Jumbo Baby Backs

Several years ago we purchased some 3-3 1/2 lb racks of babybacks distributed by The Custom Rib Company(Ribman)that were outstanding. Apparently they are no longer producing the product. Does anyone know of a similar product? Thanks.

quote:

Originally posted by dogmeat

Several years ago we purchased some 3-3 1/2 lb racks of babybacks distributed by The Custom Rib Company(Ribman)that were outstanding. Apparently they are no longer producing the product. Does anyone know of a similar product? Thanks.

My first thought was that they just started calling them "spare ribs" which, at 3-3½ lbs, would make more sense. After Googling the "Ribman", I wondered if these Baby-Back "Filets" are what they mean.
http://www.ribman.com/crc/products.html

dogmeat,
call your supplier and tell them you want #422 Loin,Back Ribs in weight range D.
namp book shows these as being 2 1/4 pounds and up.
jack
ps. if you are looking for really big ribs then go for the #416 sparerib in weight range d which are listed as 5 1/2 pounds and up.
be advised that in either case the bigger the rib the older the animal in must cases. hence they tend to run to the tough side

Thanks Prisonchef, I'll give that a try. Hormel has a product that is 2.75 and down (babyback) so I've got some ordered for the smoker. The interesting thing about The Custom Ribs was that the rib was trimmed extremely well and the additional meat was almost 100% lean stacked on top of the rib. Their advertising claimed that they held a patent on the trim/process ! How's St.Augustine treating you?

not too shabby. caught the flu from the nasty yankee tourists but other than that i am doing fine
how's things your way??

Melrose still only has one red light and that's fine by me. Are the tourists a big part of your business? Trying to get a rib gig going along with the seafood. I should have the back ribs in the morning smoking on the Southern Pride! I love the smell of Black Jack Oak smoke in the morning.

nope tourists in fact cause our farmers market business to fall off by about 20 to 25%. our core group of customers simply will not deal with them as everyone gets pretty tired of hearing how great it is up north,ect.
funny part is among the better restarants down here the tourist factor is not even a part of the equation...now the tourist trap places that a whole new story
didn't know you had a southern pride. we have two of them where i work part time with the gas kickers. really nice smokers!!!!!!
oh, by the way when i do baby's for comps i go at 165 for 4 hours then wrap in film and then foil and refrigerate until the next morning. they go back in wrapped right after the chicken comes out so that temp is around 350-375f and falling. after an hour i unwrap and glaze and set them back in just to set it. seems to work ok got 8th at the last contest. these are 1 1/2 downs but you can adjust for the big ones. just thought i'd shoot ya that as an idea
jack
ps. the above is for an fec. for the sm the temp isn't as high and there it is for production.ok what the heck here is the full production break out;
165f for 4 hours
take out wrap in film,wrap in foil
refrigerate overnite
275f for 2 hours
unwrap and glaze
back in 30 mins +/-
method lets you cook a bunch a head, chill (or freeze) and use as needed.

Prisonchef,thanks for the cooking information, I'll give it a run in the morning. I've got two different brands of the heavier ribs so I'll adjust the cooking times, really like the idea of the overnight cooling and reheating process. Sounds like you got it down.

We'll smoke about three cases of salmon (120 lbs) tomorrow night for the weekend after I get the ribs off. I'll let you know about the big baby backs and how they cook. I use a small amount of blended olive oil and a low salt dry rub on the ribs several hours before cooking and serve the sauce on the side. We make a respectable Datil Pepper tomato based sauce and a spicy Blueberry (from Melrose) BBQ Herb sauce. It's Fun!!

Update - jumbo ribs that came in were 3lbs + babybacks but they were from older animals and tasted like it! I guess the "Filet" of Babyback is dead or at least not being produced at this time (according to Hormel).

dogmeat,
try one cyro of 2.5 downs. maybe what you are trying to hit. carolina pride is pretty good on 4.5 up spares but never tried the backs from them. doesnt mean they arent hard to cook tho