Pork ribs facts for kids
Pork ribs are a popular type of meat cut from a pig. They are enjoyed in many parts of the world, especially in Western and Asian cooking. The ribcage of a pig, with its bones and meat, is cut into pieces that can be cooked.
People often prepare pork ribs by smoking, grilling, or baking them. They are usually served with a delicious sauce, like barbecue sauce. Barbecue pork ribs are so popular that they are sometimes called the "perfect dish" for Fourth of July celebrations in the United States.
Different Kinds of Pork Ribs
There are several types of ribs you can find. They depend on which part of the pig's rib cage they come from. The amount of meat, bone, and fat can change how the ribs taste and feel when cooked. The inside of the rib cage has a thin layer of tissue that is usually removed before cooking. This makes the ribs more tender.
Baby Back Ribs
Baby back ribs are also called back ribs or loin ribs. They come from the top part of the pig's rib cage, near the spine and above the spare ribs. These ribs have meat between and on top of the bones. They are shorter and more curved than spare ribs.
A rack of baby back ribs usually has 10 to 13 bones. The shortest bones are about 3 inches (8 cm) long, and the longest can be about 6 inches (15 cm). This depends on the size of the pig.
Spareribs
Spareribs are also known as "side ribs." They are taken from the belly side of the pig's rib cage, below the back ribs. Spareribs are flatter and have more bone than meat. However, they often have more fat, which can make them very tender.
- St. Louis style ribs are a type of sparerib. They have had the breastbone, cartilage, and rib tips removed. This makes them almost rectangular in shape.
- Kansas City style ribs are trimmed a bit less than St. Louis style ribs. They still have the hard breastbone removed.
Rib Tips
Rib tips are short, meaty parts of the rib. They are attached to the lower end of the spare ribs, between the ribs and the breastbone. Unlike other ribs, rib tips have dense cartilage instead of bone. Rib tips are cut off when butchers prepare St. Louis style spare ribs.
Riblets
Riblets are made by cutting a full set of spare ribs in half. This creates shorter, flatter ribs. Riblets used to be thrown away by butchers. Now, they are popular because they taste great and cost less.
Sometimes, "button ribs" are mistakenly called riblets. Button ribs are found near the backbone and have no actual bones. Instead, they have "buttons" of cartilage with meat attached.
Rib tips are also found at the bottom of the spare ribs near the breastbone. They have a lot of cartilage. Removing these tips gives the spare ribs a more even look, and the remaining ribs are called Saint Louis style ribs.
Other Pork Rib Cuts
- Button ribs are flat, round bones at the end of the loin. They are not true ribs because they are not from the rib cage. They are the last four to six bones on the backbone.
- Country-style ribs are cut from the blade end of the loin, near the pig's shoulder. They are meatier than other rib cuts. They do not have rib bones but contain parts of the shoulder blade.
- Rib roast (also called bone-in pork loin rib roast) is a whole pork loin with the back ribs still attached. These can be quite large, up to 2 feet (60 cm) long.
- Rib chops are pork steaks or chops that include a back rib bone and the loin meat. They are lean and tender.
- Rib patties are made by taking the meat off the bones and grinding it up. For example, McDonald's McRib patties mostly use pork meat from other parts of the pig, not just the ribs.
- Christmas ribs are a traditional dish in Norway. About half of Norwegian families eat oven-cooked ribs on Christmas Eve. They are usually steamed before being baked to make the surface crispy.
