picking out competition spare ribs

BigD'sTarheelBBQ · Apr 20, 2014

If there is a thread for this point me in the right direction.

Is there a trick to picking out spares with straight ribs??? I looked thru several racks and picked out the ones I thought were best. Cut into them at the competition and I had J bones. Barely had enough for my box. Took first place in ribs though. Backyard team. Thanks for info.

Jason TQ · Apr 20, 2014

First place with crooked bones is pretty good :-D. I used to worry about getting all straight bones, but since I get mine from Restaurant Depot a lot of times they come in 4 packs and I can't see the middle 2 so it was always a roll of the dice. Then after getting two of my best calls last year with the crooked racks I stopped worrying. Now I do look at the outer racks to try and find straight bones, but I more importantly look for marbling, no shiners and a consistent weight.

Garrett · Apr 20, 2014

Only thing I do is when I'm at the store picking out the ribs, I pick up each pack and rub each bone pretty hard so I can feel the direction of it. You can get some pretty funny looks from other people who have no idea what you're doing.

But it sounds like you know your way around ribs. Congrats!!!

J&B'sBBQ · Apr 20, 2014

fnbish said:
First place with crooked bones is pretty good :-D. I used to worry about getting all straight bones, but since I get mine from Restaurant Depot a lot of times they come in 4 packs and I can't see the middle 2 so it was always a roll of the dice. Then after getting two of my best calls last year with the crooked racks I stopped worrying. Now I do look at the outer racks to try and find straight bones, but I more importantly look for marbling, no shiners and a consistent weight.

I'm with Jason...I stopped trying to find straight bones, and look more for shiners and fat content. If you cut your ribs face down, you can compensate for crooked bones to still get straight cuts. When I look for my packs at RD I usually try to buy the ones that are two to a pack (4 if that is all they have), and I look at the fronts really closely for shiners and good fat striations, then I flip to the back and make sure that there aren't any noticeable shiners on the back. If they are both facing out, even better! I can compensate for shiners on the back as long as the front is pretty

. The ribs we turned in at Cornelia this Saturday were some of the most crooked bones I've ever put in a box, and had a few nasty shiners on the back by the end of the cook...

BigD'sTarheelBBQ · Apr 20, 2014

Thanks guys! I know know why everyone cooks more than one rack! Thank god I cooked three. One was mush and the other two close to mush... what weight do you shoot to get? The three racks I cooked was in the 11 pound pre trimmed range.

Head Foolz · Apr 21, 2014

Ah yesssss, the dreaded Jack Torrance. As in the title....patience will prevail with a cunning butcher/meat vendor.

Burnt at Both Endz · Apr 21, 2014

BigD'sTarheelBBQ said:
Thanks guys! I know know why everyone cooks more than one rack! Thank god I cooked three. One was mush and the other two close to mush... what weight do you shoot to get? The three racks I cooked was in the 11 pound pre trimmed range.

I buy mine one per cryo, that would be 3lbs....:thumb:

Don't have problem with crooked bones....:heh:

toymaster · Apr 21, 2014

fnbish said:
First place with crooked bones is pretty good :-D. I used to worry about getting all straight bones, but since I get mine from Restaurant Depot a lot of times they come in 4 packs and I can't see the middle 2 so it was always a roll of the dice. Then after getting two of my best calls last year with the crooked racks I stopped worrying. Now I do look at the outer racks to try and find straight bones, but I more importantly look for marbling, no shiners and a consistent weight.

Ditto. I'm more concerned with marbling and weight. You can spend hours going thru all the ribs looking for the "perfect rack"

The Pig's Blanket · Apr 21, 2014

Shiners? What does that mean

Big Mike · Apr 21, 2014

A shiner is where the meat has been trimmed so close that it exposes the top of the rib bone.

BigDs - I am fortunate to get my ribs from a neighborhood IGA. The ribs are not in a cryovac so they actually hold them up and let me inspect each rack for straight bones, nice spacing between the bones, thickness and fattiness.

BigD'sTarheelBBQ · Apr 21, 2014

Thanks. Ill have to practice my cutting technique haha. I noticed my typo earlier... I meant they were around 5 pounds pre trimmed not 11. They cost about 11 dollars haha. I was definitely shocked when they called me for first place ribs... J&B's was standing close by and probably heard me say I won first with those ugly ribs!!! Haha pretty much paid for the weekend so thank God for that!

mchar69 · Apr 21, 2014

Congrats BigD Tarheel on the ribs. Gotta be scary
cooking a comp! How 'bout a pic of the winning box?

Genghis John · Apr 21, 2014

I have customers, most of them competition bbq'ers, that are extremely picky about their ribs. Straightness of the bones seems to be what they're most concerned about.

As mentioned by a few others, they'll also wind up picking the fattier ribs that others seem to pass by.

Seems like you're doing well though, keep it up.

BigD'sTarheelBBQ · Apr 22, 2014

Ha ill try to post a picture of the "winning" box. It truly was the ugliest box ever haha. It was pretty scary cooking in my first comp. Now im ready to do it again! Ive spent alot of time watch youtube videos, reading books and trolling the brethen site!

BigD'sTarheelBBQ · Apr 22, 2014

Ugly I know. Bottom middle rib looks like a bite was taken out of it... They were over cooked and I could barely cut them plus bones giving me fits... I had six very nice judges haha

Big Mike · Apr 22, 2014

I was gonna ask if you did some taste testing on that middle rib.

Make sure your knife is very sharp for cutting your ribs. I use an extremely sharp, thin bladed knife to try and ensure I get nice clean cuts.

BigD'sTarheelBBQ · Apr 22, 2014

What kind of knife do you use?

J&B'sBBQ · Apr 22, 2014

BigD'sTarheelBBQ said:
Thanks. Ill have to practice my cutting technique haha. I noticed my typo earlier... I meant they were around 5 pounds pre trimmed not 11. They cost about 11 dollars haha. I was definitely shocked when they called me for first place ribs... J&B's was standing close by and probably heard me say I won first with those ugly ribs!!! Haha pretty much paid for the weekend so thank God for that!

Well I guess both 1st place trophies in ribs went to crooked bones that day because I can promise you ours were not straight either! It's just all in how you cut them

. One bit of advice (unsolicited, I know), maybe try keeping them squished together when you put them in the box instead of leaving green between...you can hide crooked cuts better that way (usually).

Jason TQ · Apr 22, 2014

I really like my victorinox slicing knife

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Victorinox-12-Inch-Granton-Slicing-Fibrox/dp/B0000CFDB9/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1398216326&sr=8-1&keywords=victorinox+slicing+knife"]Amazon.com: Victorinox 12-Inch Granton Edge Slicing Knife with Fibrox Handle: Kitchen & Dining@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/4140Vp-Yz1L.@@AMEPARAM@@4140Vp-Yz1L[/ame]

Big Mike · Apr 22, 2014

BigD'sTarheelBBQ said:
What kind of knife do you use?

I use the Victorinox that Fnbish posted above. It is also my brisket slicer

picking out competition spare ribs

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