St. Louis-style ribs are spare ribs trimmed into a neat rectangular rack by removing the brisket bone and cartilage. The cut is now used nationwide but takes its name from this city.
The St. Louis cut is a butchery style, not a recipe: pork spare ribs squared off by trimming the sternum, cartilage and flap, leaving an even rack that cooks consistently. The name reflects the city's role as a major 20th-century pork-processing centre. Local smokehouses like Pappy's and Salt + Smoke turn the cut into Memphis- and Texas-leaning ribs, and the trim is now a standard term on menus and in butcher cases across the country.
