Types of British ribs?

[crphillips]

I've bought ribs a couple of times from some decent butchers now. The ribs always come as a rack but they have the tendons (sorry if this is the wrong terminology) attached to the ribs bones. Do you normally trim the part with the tendons in or do you just cook it with them? There's quite a lot of meat in this part but also a lot of fat? All the videos I see online just show ribs and meat and you can cut between the bones with a knife. If I cut between the bones I end up cutting through the tendons at one end which leaves little grizzly bits in the meat.

[British BBQ Society]

sounds like you are getting standard spares. in the states they use the same part but its prepped and sold differently, ie the tips removed then becomes a st louis cut. If you buy babybacks you dont get that area. For my own use I dont trim the spares because the meat around the top is often the most tender.

[crphillips]

Thanks for the reply.

Yeah I've tended to leave it on as it has a lot of fat in that section which is good for flavour. I just wondered whether this was generally trimmed off or whether it was just personal preference and I think you've answered my question.

I think if I'm cooking for myself I'll leave them on but if cooking for others I'll trim them so they don't get grizzly bits in their mouth. I could always trim after cooking to retain the juice and flavour from the fat contained within the section during cooking.

Either that or I could trim it off prior to smoking and make a pork stock from them to use when I wrap them in foil.

[Steve]

I usually do a St Lois cut then cook the tips up as well, then I cut the tips into portions. They are great, full of flavour.

[crphillips]

Ah so you cook them as separate items? That sounds like the best idea.

What is your opinion on frozen ribs. The last lot I bought were frozen from the butchers......I found them tougher than the ones I bought last time. I'm assuming fresh ribs that have never been frozen are best?

[Steve]

I quite often buy boxes of frozen ribs from Booker. They're meatier than anything else I've been able to get. They cook up great.

My butcher actually reckons that freezing and thawing can help with tenderness. I'm not convinced on this but it may be true.

[tired.banchini]

I've bought ribs a couple of times from some decent butchers now. The ribs always come as a rack but they have the tendons (sorry if this is the wrong terminology) attached to the ribs bones. Do you normally trim the part with the tendons in or do you just cook it with them? There's quite a lot of meat in this part but also a lot of fat? All the videos I see online just show ribs and meat and you can cut between the bones with a knife. If I cut between the bones I end up cutting through the tendons at one end which leaves little grizzly bits in the meat.

I am venturing out to the butchers this week to buy my first butcher bought ribs and wondered if someone can clear up what is the standard/ defacto ribs I should be asking for? Most of the material I review is US based and seems to differ slightly from UK.

Also can you advise on how I should ask the butcher to prepare them? Are they normally bought frozen?

Thanks
TB.

[JEC]

Lots of people say that frozen ribs are drier, it has often been said that the pink water that is left in the bag is the moistness from the rib, not sure I entirely agree but freezing meat does result in an overall loss in moisture, try it for yourself, weigh a piece of meat, freeze, defrost it and weigh it again, it will be lighter, not much but there is a loss there. That said froozen meat does have it's uses.

[British BBQ Society]

Standard ribs over here are spares, st louis style is just cutting them down and you wont find babyback with decent meat due to our love for back bacon which isnt eaten much if at all in the states.