Rib Membrane Question

[Scott H]

I'm doing ribs today for maybe the third time this year and am using babybacks I bought at Costco yesterday. I think each time this year when I've done ribs I've gotten them at Costco and have been unable to get any type of membrane off the back of the ribs so am wondering if anyone else buys them there and if it's possible the outer membrane has already been removed. I've been using a WSM for a little more than 5 years and can't recall having ever had a problem getting the membrane off until this year so am wondering if perhaps the ribs I'm getting at Costco may have already had the tougher membrane removed. Since it's been awhile since I had a membrane peel off nicely as is shown in the 'how to' video on this site, I'm wondering if perhaps I've simply forgotten what the main membrane that needs removal looks like. Is anybody else purchasing babyback ribs from Costco and if so have you noticed the membrane already having been removed?

 

[Joe Abad]

Hi Scott,

I haven't bought BBs from Costco for years. I prefer to smoke spareribs for flavor and meatiness. On the spares there is the membrane that I remove but on the BBs I don't know for sure if the butchers remove it since I haven't bought some recently. I have heard that some have bought BBs with and some w/o membrane. Might depend on the local store.

 

[Guy Wallace]

It seems hit and miss at Costco some have it left on others don't . I buy at Sam's club and they always have it on go figure !

 

[Phil Perrin]

Scott,sometimes the membrane is already removed. I've gotten them this way from Sam's and several different grocery stores. I think that if you can't get it off easy,then it's already been removed.

 

[Matt B.]

Down here, they always seem to have it on them. The first few times, it was confusing to me because there are two layers - the first paper thin and the next more fatty. Sometimes it is hard to separate these two when you begin the peel.

 

[Craig Castille]

Sometimes the membrane isn't on.....if you weren't sure before cooking, you'd likely know after whether or not the membrane was on.

 

[Scott H]

Good point, Craig, and once it was done the shiny black underside of the ribs indicated to me the membrane was in fact still on. It's a tad frustrating. I'd used the butter knife trying to pry up what I thought was the membrane when prepping the ribs but it was exposing bone, which seemed like it was going too far and the whole rack would come apart. Perhaps to Joe's point above it's time to move to spares....

 

[Ernie D]

I always get Costco ribs and the membranes are always removed ahead of time.

Call me crazy... I kind of enjoy eating the membranes. It's like meat paper.

 

[ToddP]

I have noticed that lately Costo BBs don't seem to have the membrane still on...but I can swear that at one point I was removing the membrane from their ribs.

 

[Jay ollie]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Ernie D:
I always get Costco ribs and the membranes are always removed ahead of time.

Call me crazy... I kind of enjoy eating the membranes. It's like meat paper. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Meat paper, never heard that one before.

 

[Chris E]

I've been doing baby backs from costco lately and they already have the membranes removed. There might be a little section left on near the larger end.

If you don't remove the membrane it is hard to do the pull test for doneness. LOL.