone or had mushy meat but both were very tender. The 3-2-1 rack was slightly more tender but the biggest difference was it had more of the fat rendered out of the meat than the unwrapped one.

The 3-2-1 was glazed with Apple-Jalapeno pepper jelly and the other with strawberry habanero. Both were delicious.

Bob, you are killin' me man. I'm chompin' at the bit as it is. Those ribs sound great.

BTW Do you flip them up side down at any point or spray the underside? TIA

Jim

No, I've never flipped ribs, or brisket, or pork shoulder or BCC's in the smoker. As long as the heat is evenly distributed I leave it along. I have moved or rotated due to hot spots but never flipped. Now occasionally I will spritz the bottom by spraying up through the wire rack that they're sitting on but I've never been adimate about it or even kept track.

I'm with Bob, I have never flipped either; although, some friends of mine who do well at bbq competitions says its a good idea because it is supposed to help the meat cook evenly. I have never had to flip and my stuff comes out great! All-in-all, I thinks its just a matter of preference.

Tony

I like snacking on the trimmings I have taken to doing them on realgrilling .com Indirect grill and when done remove wrap tightly in foil for 30minutes or more it has realy worked out for me