St. Louis ribs

I've just realized there's a void in my barbeque knowledge. I had some great ribs this weekend, but the purveyor insisted on calling them St. Louis ribs. Can somebody tell me what differentiates St. Louis ribs from anybody else's? I don't think it's the sauce. It must have to do with how they're cut.

Well, I was curious, and feel a bit guilty about having lived abourt two hours west of St.Louis, on and off, for 5 years without having been to a serious rib place, so I looked on (Missouri-based) Burgers' Smokehouse's website. (I can vouch for their bacon, at least). They said...

"St.Louis-style" ribs "refers to how the ribs are trimmed. We remove the lower most wasteful portion of the ribs leaving the center bone only."

Now it's midnight, and I'm hungry for ribs.

St. Louis ribs are trimmed of the chine or breast bone area. I wouldn't call this portion "wasteful", since the breast bone portion, although somewhat fatty, is also the tastiest, and is the area where the tips, so loved in Chicago, are cut from.

quote:

Originally posted by Alexander

St. Louis ribs are trimmed of the chine or breast bone area. I wouldn't call this portion "wasteful", since the breast bone portion, although somewhat fatty, is also the tastiest, and is the area where the tips, so loved in Chicago, are cut from.

I agree that they are a tasty part of the spare rib also. I do trim my spares to a St. Louis cut. But I put the trimmings on the lower grid on my WSMs while the ribs on the top rack. With the slight difference in temps, they come out about the same time. I keep the trimmings either for snacks or I strip the meat and chop it up to use in my beans.

John