Country Style Ribs

[psdubl07]

I got a screaming deal on some boneless Country Style Ribs at the store the other day.
Are these basically cut up shoulder?  I'm wondering do I cook these to 190 to get them nice and tender like a butt?  Or should I only take them to 155 or so, more like a chop?

[whitetailfan]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by psdubl07</i>
<br />I got a screaming deal on some boneless Country Style Ribs at the store the other day.
<font color="red">Are these basically cut up shoulder?</font id="red">  I'm wondering do I cook these to 190 to get them nice and tender like a butt?  Or should I only take them to 155 or so, more like a chop?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Yes they are cut up shoulder.  Sometimes I catch them put in a flyer as country style butt strips or shoulder strips as well as country style ribs.
Never tried them yet, but I would be inclined to go on higher end of the temp scale.  You probably won't get them rendered down like a butt, but the more cook the more tender it should get.
<font color="blue">EDIT: Try searching country style ribs - if memory serves, I think Fuzzybear did some and had a thread started on these.</font id="blue">

<font color="green">whitetailfan</font id="green">
"Nice Rack"
Lethbridge, AB

[psdubl07]

Thanks WTF.  I did a search and there were about a dozen threads with Country Style Ribs in them, but none really talked about the internal temp, only that they were great!
It sounds like Andy got them to 150 and finished in the oven for a few minutes.  I could see eating them at that temp, but I don't want them to be tough.  If all they are is sliced butt, seems like I should bring them to an internal temp more along the lines of 190???

Anybody else?  Help a brutha out here.....

[Chez Bubba]

Paul,

I have never taken country style up that high because I'd be scared they would be pretty dried out & nasty. At 150-160, the meat will be chewier than a butt, more like a pork chop. The fat will have not melted into the meat so you eat around it & toss it. But, you will have some pretty tasty fare.

The reason you take a butt so high is to get all the fat & collagen to melt into the meat. You have a thin, dry outer crust protecting this large hunk of meat & sealing it up. When the outer crust is shredded with the entire butt, it makes up a small percentage of the overall mass.

If you applied the same theory to country style ribs, they would have a far greater surface area (crust) and I think it would be like eating crust with some meat as opposed to eating meat with some crust.

You're welcome to try & prove me wrong because as I said, I've never tried it. The country styles I've always made tasted good enough not to take the chance of ruining them in my mind.

If you do try it & it turns out great, PLEASE let me know. The idea of doing a couple of buttlets appeals to me when I'm cooking for just the two of us.[:)]

Kirk

http://www.chezbubba.com
Ya think next time I check into a hotel & they ask "Smoking or Non?" they would mind?

[psdubl07]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">The idea of doing a couple of buttlets appeals to me when I'm cooking for just the two of us.[:)]
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

LMAO....Buttlets [:D]

They're in the smoker now.  I already ate tonight, so I figure I can experiment with these a bit.  I will pull some at 155-160, and let some continue to cook to a higher temp.  I'll report back on how they all turned out.

BTW, marinated them since yesterday in Coke (the kind you DRINK Kirk!), honey, a bit of bourbon, and some black pepper.  Dried them off and rubbed 'em up before they went in.

[psdubl07]

OK, Ummmm...... <b>BLECH!</b>
These things were terrible.  This smoker sucks and I want my money back for all 5 of em!  HAAAA! [:p]

All kidding aside, they really were not good.  Chez, I took your advice and pulled them all at around 155.  It was obvious to me that they were not only done, but were drying out quite a bit.  So letting them go longer would have been worse.

That marinade did something really funky to them.  I don't know if it was because I used generic cola and not real Coke, but I couldn't believe how dried out these were after only about 3 hours in the smoker @ 200.  The only other things in the marinade were a bit of bourbon and honey, and some pepper.

I also used Apple pucks and I must say I've used Apple 3 times now and haven't really cared for the taste.  Seems kinda acrid.

Anyway, chalk it up to a learning experience and I'll try them again at some point, maybe with just a rub and no marinade.  It seemed like cold-smoking and grilling might have been a better route to go with these.

[JJC]

Hi Guys,

I've done country style ribs several times and have had really good luck. Rub them down with Dizzy Dust and then put them in the Reveo with some BBQ sauce and a bit of cheap bourbon.  Into the smoker at 200F until internal temp is around 145-150.  FTC for a couple of hours and eat.  Always come out great [:p]

John
Newton MA