A piece of scrap or a diamond in the rough? Check out the story of pork ribs from the scrap heap to the high end restaurants!
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Pork ribs have become a well-known feature of American barbecue, with Memphis recognized for its dry-rubbed variety and rib tips commonly found in Chicago’s South Side barbecue spots. Even in Texas, where beef dominates, pork ribs maintain popularity, representing one-third of the state’s “holy trinity” of barbecue, alongside brisket and sausage.
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However, this popularity was not always the case. Historically, ribs were latecomers to barbecue traditions. It has often been incorrectly assumed that barbecued ribs originated in the antebellum South.
“In the pre-Civil War South, [slavemasters] got to eat the best cuts of meat. They ate the tenderloin from along the pig’s back, ‘high on the hog’ (yes, that’s where the expression came from), while the slaves got the tougher, more gristle-riddled cuts.”
Meathead Goldwyn of AmazingRibs.com
Despite this, no evidence suggests that ribs were cooked on barbecue pits in the 19th century. Instead, the appearance of barbecued ribs can be traced back to the early 20th century, influenced by industrial meatpacking, mechanical refrigeration, and the emergence of commercial barbecue stands. Today’s barbecue menus have grown more diverse, offering a range of flavors and textures for all to enjoy.
It is often overlooked how significantly mechanical refrigeration and railroad transport reshaped dietary practices in America, particularly concerning meat. Prior to the Civil War, fresh meat from larger livestock, such as pigs and cows, was not available throughout the year, as preservation methods were limited. Farmers had to wait for the cold winter months to slaughter pigs, ensuring temperatures remained below 40°F (4°C) to prevent spoilage, but not so low that the meat would freeze.
On 19th-century farms, hog slaughters were labor-intensive yet celebratory occasions, involving family, neighbors, and friends. Nearly every part of the pig was utilized. Blood was reserved for puddings, and fat rendered into lard using large kettles. Smaller meat scraps and fat were ground into sausages, while the heads and feet were boiled for “souse meat” or transformed into a savory stew. The traditional barbecue side dish of South Carolina, hash and rice, evolved from such stews.
After chilling overnight, the carcasses were cut into hams, shoulders, and “middlings” (side meat or bacon) for curing and smoking. Leftover parts, including the chine (backbone), tenderloins, chitterlings (intestines), and ribs, were consumed within the following days.
Hog-killing meals typically featured fresh roasted spare ribs and chine, paired with bread, potatoes, applesauce, cabbage, or greens. For many farm families, this meal might have been the only fresh pork enjoyed all year. Summer hog slaughters were impractical, especially in the South, due to the rapid spoilage caused by heat, which hindered the lengthy butchering, lard rendering, and sausage-making processes.
There was, however, an exception. During large community events, farmers would bring a few pigs to a shady area with a barbecue pit, slaughter them, and prepare the meat on-site. This was the essence of 19th-century barbecue—whole-animal cookery designed for communal gatherings.
Barbecue did not emerge as a means of utilizing lesser cuts but rather as a method of preparing whole animals for large groups. Historical accounts do not mention ribs or individual cuts being barbecued; instead, descriptions depict whole carcasses of pigs, goats, lambs, and even cows cooking over beds of coals in earthen pits. When ribs were eaten in the 19th century, they were typically pulled from a fully cooked animal.
Spare ribs were indeed consumed during the 19th century, though they were not typically prepared through barbecuing. As the century progressed, ribs became more accessible, particularly in cities like Indianapolis and Louisville, where hogs were packed and processed for shipment across the country.
The rise of industrial pork packing in the early decades of the 19th century was driven initially by improved river navigation, followed by the expansion of railroads. Cincinnati, with its strategic location along the Ohio River and proximity to cornfields and hog farms, became known as “Porkopolis,” the world’s largest pork-producing city at the time.
By 1836, Cincinnati’s four major slaughterhouses collectively processed about 2,600 hogs in a single day, yielding between 200 and 500 barrels of pork, along with 200 kegs of lard. In those early years, the methods used in commercial hog slaughterhouses closely resembled traditional rural practices, though scaled up significantly. Each step—dispatching the hog, scalding the carcass, and scraping away the hair—was handled by different workers in an assembly line process.
Barrels played a vital role in the pork industry, as there were no refrigerated transport options available. Packers preserved the meat by packing hams and shoulders into barrels, filling the gaps with chines, hocks, and jowls, and adding a “pickle” solution made of rock salt and brown sugar boiled in water.
Spareribs, however, did not fit into the barrels, leaving packers with a surplus of unwanted racks. The New Orleans Times-Picayune reported in 1844, “during the hog-killing season in Cincinnati, any keeper of a boarding-house, by sending a basket to the butcher’s, can have it filled with the finest and most delicious spare ribs, and ‘free gratis for nothing.’” Despite this, even the city’s boarding houses could not consume the excess supply, leading to “cart loads of spare ribs” being dumped into the Ohio River.
This began to shift in the 1870s with the advent of artificial ice-making and mechanical refrigeration, allowing meat packing to become a year-round business. Packers could now store spare ribs and sell them to retailers as an inexpensive cut of meat.
Toward the end of the 19th century, spare rib recipes became more common in cookbooks and newspapers. Many suggested cutting the ribs into smaller pieces, parboiling them, and then finishing them on a hot gridiron over coals in the kitchen fireplace. Other recipes called for roasting ribs in the oven over sauerkraut and serving them with applesauce, mashed potatoes, and mustard.
In 1895, the Ottawa Herald noted the affordability of spare ribs compared to turkey for Thanksgiving, stating:
“Turkey and cranberries may cost more than spare ribs and turnips, but a good, well seasoned spare rib baked brown and crisp beats any turkey that ever flapped his wings.”
While pork ribs did not replace turkey on Thanksgiving tables, they played a significant role in shaping the way barbecue evolved in American cuisine.
The Spread of the BBQ
Before the 20th century, barbecue was not a commercial enterprise. It appeared primarily at large, occasional gatherings, where whole animals were cooked outdoors on open pits. These events, often part of community celebrations like the Fourth of July or political campaigns, were typically offered free to attendees.
As urbanization spread, resourceful cooks began selling slow-smoked meats in city centers, often on street corners or in courthouse squares. These vendors, frequently farmers, would slaughter one or two pigs, cook them on a pit, and bring the meat into town to sell on weekends. Initially, barbecue stands were simple setups—temporary tents or sheds—but over time, they evolved into permanent establishments offering a consistent selection of meats. Gradually, operators began sourcing meats from local packing houses instead of raising their own animals, with many opting to purchase specific cuts like shoulders and hams instead of whole hogs.
Local packers, in turn, had an abundance of spare ribs, which they eagerly sold at low prices. The introduction of barbecued ribs cannot be traced to a specific region or type of operation. Within a few years, spare ribs were available across the country at barbecue stands, cafés, and butcher shops that offered smoked meats for sale to the public.
By the 1920s, ribs had become a staple in restaurants across the nation. A.R. Hubbard’s Cafe in Houston offered barbecued ribs with other dishes, while Clegg’s Hotel and Cafe in Greensboro, North Carolina, included “barbecued spare ribs with sweet potatoes” in its Sunday specials. Rasmussen’s in Davenport, Iowa, promoted “Tennessee Style Barbecue Ribs,” describing them as “inexpensive—with a fine appetizing taste.”
Despite the “Tennessee style” label, no substantial evidence has surfaced to suggest that ribs were more popular in Tennessee than elsewhere. In fact, many barbecue stands selling spare ribs were located in Iowa, a prime hog-producing region.
One of the most famous rib enthusiasts was New York Yankees slugger Babe Ruth. After the Yankees swept the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1928 World Series, Ruth celebrated on the team’s train with “50 pounds of barbecued spare ribs and an amber-color fluid which foamed suspiciously on being poured into serving glasses,” according to reports from Mattoon, Illinois.
Ribs, however, were not reserved for star athletes. In major cities, especially those with significant African-American populations, ribs became a favorite late-night meal for the nightclub crowd. Club owners often set up small pits behind their venues, cooking racks of ribs for hungry patrons. In 1928, the Detroit Times reported that “barbecue spare ribs in the doorway emporiums of the black belt” were attracting both black and white customers. The article noted that the ribs, served with a spicy sauce, were “thirst-provoking,” driving brisk business to nearby beer spots.
Memphis, too, became known for its late-night rib culture. John Mills, a barbecue pioneer in the city, opened a stand on 4th Street in the late 1920s, near the bustling nightlife on Beale Street. Mills prepared ribs on a charcoal-fired brick pit and brushed them with a spicy hot sauce. His ribs attracted a steady stream of musicians and celebrities, including Kate Smith and Bing Crosby, long before Charlie Vergos began serving his famous dry-rubbed ribs at The Rendezvous.
The Spread of the Rib
By the 1930s, barbecued ribs had become a popular item, available at numerous barbecue stands, nightclubs, and cafes across the country. Following World War II, ribs even found their way onto the menus of high-end restaurants. In 1948, food columnist Ida Bailey Allen observed, “People pay fancy prices to nibble at barbecued spare ribs in a swanky restaurant,” noting the transformation of this once-modest cut of meat.
The post-war years also saw ribs becoming a favorite for backyard barbecues, a rising trend in home entertainment. In 1955, the New York Times highlighted this shift, stating that “this increasingly popular cut of meat inevitably will claim the attention of almost every outdoor cook during the summer season ahead.” Once considered undesirable, ribs had now entered the “luxury bracket,” with prices rising to surpass those of sirloin steak or prime rib roast. Given the portion size, with one pound serving only a single diner, the cost per person had dramatically increased.
During this time, the “St. Louis-style” rib cut emerged. This method didn’t refer to a cooking technique but rather to how the ribs were trimmed for better presentation. Butchers in St. Louis began removing the tips, or the “brisket” section, to create a neat, squared-off slab. This allowed diners to enjoy the ribs without dealing with excess cartilage and fat. The first mention of this trimming appeared in 1947 in the St. Louis Post Dispatch, describing the technique used by Chef Adolph Feiler at the upscale Forest Park Hotel, where ribs were barbecued on a charcoal rotisserie and basted with a tomato-based sauce.
Local meat packers in St. Louis adopted this cut to distinguish their products from national competitors. Retired butcher Robert F. Eggleston recalled that during the post-war era, St. Louis packers removed about half of the collar, a large portion of bone and gristle, making it a better value for consumers, despite the slightly higher price. The method soon gained popularity, with butchers nationwide offering “St. Louis-style” ribs as a premium product. By the early 1950s, these ribs were sold at higher prices across the country, with advertisements praising them as “perfect for barbecuing.”
The Rib Tips
Interestingly, this trimming process led to the creation of yet another leftover cut: rib tips. Initially discarded, these strips of cartilage, gristle, and meat became a prized item for barbecue joints. While upscale venues roasted St. Louis-style ribs, barbecue cooks purchased rib tips, slow-cooking them on traditional pits until they transformed into a flavorful delicacy.
Rib tips now hold a prominent place in St. Louis’s barbecue tradition, alongside other underrated cuts like pork snoots. In Chicago, which had become the nation’s leading hog-packing center by the early 20th century, rib tips gained popularity at iconic South Side spots like Lem’s and Argia B’s in the 1950s and 1960s. Today, they remain a key component of Chicago’s signature barbecue style, with enthusiasts appreciating the tastier, albeit gristly, meat.
This transformation of spare parts into flavorful dishes marked a far better use of pork than the earlier practice of discarding unwanted cuts into the Ohio River.