Rib cut difference - pls help newbie

[u/Significant-Ratio913]

Would anyone be able to go over the differences between the two cuts.

I was more curious about how the prep methods are different and the final result after cooking

[u/Agitated_Belt4161]

Back ribs come from the loin and are a smaller rib, spare ribs come from the belly and are a larger rib, St. Louis style the remove the flap off the spare rib essentially taking off a lot of meat. I prefer the meat on a baby back but spare ribs can be meatier imo

[u/bike_it → u/Agitated_Belt4161]

Perfect. I prefer St. Louis ribs, but everybody has their own preference. They usually have more fat and they are more even in size. Back ribs taper down at one end.

I want to add that St. Louis ribs usually require just a bit more cooking time.

[u/angryrotations → u/bike_it]

And you can turn the juices you render into a killer BBQ sauce if you drain some liquid into a pot, brown sugar vinegar reduce and all that. Depending on your rub or seasoning

[u/intrepped]

Pork loin back ribs are what baby back ribs are. Spare ribs are what's cut into St Lewis style.

[u/Redbud12]

The back ribs are below the loin and have a curve to them.

Spare ribs are from the sides/underneath the bacon. They are connected to the sternum by cartilage which is a pain in the butt. They are flatter.

Saint Louis ribs are the spare ribs that have the sternum and cartilage cut off.

[u/clear831]

I buy mostly back ribs, I like them more. The other answers are correct and the spare ribs take like 30 more minutes to cook imho

[u/SuspiciousStress1]

The biggest difference will be in cooking.

Back ribs will take ~2h(or less) to give you nice "fall off the bone" tender ribs, you are cooking just meat(this would be similar to the loin they are cut off of)

St Louis ribs are spareribs, as such they take 4-6hrs, low & slow, to break down the fat & connective tissue and make succulent ribs(this would be more akin to cooking pork shoulder)

My family prefers St Louis ribs, none of us would turn down babybacks though(if I am in a hurry, I have made plenty of babybacks)....but they also prefer pot roast to roast beef, we all enjoy the "magic" of broken down collagen & fats....it is all in preferences.

I grew up with only babybacks, my mother didn't like fat(it was the 80s, we had a major war on fat as a country), spare ribs were considered "lesser" at that time....however these days its more this way or that way...doesnt matter.

[u/manliness-dot-space → u/SuspiciousStress1]

it was the 80s, we had a major war on fat as a country

Fat won that war

[u/School_North → u/SuspiciousStress1]

I disagree the biggest difference is the amount of cartilage and extra bone in st loui imo

[u/Mad-Mel]

At my Costco, the baby back ribs usually have a fair bit of loin on them. It's quite lean so when BBQing I prefer to trim that off and use it for something else.

[u/School_North]

Baby back ribs are easy eating meat off bone. St Louis style has more fat and cartilage in the upper portion that IMO is a pain in the ass and makes for a more irritating experience than baby back. I cook both the same way for the same time so that's not an issue with me.

[u/Blaznkc]

There is a great video on YouTube where guy talks about the difference, trimming of the 3 main different pork ribs, and how they cook what he prefers

https://youtu.be/XdoVv-Rn238?si=uGoPik5_ScbCHKSj