Quote:
Originally Posted by yooper
Um 
I guess I am a rib newb. I thought that was what we were talking about. Spare ribs are even fattier, correct? |
Unless specified, when I hear "ribs" I think spare ribs. Baby backs ribs, IMO, are different. They take much less time to cook and the flavor is a little different...to me anyhow.
Babyback ribs tend to be leaner than spare ribs because they come from the back/loin area. If you get a pork rib chop (the piggy version of a ribeye steak), that bone is essentially a single baby back rib.
the following pic shows a bone-in pork rib chop:
here's a pic of the pork loin with the baby back rib rack removed
here's the same cut with the rib rack attached. if this were a cow, you'd be looking at a prime rib roast.
In this diagram, you can s ee that the loin is from the upper portion of the pig (the back), while spare ribs come from the belly, right next to the pork belly (which is what bacon is made from). Because it's closer to the belly, spare ribs tend to be fattier than baby back ribs, but both will contain some amount of fat...but that's where the flavor comes from -- the fat.
if you go from the spine down towards the belly, the baby back ribs are the upper portion of the ribcage, closer to the spine, the spare ribs are the lower portion of the same set of ribs, but down towards the belly.
in this final pic, the baby backs are displayed above the spare ribs.