Grilled, baked, or thrown in an Instant Pot, ribs are one of our favorite cuts of meat to work with. There’s a bit of a learning curve to cooking with them, however, such as understanding how to properly remove the membrane on the back of a rack of ribs. Before you can even get to that step, you have to know what kind of ribs to buy at the grocery store.

There are many terms to decode, so don’t worry if you’re unsure of what “country-style ribs” means. Beef or pork, this guide to the types of ribs will help you learn how to shop for ribs with ease, no matter the recipe you’re cooking.

Types Of Pork Ribs

Pork ribs fall into two broad categories, back ribs and spareribs. Here’s what to know about them when purchasing.

Baby Back Ribs

This style of ribs is probably what most people think of when they picture ribs. Also simply called back ribs or loin back ribs, this type of rib earns the name “baby back ribs” because they are smaller than pork spareribs (not because they come from young pigs). While recipes might suggest that baby back ribs are interchangeable with spareribs, because of their small size, they will cook much faster.

These ribs come from the blade and center section of the pork loin. They have curved bones with lots of tender, lean meat. We usually budget one rack of these ribs for every two people as a main course, with a rack roughly comprising of 10 to 13 ribs. It’s worth noting that this cut tends to be more expensive than other kinds of pork ribs.

Spareribs

Spareribs come from the belly of the pig, and are larger, meatier, and often considered more flavorful than baby backs, which is why many people prefer them. That said, they do take longer to cook and get tender.

St. Louis Style Ribs

Meaty St. Louis ribs are actually a form of sparerib that’s been trimmed and squared up by removing the hard breastbone and cartilage. This shape makes them lay flatter and therefore brown more evenly. A single slab of these ribs usually weighs around 3 pounds, can feed about four people, and is often cheaper than baby backs.

Types Of Beef Ribs

Similar to pork, beef ribs fall into two main groups—short ribs and back ribs. Here’s what you should know about these different cuts before choosing one for your recipe.

Short Ribs

The first thing to know about short ribs is where they come from. Plate short ribs come from the lower part of the rib cage, called the short plate, hence the name.

Chuck short ribs, also called braising ribs or simply short ribs, come from the chuck or shoulder of the cow above the brisket. Chuck short ribs are notable for a lot of beautiful fat marbling and rich beef flavor, and are more easily found than plate short ribs in most supermarkets.

There are also two different ways to cut short ribs: English and Flanken. English cut short ribs are sliced between the bones, yielding a 2- to 3-inch rib with a thick layer of meat on top of a single bone, although they can be left in one longer piece. (Boneless short ribs are English short ribs that have simply had the bone removed.) When it comes to cooking English short ribs, low and slow is the go-to method. They’re often braised until tender and shreddable.

Flanken ribs are cut across the bones, yielding a thinner slice of meat containing a few round pieces of bone (usually three or four). This is a popular style for Korean barbecue and these ribs are even sometimes called Korean-style short ribs. You’ll find this style of rib at Asian grocery stores, but also increasingly at major supermarkets, too. When purchasing, look for evenly cut pieces and check for bone fragments. As for cooking, this is a quick-cooking cut, often marinated and grilled or broiled.

Beef Back Ribs

These ribs come from the upper back of the cow near the shoulders. This area is also where prime rib roast and ribeye steaks are cut from, and after those cuts are removed, the meat left attached to the rib bones is what becomes beef back ribs. The meat in beef back ribs is found between the bones, unlike short ribs where it sits atop the bone, and is also leaner. They’re delicious dry-rubbed and grilled or smoked.

Country-Style Ribs

Familiarize yourself with both pork and beef country-style ribs. You’ll reach for these meaty cuts often.

Pork Country-Style Ribs

These boneless ribs come from where the pork loin and shoulder meet. They are not technically ribs, but they are labeled so because they have a similar appearance and taste to cuts from the rib. They are meaty, containing both lean loin meat and rich shoulder meat, but they also contain a lot of fat so they benefit from low and slow cooking. (Or you can speed things up with an Instant Pot, see the recipe below.) When labeled bone-in, this cut contains part of the shoulder blade.

Beef Country-Style Ribs

These meaty boneless beef ribs come from the shoulder of the animal. These ribs are actually created by splitting a chuck eye steak in half lengthwise, which makes two boneless country-style ribs. Much like a chuck roast, you’ll want to slow-cook this cut to tenderize it, but you can finish it on a grill.

How To Buy Ribs

Once you’ve decided what type of ribs to cook, you should know what to look for when buying them. Make sure the color of the meat is vibrant and there is good fat marbling throughout. There should be an even distribution of meat across the slab with no bones showing. That means the meat has been cut too close to the bone and may cause them to fall apart during cooking. Avoid ribs that have a pale color, too much fat, dark spots on the fat, or that have been previously frozen or enhanced with an added solution.

How To Prep Ribs For Cooking

Before you cook your ribs, there’s no need to wash them since it can increase the risk of cross-contamination, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.1 Cooking them to the recommended temperature will kill any bacteria. To prep for cooking, lay the ribs meat side down and use a knife to remove the membrane along the back. Trim away heavy fat and silver skin. Season the meat with a dry rub or marinade, then cook as desired.

Rib Recipes

Whichever type of ribs you try, there are lots of delicious ways to cook them. Consider one of these recipes for your next cookout, game day, or get together.

• Honey-Soy Appetizer Ribs
• Mustardy Glazed Barbecue Ribs
• Baby Back Ribs With Coffee-Bourbon Barbecue Sauce
• Apple Jam Baby Back Ribs