smithfield ribs from walmart

[Untraceable]

 

[tduffy]

what area of the hog are they using to determine it's quality? Looks like the extra tender still falls in the top %20. I wouldn't call that lower quality meat.

 

[csmcvey]

For those using the extra tender butts - do you still inject or do you not b/c of the solution they add?

 

[Burnt at Both Endz]

what area of the hog are they using to determine it's quality? Looks like the extra tender still falls in the top %20. I wouldn't call that lower quality meat.

When I get to pick through 2 case of ribs to find three racks, I'm certain that those are better than the bottom few racks of Durocs I cooked last year when I wasn't lucky enough to pick and choose. Besides they are a hell of a lot meatier and straighter bones.

I'm with Big Poppa, let them cook whatever they want, but there is good choices available to the average cook at affordable prices and for that I thank Smithfield.

 

[jread23]

After reading through this thread, I went ahead and cooked two racks of these today. This is after years of avoiding enhanced ribs.

Neither my wife or I noticed any off or hammy flavors in the ribs and we were amazed at how juicy these were. One rack had more straight bones than I've seen in any rack of ribs lately while the other was more typical, a few straight bones and then the rest curved.

I'll definitely cook these again will do a side by side comparison next week with what I normally cook for competitions.

 

[gettinbasted]

For those using the extra tender butts - do you still inject or do you not b/c of the solution they add?

I still inject, but don't over do it.

 

[ITBFQ]

Exactly. Lower quality to what? What makes Smithfield ribs low quality is what I'd like to know. Over the last few years I've had no choice but to cook "enhanced" ribs because it's usually the only thing available in my area and I don't care to drive over 100 miles just to buy ribs that aren't. I've cooked these, hormel and tyson. Sometimes all 3 brands at the same contest. I questioned myself doing it because all I'd hear on this forum and several other places was how evil pumped ribs were and that they cannot win, yet when I cook them I get a tender, moist product that has always scored well for me. I've never understood the hatred for something that is done to a piece of meat during packaging that we do to the rest of our categories at the contest.

I agree. The ribs I buy are enhanced, but not from Wal-Mart. They score well for me and they are easy to get. No complaining here at all!

 

[Pappy Q]

Around here, Kroger is the big grocery chain. They carry "Moist & Tender" enchanced ribs and butts. They appear identical to Smithfield except for the labeling. Does anyone know if these are indeed a Smithfield product?

 

[swamprb]

I've been hearing about Smithfield pork products and came across some St. Louis cut spares at the local Safeway's. Single packs good selection to choose from and unenhanced. Only downside I wasn't thrilled about having to trim them up to get the cartilage off making them kinda small and the ones I ended up with wouldn't make it in a comp box.

I'm an admitted Babyback rib cooker/eater but we cooked the two racks alongside a rack of BB's and they turned out pretty damn good! Definitely will be looking them over better next time, and give them shot.

 

[Right on Q]

Around here, Kroger is the big grocery chain. They carry "Moist & Tender" enchanced ribs and butts. They appear identical to Smithfield except for the labeling. Does anyone know if these are indeed a Smithfield product?

SHHH! Don't let the secret out about the "Moist and Tender" Kroger ribs! I use those exclusively.

Actually I just got lucky because there is a Kroger right across the street from me and they've worked out pretty well for us.:crazy:

 

[tduffy]

When I get to pick through 2 case of ribs to find three racks, I'm certain that those are better than the bottom few racks of Durocs I cooked last year when I wasn't lucky enough to pick and choose. Besides they are a hell of a lot meatier and straighter bones.

I'm with Big Poppa, let them cook whatever they want, but there is good choices available to the average cook at affordable prices and for that I thank Smithfield.

I'm right with ya

 

[masque13]

^ yeh being a KY team here as well, Kroger has been a big part of the meat we buy. occasionally I get some ribs that aren't what I want but most times they are fine and the butts have always been good to me.

 

[GrillBillie_D]

FYI, you still have a few days to sign up for the "Smokin with Smithfield" contest. $5000 for both pork and ribs plus $180 for each perfect score. Registration closes on the 30th.

http://www.smokinwithsmithfield.com/

I can't get website to load? Is anybody else having problems with the website?

 

[masque13]

i just clicked on it it check for you and it wouldnt load for me either.

 

[Jousting Pigs]

Link is working now.

 

[Blanton]

This has been an interesting topic for sure. There is no doubt that there are some top team using these ribs and doing well, but you have to wonder, were these top teams before using these ribs and their talent to cook is the real success to these ribs.

It is natural business economics to find a channel for all product and eliminate waste. It seems logical for a company to take a product that could not sell as first quality, and find a new channel for it by enhancing and fill a new market space. So maybe the enhancement does bring them back up. Not knocking those that choose to cook them or their success. Just saying I don't beleive it to be a silver bullet to go after and chase.

I bet if top teams all posted about walks with non-wagyu we would see a frenzy over that too!

 

[bpeyton89]

To me the biggest revolution was simply learning that enhanced ribs are not evil. Like many I used to think that anything enhanced was terrible and not something I wanted to cook. Many teams now are injecting ribs for extra moisture and to keep them from drying out (myself included) Smithfield ribs are meaty, come in single packs, are easy to trim, and they've already injected them for me thus saving me 20 minutes. If I could afford compart durocs I would... but stuffs expensive.

 

[tduffy]

This has been an interesting topic for sure. There is no doubt that there are some top team using these ribs and doing well, but you have to wonder, were these top teams before using these ribs and their talent to cook is the real success to these ribs.

It is natural business economics to find a channel for all product and eliminate waste. It seems logical for a company to take a product that could not sell as first quality, and find a new channel for it by enhancing and fill a new market space. So maybe the enhancement does bring them back up. Not knocking those that choose to cook them or their success. Just saying I don't beleive it to be a silver bullet to go after and chase.

I bet if top teams all posted about walks with non-wagyu we would see a frenzy over that too!

Since when were these not first quality? That's what I want to know. Most of the enhanced ones I've bought have been better ribs than what they put in their "all natural" packaging.

 

[tduffy]

To me the biggest revolution was simply learning that enhanced ribs are not evil. Like many I used to think that anything enhanced was terrible and not something I wanted to cook. Many teams now are injecting ribs for extra moisture and to keep them from drying out (myself included) Smithfield ribs are meaty, come in single packs, are easy to trim, and they've already injected them for me thus saving me 20 minutes. If I could afford compart durocs I would... but stuffs expensive.

I wouldn't want them if I could afford them. I'm not paying that price to get 8 racks where 2 might be thick enough to cook at a contest.

 

[gettinbasted]

This has been an interesting topic for sure. There is no doubt that there are some top team using these ribs and doing well, but you have to wonder, were these top teams before using these ribs and their talent to cook is the real success to these ribs.

It is natural business economics to find a channel for all product and eliminate waste. It seems logical for a company to take a product that could not sell as first quality, and find a new channel for it by enhancing and fill a new market space. So maybe the enhancement does bring them back up. Not knocking those that choose to cook them or their success. Just saying I don't beleive it to be a silver bullet to go after and chase.

I bet if top teams all posted about walks with non-wagyu we would see a frenzy over that too!

Very good point. It is certainly not a silver bullet. You still have to cook and flavor them correctly. What I can tell you is the evolution that Tim (Shake'n Bake) and I went through to arrive at Smithfield Extra Tenders.

After the 2014 season, we both had good, but extremely inconsistent rib results so that winter we went to work to even that out. There were other top teams cooking enhanced ribs that do classes so we decided to give them a go alongside other options.

At the time Walmart was carrying Tyson brand enhanced ribs so we tested them and they were good, but not great. Late winter, they swapped the rib line nationally to Smithfield so we grabbed a set of those and they just popped. They were exactly what we wanted. We both ran Smithfield ET ribs the rest of the year. Right before the Royal Walmart switched back to Tysons which created the Great Rib Panic of 2015.

Calls were immediately placed to Keith Sisk of Price Chopper fame and we had him bring us 10 cases of ribs for the Royal and the rest of the year (resulting in the now infamous "Rib Angel" picture). It was that important to us.

The initial post was questioning the viability of these ribs in competition. The answer is that they are very viable. Will they fit you and your style? The only way to know is to grab a few racks and do some comparisons. Are there other options? Absolutely. We have great meat options out there available right now across the board. This is certainly one of them as are the Smithfield Primes if you want to enhance them yourself!