Help Me Decide: St Louis or Baby Back

[dflaher]

Having some out of town family coming in and I'm planning to smoke ribs this weekend. Struggling between which cut to do. I've read that St Louis has more meat and bone, and should take a little longer to cook, while back ribs are more tender but less meat.

Any thoughts? I plan to use the 321 method. Thanks.

 

[JPSBBQ]

Having some out of town family coming in and I'm planning to smoke ribs this weekend. Struggling between which cut to do. I've read that St Louis has more meat and bone, and should take a little longer to cook, while back ribs are more tender but less meat.

Any thoughts? I plan to use the 321 method. Thanks.

I used to cook BB ribs a lot and now cook Stl cut spares most of the time. Baby backs are not more tender. In fact just the opposite because they are leaner. Either is acceptable and if you are not experienced, maybe baby backs would be easier for you to start with. They have less fat to render and will cook faster like you said. I actually temp my ribs at @ 203 internal temp for a finish temp. Good luck, ribs are good no matter what. They are my favorite cook and require a bit of effort to master. The window for perfection is a narrow one. That said, I’m confident you will nail them. Enjoy!

 

[Timmy]

Personally I don’t like the St Louis ribs because of the little bones on the end. My fam likes the baby backs better.

 

[Slimpicker]

while back ribs are more tender but less meat.

That is not always true, baby backs can have more meat over the rib area. Compared to a FULL RACK of ribs, the FULL RACK has more meat but you said STL style, STL style cuts OFF the top meat, usually trimmed down by cutting away the hard breastbone and chewy cartilage so your Bbacks will be more meat and more tender.

 

[CMTiger]

I prefer baby back

 

[Slimpicker]

Personally I don’t like the St Louis ribs because of the little bones on the end.

YES, the 'end' BONES can be a pain in the butt. You can always cut them off but now you are just wasting meat so that's also why I like Bbacks

 

[Slimpicker]

| Oklahoma Joe's®

www.oklahomajoes.com

 

[dflaher]

Thanks everyone thus far. I was leaning toward the St Louis but now thinking I might try BBs. Still undecided though.

Regardless, I will cook using 321 method, yellow mustard then a homemade rub consisting of brown sugar, paprika, onion, garlic, cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper. Smoke that for 3 hours at 200-225, than wrap in brown sugar, honey, butter, and apple cider for 2 hours, then an hour"ish" with some BBQ sauce till ribs are at 203 or so. Will BBs cook faster than St Louis style?

I have a Thermapen MK4 for measuring internal temp, but a Fireboard is on my Christmas list.

 

[JPSBBQ]

BBQ lesson of the day. Fat = flavor. Fat = tender. Lean meat is drier and less tender than meat with inter dispersed fat.

This is why a prime brisket is fattier than a choice or select.

baby back ribs = leaner meat from higher on the hog. This is more tender (contains loin meat) in a hot and fast cook, but less tender in a bbq application. (generally speaking of course)

This is not to say it is tough by any means

the end.

 

[JPSBBQ]

Thanks everyone thus far. I was leaning toward the St Louis but now thinking I might try BBs. Still undecided though.

Regardless, I will cook using 321 method, yellow mustard then a homemade rub consisting of brown sugar, paprika, onion, garlic, cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper. Smoke that for 3 hours at 200-225, than wrap in brown sugar, honey, butter, and apple cider for 2 hours, then an hour"ish" with some BBQ sauce till ribs are at 203 or so. Will BBs cook faster than St Louis style?

I have a Thermapen MK4 for measuring internal temp, but a Fireboard is on my Christmas list.

Spares take longer as they have more fat. As the fat melts, the meat “sweats” thus slowing the process (like the stall). I think 321 is generally too long for BB’s. That said, you picked a very low cook temp so that will obviously help you. Just remember the cook quite fast in the steaming environment of the foil.

enjoy the ride!

 

[dflaher]

Personally I don’t like the St Louis ribs because of the little bones on the end. My fam likes the baby backs better.

If I go the St Louis route I'll look for those little bones and trim them off. I plan to buy the rack at Costco (Swift brand) and I'm not sure how they will be trimmed.

 

[dflaher]

BBQ lesson of the day. Fat = flavor. Fat = tender. Lean meat is drier and less tender than meat with inter dispersed fat.

This is why a prime brisket is fattier than a choice or select.

baby back ribs = leaner meat from higher on the hog. This is more tender (contains loin meat) in a hot and fast cook, but less tender in a bbq application. (generally speaking of course)

This is not to say it is tough by any means

the end.

Now I'm leaning toward St Louis! LOL.

 

[JPSBBQ]

Check out Malcolm Reeds YouTube or Heath Riles. Heath is a rib expert. His technique is much hotter and faster than your plan, but your plan will work just fine. He cooks at @275. He just reduces the time in each stage of cooking. That’s pretty much what I subscribe to as well. That said, I've done 321 at 225 or lower and it worked just fine. Just takes six hours as opposed to 3.5 hours. Cheers!

 

[TheGrumpyGriller]

As you can see....it's all about personal preference I've mostly been doing St. Louis, but you can always do a rack or 2 of each and have some fun with it and then decide what you prefer going forward!

Good luck and enjoy...!

 

[CMTiger]

I did 3-2-1 for my first baby backs. I did 3 at 180 degrees , then 225 for the 2 and 1 portion. They were mostly done when I threw them on for the 1. Turned out great.

*temps were pre InkBird so who knows what was happening for temp inside that thing