Sunday, August 31, 2008

Rib tips


Rib tips (a.k.a. brisket, a.k.a. coastal cartilages, a.k.a. breaks). Many people think rib tips and riblets are the same thing. In fact, many websites will tell you they are. They are not. Rib tips are small, meaty pieces that have been cut from the lower ends of the spare ribs when making St. Louis cut ribs. Tips come from near the sternum, breast, and belly. Eating rib tips takes a bit more work than other cuts because the small bone-like cartiladge goes every which way, so there's some gnawing to be done. In addition, tips can be chewy, so many butchers will remove them and chop them for stir-fry or grind them for sausage. In some regions, tips are actually preferred to other cuts, and in other places nobody want them. Go figure. A dozen tips, or one section trimmed from a slab of spares, will fill a normal person. The picture here shows a spare rib and the cartilage from th tips attached. When butchered, the tips are cut at this junction.

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