So maybe I should explain what St. Louis ribs are and why they’re worth all this trouble: Pork ribs are divided into two main sections: the spareribs and loin-back ribs. The loin-back ribs, often called baby-back ribs, are the portion of the ribcage closest to the spine (where the loin runs); spareribs are the portion of the ribcage closest to the sternum. (Basically, if these cuts came from a human, spareribs would be the front half of your rib cage, and the loin-back ribs would be the back half of your rib cage. But we’re not cannibals, now, are we?) Spareribs tend to be less curved than the loin-back ribs, and they usually have part of the breastbone/sternum attached.
The problem with a whole rack of spareribs is that the breastbone section has lots of tough pieces of cartilage in it, which end up as hard-to-chew bits (there actually is a good use for them, which I’ll explain below.)
