How to Buy Good Ribs for Smoking

Q: What should I be looking for as far as meat quality in the store to buy my ribs? I live in Texas and the most convenient way to get pork ribs is in shrink wrap at our grocery stores. I know getting them from the butcher is better, but either way I get them, can you tell me what to look for that's good and bad?

A: As far as rib quality.. the shrink wrap ribs like you find at your local supermarket is fine. Look for the USDA Select or USDA Choice Seal of Appoval on the bottom.

Also look at the top and bottom of the ribs and you want to find a slab that has a good bit of marbling of fat down in the meat without a lot of large fat clumps on top of the meat.. also the whiter the fat the better it is.

You can see the white streaks in the meat and that is the marbling.

As far as tenderness.. sometimes this is hard to tell when they are shrink wrapped, but the more tender the ribs are before you smoke it the more tender it will become during the smoking process

Also.. be sure to remove the membrane on the bone side of the ribs for best results.


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