Here's Exactly How To Choose The Best Ribs For Grilling

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Tearing into a rack of grilled baby-back pork ribs or "dino" beef ribs is one of summer's gustatory pleasures. There are certainly expert tips for cooking beef ribs, and the dual method of baking and grilling barbecue baby backs yields perfect ribs. But all the marinades and dry rubs in the world can't fully work their magic if you don't have the best quality of meat. We asked chef Brandon Hurtado, author of "Barbacoa: The Heart of Tex-Mex Barbecue," for tips on choosing the best ribs for grilling. Hurtado is the pitmaster for Hurtado Barbecue with locations in central Texas and is definitely no stranger to ribs. He began with his opinion about selecting pork ribs: "I like to choose my pork ribs based on the marbling present (the intramuscular fat) and the shape of the ribs."

There are three popular types of ribs that you'll commonly find at a grocery. Spareribs are cut from the pig's belly, have a flatter shape, and cook evenly. Their marbling makes them a flavorful option. A second variety, baby back ribs, come from the hog's (not the piglet's) loin. They have less meat and fat than spareribs, but they're more tender and take less time to cook. St Louis ribs are spareribs that have been uniformly trimmed and are the preferred cut for pitmasters. Wherever you purchase pork ribs, Hurtado also advises that you carefully inspect them first. "Try not to choose ribs that have gashes in them or pieces of meat hanging on the edges from being butchered incorrectly."

When you're buying beef ribs, there are a different couple of factors to consider. "I like to see symmetry across my beef ribs in terms of thickness," Brandon Hurtado said. The longest of the three types sold in supermarkets are plate ribs. They come from a section of the animal that gets lots of exercise and as a result are well-marbled and packed with flavor. Specifically, they get cut from the sixth to the 10th rib, the first three of which are on the meatier side. You should ask for these at the grocery store or butcher's shop. Hurtado also told us "I try to pick beef ribs that don't have a ton of fat and cartilage on top, which means more trimming and less time cooking." 

Fat imparts flavor but too much will yield greasy ribs without much meat on them. Short ribs are cut from the chuck (the cow's shoulder). These have a high fat-to-beef ratio and need to be braised to become tender. Short ribs are also often cut across the bone and sold as flanken-style short ribs or Korean ribs and are great for quick grilling. The third most common beef ribs you'll find are the back ribs. Because the butcher cuts off as much beef as they can, there isn't a lot meat left on the back-rib bones. It takes time and effort to cook all types of ribs, so follow Hurtado's advice for the best grilling experience.