Who invented spare ribs

There was one exception to this, though. At big events, where the entire community gathered, farmers could take a few pigs to a shady grove where a barbecue pit awaited, slaughter them and remove the entrails right on the spot, and put the whole animals on the pit to cook.

Barbecue originated not as a way of "making do" with lesser cuts, but rather as a method of whole-animal cookery—one usually staged for a large crowd. Plenty of primary sources, however, describe or illustrate whole carcasses of pigs, goats, lambs, and even cows being cooked over a bed of coals in pits dug in the ground.

When people in the 19th century ate barbecued ribs, they pulled the meat from a whole pig that was already cooked. As the century advanced, ribs became available in greater and greater quantities, provided you lived in the right place—namely, a city like Indianapolis or Louisville, where hogs were being packed and processed to ship around the country.

Industrial pork packing arose in the early decades of the century, driven first by improved river navigation and then by the expansion of railroads. Cincinnati, blessed with a prime position on the Ohio River and close to burgeoning cornfields and hog farms, emerged as "Porkopolis," the largest pork-producing city in the world at the time. In these early days, the tools and procedures used to slaughter a hog in a commercial setting were not so different from those of a rural hog killing; it was just conducted on a much larger scale, with each step—dispatching the pig with a blow from a hammer, scalding the carcass in boiling water, scraping the hair away—performed by a different worker, on an assembly line of sorts.

Barrels were essential to the pork trade. Instead, they packed the hams and shoulders in barrels, filled in the gaps with chines, hocks, and jowls, then poured in a sweet and salty "pickle" made from rock salt and brown sugar boiled in water.

That started to change in the s, when artificial ice-making and then mechanical refrigeration transformed meat packing from a seasonal to a year-round business. Now packers could hang onto spareribs and sell them to retailers as a low-cost cut.

Recipes for spare ribs appear in cookbooks and newspapers with greater frequency in the closing decades of the 19th century. Many advised cutting the ribs into three-bone pieces and parboiling them before seasoning and finishing on a hot gridiron over coals in a kitchen fireplace.

Others called for roasting them in an oven over a bed of sauerkraut and serving with applesauce, mashed potatoes, and mustard. Instead, they helped transform the way Americans ate their barbecue. It was served at occasional, large-scale gatherings where whole animals were cooked outdoors on open pits. These events were typically provided free of charge as part of community Fourth of July celebrations or political campaigns. As the country urbanized, though, entrepreneurial cooks started selling slow-smoked meats on city street corners and in courthouse squares.

Often these were farmers who slaughtered one or two of their own pigs, cooked them on a pit, and took the meat into town to sell over the weekend. The first barbecue stands were informal operations—just a tent or temporary shed—but over time they evolved into permanent restaurants, and their operators began offering a regular slate of meats. They increasingly bought those meats from local packing houses instead of raising the animals themselves, and many restaurateurs started buying individual cuts like shoulders and hams instead of whole pigs.

Those local packers had plenty of spare ribs on hand, too, which they were happy to unload for cheap. In the s, A. The Merriam-Webster dictionary gives the first known usage:.

Dining is a delight at Unfortunately, the snippets within the search result as opposed to the one reproduced in the search result excerpt aren't visible, but the date is consistent with the date that Google gives elsewhere for Chicago Scene , Volume 3 The menu [at Governor's Table] features Chicago Stock Yards steaks, a variety of fish, chops, chicken, and some of the finest barbecued Canadian baby back ribs to be found.

Still, at least in Google Books' holdings, Chicago has the strongest claim to having popularized the term. Sign up to join this community. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top. Stack Overflow for Teams — Collaborate and share knowledge with a private group. Create a free Team What is Teams? Learn more. Where did the words "Baby Back" come from when referring to ribs? Ask Question. Select personalised content.

Create a personalised content profile. Measure ad performance. Select basic ads. Create a personalised ads profile. Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights. A crowd favorite, known for their richness and meatiness.

Flavorful, moist and tender when slow-cooked. What is the best wood for smoking beef ribs? Fruit woods are recommended for beef ribs, such as cherry or apple wood. Strong hardwoods are likely to be overpowering when it comes to beef ribs. The rib method is a simple and foolproof way of cooking ribs to yield juicy, fall off the bone tenderness — every time. Wrapping the meat in foil will limit the amount of smoke on the surface of the meat thus yielding a better color and flavor on the final product.

It also adds moisture and speeds up cooking time. Wrapping should be done about half way through the cooking process or when internal meat temp is degrees. Remove all packaging. Pre-heat the oven.