Flavor. Meat cooked on the bone has more flavor than meat cooked off the bone.
I voted no, but I realize now that I had been assuming BBQ ribs. I’ve also been indoctrinated by the BBQ guy on PBS that BBQ ribs should not fall off the bones since to do that you need to steam the ribs (which is “cheating”).
For not-BBQ, fall off the bone is fine.
There’s nothing “cheating” about that, in my opinion. If you want fall-off-the-bone ribs, have at it. It’s just that with barbecue, that’s not the desired outcome (ETA: usually). Steaming is an easy way of achieving fall-of-the-bone, but you can do it without steaming, too.
I cooked some ribs in the Swampbear method, wrapped in foil on the grill, and they fell off the bone.
Certainly easier to eat with a knife and fork, but not the same as gnawing them as I like to do.
The Korean recipe above has you bone them first, and they are too messy to pick up.
Mrs. Plant (v.2.0), from New England, was reluctant to eat Southern cooking, but could clean a rib bone like a dog after she began eating them.
I voted tender, but not fall off the bone tender. I like them not swimming in sauce, either. Just a good rub and crust and a bit of a need to use teeth to get it all off the bone.
Though, sometimes, fall off the bone is good, too. The way I cook, I’m never completely certain what I’ll end up with and in that case, either is fine - though still not swimming in sauce.
You say that like there’s any other sort. (Yes, I know, there’s spareribs. But those are spareribs, and I’ve never heard anybody refer to them as just “ribs.” Two totally different dishes.)
Um, what? Spare ribs are barbecued! They’re my favorite for barbecuing, in fact. “Ribs” on its own typically means either baby backs or spares (whether St. Louis/Kansas cut or otherwise). I’ve never known “ribs” on its own to specifically mean baby backs.
if it was fall off the bone style then they should be deboned before getting to the table.
let the caveman out and chew on the bone a bit.
I just sat down with leftover ribs from Fatt Matt’s then saw this thread. Life is good.
That bible is the Kansas City Barbeque Society’s official judging guidebook. (KCBS is the sanctioning organization for about half the barbeque contests in the U.S.) Ribs are downgraded if the meat falls off the bone or if any tugging is required to get it off the bone. The meat should release with a gentle bite.
I like babyback ribs to be chew toys and the larger ribs to be close to fall off the bone. They need to adhere enough so I don’t have to chase after it.
I like them falling off the bone tender. I like them so tender that when a butterfly in China flaps its wings in their direction, the meat falls right onto the floor off of the plate.
In all seriousness, I did vote for fall off the bone tender, because I do love 'em that way, but I can see why many people might consider that to be overdoing it. I don’t mind having to apply a little pressure to remove the meat from the bone.
Depends on whether you mean ribs or rib meat. Obvious, if you’re serving with the bone, it shouldn’t be falling off of that bone. But there are many dishes that use rib meat not on the bone.
If they’re big-ass beef ribs and I’m at a ribs place where I’m expected to being using a bib and getting messy, then sure, let me chew. But if I’m having smaller pork ribs, or at home, I like em falling off the bone.
Pretty sure the OP is about ribs on the bone, given all the talk about bones.
I find that interesting. I actually do like a little bit of tug on my ribs. They should cleanly release from the bone, but I like them to require a bit of a pull. “Releasing with a gentle bite” still sounds like a bit overcooked to my preferred texture, if I’m understanding the description right. ETA: Actually, thinking about it, I don’t even need them to cleanly release from the bone. I just want them to be tender, yet still retain the texture of meat, and not jello. More often than not, they don’t pull cleanly from the bone. Once they get to that stage, that’s pretty much on the cusp of “fall off the bone.”
On the other hand this does sound about right:
The textural description sounds right on to what I look for. I guess I’m not as much a stickler of how it comes off the bone as long as it has that texture. “Fall off the bone” ribs don’t have that steak texture.
I have no upper teeth, so I prefer them that tender, too. Even when I had teeth, I preferred my ribs to be very tender. If I want to chew, I’ll eat jerky.
+1 bark
rub + smoke + low heat + time
The bark on my NC-style pork shoulder is so good, I wish I could have a whole bag of it like potato chips.
Well, there is a vast gulf of texture between jerky and jello.
Hm. I voted for “fall off the bone”, but my definition of “fall off the bone” includes “pull off the bone cleanly and with little effort”.