There is much debate about how to treat a spare rib. Traditional salt and pepper, paprika, garlic powder... something else. Ours are rubbed with a layer of kosher salt and black pepper and then dusted with House rub before cooking. Once cooked, they are coated in spare rib glaze before being wrapped and rested for the glaze to set. Spare ribs come from the underside of the belly of the pig and tend to have a good ratio of meat to fat. They can be cooked fast, but we prefer the traditional low ‘n’ slow method, meaning temperatures of between 95°C and 135°C for around 6-7 hours, gradually cranking the heat up as the cook progresses. We always cook using live fire on a traditional offset smoker using exclusively oak wood.
Pork in the US tends to be reared bigger and fatter than in the UK and, due to the US BBQ culture, the value of a meaty spare rib in the US is higher than in the UK (where butchers tend to cut the ribs out as close to the bone as possible to maximise the meat left on the belly). It is therefore a challenge to replicate the size and fat content of an American pig, but it can be done. We have worked hard to replicate the Texan BBQ experience but sourcing only the largest, ethically reared, British breed pigs. To replicate the size and meat content of a rack of American spare ribs, we have sourced all of our pork from Large White or Large White cross pigs reared for bacon, where there is less value placed on maintaining the belly meat and so more can be left n the ribs.
There is much opinion on how spare ribs should be cooked, with many favouring “fall off the bone” ribs where ribs are so tender the bone can be plucked from the meat with no resistance. We prefer it when our ribs can be picked up and handled, so ours are cooked just shy of that. You should still be able to remove the meat with a bite, leaving perfectly clean bones behind. They will be meaty and tender.
