Rib pull back

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MikeJ65

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On my comp St. Louis ribs, I never seem to get consistent pull back. Some will have 1/4" or more and some will have the meat even with the bone. My main issue is that it is one more thing to try to match up for my box.

Any suggestions, or does everyone just live with it.
 
Interesting... I've never run into that myself. Might have to do with consistency of the thickness of the meat over the bones on the racks you're cooking. When the cutter trimmed the loin off the bone, it may not have been trimmed uniformly over each of the bones. I know that's why some racks have shiners. Maybe that's the issue? Or at least part of it? Sorry. Not sure.:sad:
 
I think Southern Home Boy is right. Try to find racks that are comparable to each other. While you don't want shiners, you don't want them too thick either.

That being said, if the tenderness is there, it really shouldn't matter. If you layer them in the box like most folks do, you won't see if there is pullback on the bottom layer anyways.
 
I have been cooking individually packed St. Louis that are pretty closely matched in weight (3.2-3.4 lbs/rack). The variation I see is more rack to rack or one end of the rack to the other.
 
I wouldn't sweat it. I've been judging KCBS for eight years, and I've never heard a judge mention the amount of bone showing on a rib entry as something they noticed in scoring presentation.

Focus on tenderness of the meat, not exposure of the bones.
 
No doubt...I hate taunting "secret" bs

I do it by creating a pocket of foil that is just on the bones. It will steam just that portion of the rib and cause pullback. Use a light liquid like apple juice.

Anyone else wanna give their method...
 
Fair enough. You've been called out Rub!

But again to emphasize my initial response - the amount of rib bone showing doesn't really matter to judges, at least in KCBS contests. With so many other things to deal with that DO matter, why worry about this at all?
 
Make sure the ribs are trimmed to where the bones are round not oblong. Then take a knife and go around the bone about 3/8ths deep.
 
Hawg Father of Seoul said:
That is pretty much the opposite of helping him.
Click to expand...
No the opposite of helping him would be giving mis-information. I said exactly where the info could be found.

And TooSaucedToPork it's not "taunting secret bs." I've given probably more information in person or at contests to friends, new teams, and strangers than 99% of the teams out there. It's unfortunate you feel I'm being mean.
 
I disagree that judges don't look at pull back on ribs. I know for a fact that judges in our area look for anything wrong with ribs to mark down appearance scores, ribs not cut straight (because bones are not straight), uneven pull back on the ribs, too much pull back, too little pull back. It is all under the close attention of the nit picky judge. Trust me, EVERYTHING matters!

Eggspert
 
Rub said:
No the opposite of helping him would be giving mis-information. I said exactly where the info could be found.

And TooSaucedToPork it's not "taunting secret bs." I've given probably more information in person or at contests to friends, new teams, and strangers than 99% of the teams out there. It's unfortunate you feel I'm being mean.
Click to expand...

99% , I stand corrected.

My opinion must be biased by meeting you at a contest.
 
CivilWarBBQ said:
But again to emphasize my initial response - the amount of rib bone showing doesn't really matter to judges, at least in KCBS contests. With so many other things to deal with that DO matter, why worry about this at all?
Click to expand...

I really don't care if I have pullback or not, I would just like for it to be consistent. I don't like having a couple of bones with a lot of pullback next to some that have none. I have to believe that this costs me appearance points.
 
Not being mean...took the opportunity to advertise your class, and the what you will learn there, rather than answer his question. Not mean, just self promotion ;-)

I'm glad you give BBQ advice freely, that is rare nowadays. No offense meant.
Don't mind me, I'm just jaded because when I started in comp BBQ 20 years ago, advice was given free amongst bbqers...Our team still lives by that mantra.
 
Rich Parker said:
Pull back on a rib bone doesn't mean anything. Scoring something like that down is idiotic.
Click to expand...

But judges do it...I've sat next to one that scored it a 7...it was prettier than most of the ribs I have cooked. His reason...it's not correctly cooked because the meat did not recess from the bone.

It was perfect, I gave it a nine.
 
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