I can't believe I did it…or...will be doing it... but it is true! I am switching this year. I am going to pork spare ribs and away from baby backs for the 3rd Annual Atlanta BBQ Competition. I need to work on my rib cleaning skills, but besides that, I can no longer deny that they are a better tasting, tenderer cut for smoking! They are larger, meatier, absorb more smoke taste and overall appearance is like something out of the Flintstones where Fred orders ribs that tip over the car! I admit I tweaked the recipe and process a little but not that much to make this much of a difference….yep I admit it! I shigged Johnny Trigg!!
The spare rib cut is about twice the size of the baby back, however after trimming you are not that much larger than the baby back. You do have more meat though, and the bones are bigger. You have to cut off a flap of meat (which is a taster while you are cooking) and then peel off the membrane from the back. Then find the bones and cut everything off above the bones. This was difficult for me the first time, but after watching a video on U-tube on how to do this….I think I will be much better at trimming right down to the bone going forward. What you are left with is a rack of ribs that has some nice marbling and has a bit more cooking surface than a baby back.
The cooking process is about the same for me. I borrowed some tips I picked up watching Johnny Trigg on BBQ Pit Masters though. Now I will not call this true Shigging (shigging is where you steal ideas under the false pretense of having a conversation with a fellow BBQ person). I look at this more like educating myself on some different techniques and then fitting them into my scheme of cooking. I mean overall my rub is the same, my sauce is the same, and my cook times are the same. The only thing that really changed is the cut of meat and the "glaze" that I put into some foil when I wrap the ribs for cooking towards the end of the process. See Trigg (as far as I know) invented this glazing technique where you put your glaze ingredients and squeeze butter into the foil right on the ribs so that when they foil cook, they are not getting dry, they are adding flavor, and they look nicely glazed coming out of the foil. I think it worked! In the picture below you can see that these are more red then my previous Ribbage post. This is more the color I am looking for…maybe even redder!! It was not even just the look of them. It was the flavor profile that I really liked. First the spare rib has a better taste than the baby back. Besides that I have layers of flavor that include: mustard, rub (then they sit wrapped in plastic over night), apple and hickory smoke, butter, whiskey, honey, apple juice, vinegar, ScottyQ BBQ sauce (the best sauce there is!!), then finished on hot coals for a little bake on of all that flavor!
So...yeah, this has pushed me over to the spare rib fringe. The baby back is like the filet of rib cuts and is still a very good rib; however it does not absorb the flavors that the spare rib can pick up. Not to mention the overall difference in flavor that the spare rib already has. I am calling a last minute audible. This is not something I normally do. With the competition this coming weekend, there is no more time to practice. I hope it works out. I really want a pig trophy!!!
