trimming spareribs St.Louis Style

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Sounds like your cutter was at wal mart. i asked one the other day what was the fat / meat % was on rump . You would have thought i had asked him to build a space ship .
 
I wanted to ask a question to re assure myself but this topic fit perfectly . I just bought a rack of spare ribs advertised as brisket off so when I got to the store all I saw were what I thought were regular spare ribs although they were labeled brisket off . I asked a meat lady about it and she said those were the brisket off ribs , and then as I started to point out the brisket area and saying 'this is the brisket" the meat guy came out so I continued " I thought you would remove that portion to make brisket off and then you have a rack that looks simialar to a rack of baby backs " , but the meat man said if you cut off the brisket then you do have baby backs , but I thought you have spare ribs trimmed st Louis style and baby backs are a different cut of meat altogether ?? I'm pretty sure some one will chime in on this and fill me in . Thanks in advance .
WTH? St Louis and baby backs are off different parts of the rib. Where did he get his meat cutting degree? LOL. I always trim my spares into St Louis style, look better, cook better, and you don't have to mess around with the cartilage on the brisket end. cheaper around here too. trimmins always get used, beans, snacks whatever. Meat man, okay
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Sounds like your cutter was at wal mart. i asked one the other day what was the fat / meat % was on rump . You would have thought i had asked him to build a space ship .
Why would he know the fat percentage of an un-ground cut of beef? The only way butchers really know percentages of ground meat is by trimming down to lean then adding fat back in, and even then it's an inexact measure. The percentage of fat on a rump roast would vary from animal to animal, and wouldn't be something even a specialty butcher would normally concern himself with, other than maybe noting that a rump is fattier than a loin, but less fatty than a rib roast etc...

Wal Mart butchers aren't usually experts, no, but they shouldn't be expected to be. It's Wal Mart, not Dean & Deluca. That's like going into the tire center and asking what the gap on the ignition points should be on a 2001 Passat V-6. It's not an answer they should be expected to, nor could, know.

(Yes I do realize a 2001 VW V6 doesn't use ignition points. That was my point.)
 
I wanted to ask a question to re assure myself but this topic fit perfectly . I just bought a rack of spare ribs advertised as brisket off so when I got to the store all I saw were what I thought were regular spare ribs although they were labeled brisket off . I asked a meat lady about it and she said those were the brisket off ribs , and then as I started to point out the brisket area and saying 'this is the brisket" the meat guy came out so I continued " I thought you would remove that portion to make brisket off and then you have a rack that looks simialar to a rack of baby backs " , but the meat man said if you cut off the brisket then you do have baby backs , but I thought you have spare ribs trimmed st Louis style and baby backs are a different cut of meat altogether ?? I'm pretty sure some one will chime in on this and fill me in . Thanks in advance .
This is one of the main reasons why it's a good idea to buy a full rack and trim yourself. Not only are you usually going to get a better price per pound, but you'll know exactly how they were trimmed. Pre trimmed "St. Loiis" style ribs are rarely trimmed exactly at the bone/cartilage joint. You'll end up with more fat/cartilage on the "brisket side" due to the fact that the cutter at the processing plant is just running the rack through a bandsaw, and it's one of hundreds of racks he/she has to get through that day. If you do it yourself, you get a more uniform rack, and get the trimmings to snack on or use in side dishes or sausage.
 
Why would he know the fat percentage of an un-ground cut of beef? The only way butchers really know percentages of ground meat is by trimming down to lean then adding fat back in, and even then it's an inexact measure. The percentage of fat on a rump roast would vary from animal to animal, and wouldn't be something even a specialty butcher would normally concern himself with, other than maybe noting that a rump is fattier than a loin, but less fatty than a rib roast etc...

Wal Mart butchers aren't usually experts, no, but they shouldn't be expected to be. It's Wal Mart, not Dean & Deluca. That's like going into the tire center and asking what the gap on the ignition points should be on a 2001 Passat V-6. It's not an answer they should be expected to, nor could, know.

(Yes I do realize a 2001 VW V6 doesn't use ignition points. That was my point.)
i asked the same question of my butcher And NO he cant give me an exact % but he did say that a whole   rump would run 10% fat at the most .

 the only reason i asked the wal mart guy the question was to get him to stop trying to tell someone that you needed to boil a whole brisket to get it tender before putting on the pit.
 
i asked the same question of my butcher And NO he cant give me an exact % but he did say that a whole   rump would run 10% fat at the most .

 the only reason i asked the wal mart guy the question was to get him to stop trying to tell someone that you needed to boil a whole brisket to get it tender before putting on the pit.
I just re-read my post and realized it sounded a little combative. That most certainly was not my intent and hope I didn't offend.
 
Kind of surprised at the number of people treating the "trimmings" as an almost unwanted byproduct.  Around my house, they are the "chef's secret". 
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I'll section out 6 or 8 slabs of ribs St. Louis style and throw everything in the smoker.  Regardess of the cooking method used during that particular smoke, I'll pull everything out, cut the St. Louis slabs into individual bones and send them all inside for everyone else.  Then, I'll chunk up the tips for myself and others "in the know" who had the foresight to come over and hang out when the meat was coming out of the smoker.

Seriously, those tips have a higher concentration of fat that is rendered into delicious goodness if done right.  They are easily the best part of the entire rack in my opinion (and that of many others who have enjoyed them with me) 
 
For Labor Day I smoke eight ribs.  I purchased whole spares and prepared them St. Louis style - saving quite a bit of cash.  I have pounds of the left over "trimmings."  Is there anything I can do with this left over fat/meat?  

Thanks, in advance 

Bill 
 
Grind for sausage?  

I think I would have smoked the trimmings with the ribs for any dish that calls for bacon bits or pieces.
 
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