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Rib Preparation Step 3Removing The Sternum, Riblets, and Point
Now it's time for some major trimming. With rib preparation step 3 the bony sternum is removed, along with the brisket and the point. The sternum is the thickest part of the whole sparerib slab, containing the breastbone and a bit of cartilage. The brisket contains the cartilage that extends down to the belly of the hog from the rib bones. The point is boneless and has very little if any cartilage.  As you can see in the picture above, the trimmed rack of ribs is at the bottom. Above that is the sternum with the brisket (also know as the rib tips) still connected. You can see the sternum (breastbone) on the left end of this strip of meat. It takes up about one-third of its total length. At the top-left corner of the cutting board is the point, which was removed from the right end of the whole slab. Usually the point is much larger, but this slab was partially trimmed before being sold. Since the point is boneless, it probably went into some ground pork. The next step shows a whole slab that still has the entire point attached. All of the removed parts can be smoked along with the ribs for little snacks to eat as the ribs smoke to perfection. Remove the excess fat, bone and gristle, season with rib rub, or teriyaki sauce, or just some salt and pepper. Put the pieces on bamboo skewers and they'll be ready to eat in an hour or so.
from Rib Preparation Step 3, Or go home, to Smoker Cooking
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