Help Me Stop Hacking Up My Ribs

[SkunkedAgain]

I never thought about this until reading about cutting vertically, but wouldn't it be easier to cut from the back of the ribs? I rub the backs but they certainly don't have the amount of bark that is on the front. I've got a lot of ideas to incorporate. Maybe I'll need to grab some practice ribs for this weekend.

[eyeguy 54]

2.98 per pound for 3 rack packs at sams. get to work !  

[SkunkedAgain]

That's for babybacks?

[McGurk]

I always flip my smoked ribs meat side down to cut, and I want "bite off the bone" and not "fall off the bone". They get too mushy when they get to "fall off the bone" doneness IMHO, and that also make cutting a rack up tougher as they just fall apart.  I use a Victorinox Santoku knife for most of my meat work, pre and post cook.  Probably not the proper knife for this work in a butcher's/chef's eyes, but it is a great knife with a lot of the benefits from both a chef's knife and a slicer.

http://www.amazon.com/Victorinox-Granton-Santoku-41529-6-78523-17/dp/B008M5U1WM/ref=pd_sbs_79_5?ie=UTF8&dpID=21rxz0pzIcL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&refRID=06NJFPFG4T7KB74S5QF6 

[BobT]

3 hours ago, SkunkedAgain said:

I never thought about this until reading about cutting vertically, but wouldn't it be easier to cut from the back of the ribs? I rub the backs but they certainly don't have the amount of bark that is on the front. I've got a lot of ideas to incorporate. Maybe I'll need to grab some practice ribs for this weekend.

If you need additional opinions......  

[Tom Sawyer]

6 hours ago, eyeguy 54 said:

2.98 per pound for 3 rack packs at sams. get to work !  

2.99 lb St. Louis Style at Save A Lot... What is the best style for grilling? Big pig out party planned.

[RebelSS]

I just picked up 6 lbs of boneless ribs at Fareway......  .99 lb. Just finished wrapping them and popping them in the freezer.   

[eyeguy 54]

any rib is good grilled and better smoked.  

[Tom Sawyer]

Thanks for the PM reinhard1, your a wealth of info. Party on!

[thirdeye]

Like some of the others, I turn my ribs meat side down for slicing.  The bones are almost never perpendicular to the rack itself and when they are bone-up you can see the angle of the bone easier.  Just pick a line and try to slice in one cut, not a sawing motion. 

I have several slicers for different tasks and for ribs I have one with reverse scallops, it's the bottom one in the photo and is a good all-around slicer.  Here is how the manufacturer describes it:

The Messermeister Park Plaza 10-Inch Über Slicer with Reversed Scallops has added deep cut reverse scallops to the 10” long cambered round tip slicing knife, making a good knife great! The reverse wavy scallops are rounded just enough to gain traction on slippery smooth surfaces and are also gentle enough to slice through coarsely textured food without shredding it.

[RebelSS]

When all else fails, pick up ribs and gnaw to desired spot. 

[SkunkedAgain]

I probably should have updated, but I had my big party the other week. I smoked two pork shoulders, 36 eggs for deviled eggs, and 5 racks of ribs. I normally just hack and gnaw the ribs but I followed the tips and tricks that I learned in this thread. Obviously, turning them over and cutting from the bottom was much easier. I used an old Usingers Sausage knife that I'd gotten with a gift pack years ago. That worked pretty well.

I'll start experimenting with some new knives at some point here.

Does anyone use a cleaver?

[leechlake]

the cleaver smashes them too.  Last night I made ribs and I did something different.  It was just three of us so I cut the ribs in about four rib sections and everyone got a 1/3 slab or so.  Looked pretty on the plate and they then cut them themselves.  I noticed that they smashed them less.  I think when you only are cutting your own rather than being in charge of cutting 2-3 racks you take your time.

The solution may be to not cut them up for everyone.  Cut them in 3-4 rib portions.  

[thirdeye]

There are several names for this method of slicing but basically you start on the 2nd rib and cut as close as you can to the 1st rib, and as close as you can to the 3rd rib.  The 2nd rib now has generous meat on both sides of it.  Slice at the other side of the bone on the 3rd rib so that the 4th rib will be like the 2nd rib. You continue this process for the rest of the rack. Ribs 3, 5, 7 and so on are just bones and get discarded.  This takes a little more time, but you deliver double the meat on each bone.