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Jackie from Jersey

What happens if you don't trim ribs?

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Oh, ok, you can either cut them and make them St.Louis ribs or cook them whole. I've cooked the rib tips, thats what you get when you cut the ribs straight down at the point where the cartilidge meets the hard bone, the "joint "looks like a little knob, a good sharp knife will easily navigate through. Barbecue them along with the other portion of ribs,or save them for later. My wife like to cook them up in a big pot of spaghetti sauce.

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Dry or Wet?

I have always used dry rub on ribs. I put sauce (warmed) on the side for those folks that like some on thier ribs, but haave found that dry rubs impart great flavor and with the KK they are not dried out at all, very juicy.

If you have not tried dry rubs, give 'em a shot on one of those three emats, you're goin' luv it!

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That meaty flap on the bottom is called the skirt, and its the chefs "incentive" for cooking the ribs. Since, when removed and cooked along with the ribs on the smoker, its done in half the time and therefore makes a nice treat for the chef.

BTW, if you havent trimmed you own ribs before, there is a nice writeup and video on how to do so on the Virtual Weber Bullet.

http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/spareribprep.html

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I always dry rub the untrimmed ribs (pulling off the membrane of course), in part because I'm lazy and I can compute 0.8% salt off the package weight. (For me, 0.6% salt is too little, 1% salt is too much, and I've never seen anyone who doesn't do this at least weekly who can reliably hit this "strike zone" by eye.)

Then, I quickly pan fry the trimmings, when the ribs go in the cooker. There is no better lean port, period, than trimmings from ribs. I wish I could buy them as a cut, for all my cooking, e.g. asian dishes that call for a "bit" of pork.

They're good left on, but not as good as pilfered.

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Kurobuta pork is the Japanese name for a heritage breed of pork called Berkshire. Prized for hundreds of years in England by the royals, it was a gift to the Japanese delivered by Oliver Cromwell, if I remember corectly. It's also known as black pork due to the black skin(duh), the finest dried hams made from Berkshire pork comes from Spain and Italy (and now Iowa!)Prosciutto, Serrano and Jamon Iberico. The fresh meat is purported to be juicier and has a distinct flavor that I'm not real fond of, a little too pungeant to me, I prefer Duroc pork myself.

_________________

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heritage breed of pork called Berkshire. ...

One of my favorite meat brands is Niman Ranch, except that they've gotten pricey enough to make me shop around. But their opinion on Berkshire pork is interesting: First and foremost, they like their pigs to live outside in the winter, and like dogs, purebreds are at a distinct genetic disadvantage to mutts. So they prefer Berkshire crosses.

Alas, with all of these good intentions, their sleep-in-the-cold pork often ends up with simply too much fat to make ideal bbq.

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It's been an interesting education regarding meat cuts and qualities. Some of you folks have got some expensive taste! lol

It seems it's more of the sear cooking that gets the higher quality meats, right? After all, who would cook a high quality piece of meat lo and slo? That type of cooking is for us simple brisket and pork butt types, right!?! :lol::lol::lol:

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After all' date=' who would cook a high quality piece of meat lo and slo?[/quote']

Quality and cut are on different axes!

One can get great quality spareribs and butt by shopping the right supply. Except for specialists like Niman Ranch, pork rarely commands a staggering premium. Like buying a used car, buying the best quality is by far the best value.

Alas, beef. The best two briskets I've ever made set me back $60-$80 for the meat. I wish it weren't so, but I'd be dishonest to say otherwise. BBQ may have origins as a "salvage" technique, though one suspects a "generic" animal in those days was better treated, not by good will but thanks to the lack of technology to treat them as poorly as is possible today. And BBQ can work minor miracles with limited ingredients. However, in all of cooking including BBQ, the quality of the ingredients is pivotal. With good technique and good ingredients, one's cooking advances by getting any other ideas out of one's head.

Quality doesn't necessarily mean price, but in a well-informed market it tends to mean price. The one saving grace of BBQ cuts is that any cut that cooks quickly commands a premium; we're only competing with other cooks willing to put in the work for slow cooking.

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I am mildly annoyed, as hard as it is to get my goat online. You paid how much for your cooker, and you're trying to McCain me ("oh, I'm so working class!") by romanticizing cheap ingredients? Believe what you like, but a river in Egypt doesn't make anyone a better cook.

I'm sure the judges favor classic style, and have serious pent-up hostility toward "precious" ingredients, but don't doubt for an instant that part of competitive technique is the ingredient selection process.

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wow...now everybody knows how to get your goat. ;):D Just because people purchase a nice BBQ doesn't mean they don't appreciate a bargain. No need to politicize it, we are a BBQ forum. As I recall you said it didn't get your goat when the tiles fell off your K7 because you got if for a bargain price.

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Not the quality of the meat that dictates searing or low

It seems it's more of the sear cooking that gets the higher quality meats, right? After all, who would cook a high quality piece of meat lo and slo?

It's not the quality of the meat that dictates searing or low and slow, it's the cut. Groups of muscle that don't get much use don't have the inedible gristle and connective tissue that melts and turns to collagen during low and slow cooks..

I don't care what the quality of a brisket or chuck is, you are going to cook it low and slow..

The worst tenderloin will still and always be seared and cooked as a steak.. It's does not have the nasty gristle that needs to be melted in a L&S.

The best Q'er will produce better Q with high quality produce..

He can produce tasty Q with lower quality produce but the better quality will win. When I took the Chris Lilly competition class he told wild stories of contestants before large competitions going to huge meat packing places and fondling meat for hours to get the perfect pieces..

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