Every once in a while, I see threads (started one once) on a forum or
two about babyback ribs vs. spare ribs, along with preferences. 

What’s the difference?
Babyback
ribs are supposedly but probably not from pretty young pigs, and are
from the back.  Youngback ribs didn’t sounds as good to Chili’s, so we
have babybacks (more good alliteration, though!).  Because of the part
of the rib, the bones are curved and fairly lean.

Spare ribs are
the ribs from the chest, and often include the part with cartilege and
the breastbone.  They usually have a bit more meat, but are also
fattier.  The bones are flatter, too.  St. Louis ribs are spares that
have been trimmed so that the cartilege is cut off, which leaves a
nicely squared off rack of ribs.

I prefer spare ribs (cut to St.
Louis style); they have more meat, more flavor, and they lay flat for
presentation.  To do spares, though, more cooking time is involved so
that the fattier ribs have time to render out the fat.  The end product
is incredible, I think.

Getting ready for a competition turn in
I
buy individual racks of ribs instead of packs.  I know some competitors
buy packs, but they often buy LOTS of them, so they can really pick and
choose which racks to use.  I look for shiners, which, to answer the
question from a reader, are when the bones show through the meat on the
meat side of the rack.  If I can see each rack, I can avoid getting
shiners, or at least making sure the shiners aren’t someplace that
would affect my turn ins.

I also look for straight bones.  By
this, I mean that, when looking at the bone side, the bones are as much
squared off/perpindicular to the sides of the rack as possible.  This
means that, when cut, the ribs will look nicer, I think.

How do I cook my ribs?
I
use the 3-2-1 method.  This is pretty simple; slow cook at 225 degrees
for 3 hours, then wrap in foil and continue to cook for 2 hours, then
unwrap and cook for another hour, saucing at the very end.  My last
competition, I overcooked, but I liked the flavor of the ribs, though
the judges tended not to like them so much… which brings me to the
first item that is different between competition cooking and
home/catering cooking for me.  I like to use bourbon on the ribs when I
foil them.  At the Carmel competition, I learned a way of putting
honey, sugar and juice in the foil.  I substitute Maker’s Mark whisky
instead of pinneapple juice.  I also glaze with a bourbon sauce just
before the ribs are done, but not so much that the ribs are dripping
with sauce… I just paint a layer of Bourbecue sauce on the ribs.  For
competitions in the future, I will more likely use hard cider instead
of bourbon.

I use a modified rub that’s simple as can be.  Alton
Brown uses a rib rub that’s 8 parts sugar, 3 parts salt, 1 part chili
powder and 1 part anything else you want.  I do a 5-3-1-1 version, and
usually add ancho chile, garlic and onion as the ‘anything else you
want’.

How done is done?
I live in Ohio, and people
here generally think that done means that, if you pick up a rib bone,
all the meat falls off the bone.  That’s great if you want rib mush.  I
like the definition of done as being if you take a bite, the whole bite
comes off, but nothing else. 

I try to judge doneness by
looking at the meat pulling back from the ends of the bones.  When it’s
back 1/4" to 1/2", I think things are good.  Also, if I can grab a bone
and get a wiggle but not have the bone pull off the meat, I’m happy.

So there is at least some of what I’ve learned about ribs.

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