Understood and I appreciate the honest answer given in the spirit it was asked.
If I may offer a thought-I suspect your preference has to do with the amount of fat present that renders to juices/juiciness and flavor. St Louis are much less fatty and more meaty so the flavor difference can be pronounced especially if the back ribs remain moist/juicy and the St Louis suffer being dry. In a restaurant setting I would likely do the same as the likelihood of a dry St Louis slab is high, much more so than a back rib one.
I do take special care and have my methods to maintain their moisture and juicy mouth feel when I smoke them or else they would be dry-it works for me and gets me that meaty pork flavor I want also-but if all I have or can find is a back rub slab I’ll still smoke those as well-any smoked pork rib is better than none!
