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Originally Posted by jspchief
Couldn't disagree more on baby/loin back vs st louis style ribs. Too much junk meat on st. louis.
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Junk meat? After five hours of smoking, coming off pork ribs, there is no such thing as junk meat.
It's all personal preference though. I just don't see the logic in paying extra for having all the meat trimmed off.
However, if you are presenting for a competition, you better be serving St. Louis cut ribs.
From Meathead's excellent site:
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Spareribs (a.k.a. spares, a.k.a. side ribs). Spareribs are not like spare tires. They are not extras, leftovers, or an inferior cut. Nor are they so named because the meat is scanty. They contain excellent meat, usually richer and more flavorful than baby backs. Many chefs prefer spares to baby back ribs.
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St. Louis cut ribs (a.k.a. SLC a.k.a. barbecue cut, a.k.a. Kansas City cut). Take a slab of spareribs, lop off the gristly rib tips (in the picture above, they are along the bottom), and what remains is a flat rectangular slab called the St. Louis cut (in the picture above, the SLC is at the top) and a flap of meat that is usually removed and set aside for grinding. Because the 10 to 13 rib bones are straight and flat, they are the best cut for recipes that require the ribs to be browned in a frying pan on the stovetop. Some butchers call SLC spareribs, but because the tips have been removed, technically they are no longer spares. They are also sometimes called barbecue cut, or Kansas City cut.
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Baby back ribs (a.k.a. back ribs, a.k.a. baby backs, a.k.a. loin back ribs, a.k.a. loin ribs, a.k.a. Canadian back ribs). Connected to the backbone, nestled beneath the loin muscle, are the most tender and leanest ribs, baby backs. No, they do not come from baby pigs. They are called "babies" because they are shorter than spareribs. A typical full slab has 11 to 13 bones. The slab is tapered at one end, with the shortest bones only about 3" and the longest about 6".
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I personally prefer the spare ribs. (See my previous photos in this thread from yesterday. That's what got smoked.) But I like a little meat on the bone.