Rib Membrane?


 
K

KevinTelmino

New member
So I’ve been trying to remove the membrane but with no luck. Is it possible it’s been removed? I bought it from a meat distributor.

6FC61832-2026-45B3-919B-CF67B409420E.jpeg
 

Attachments

  • 05F779CC-DD4A-4756-8EB7-84D08D543D1A.jpeg
    05F779CC-DD4A-4756-8EB7-84D08D543D1A.jpeg
    152.6 KB · Views: 11
Looks like it's gone to me. That happens to me more frequently on baby/loin backs (which is what that looks like?)

I say get 'em in the heat and smoke! :)

R

PS: Oh, and welcome to the site, Kevin!
 
KevinTelmino said:
Thanks!! That’s what I was thinking. First time using my 18.5” WSM!
Click to expand...
Awesome! Good luck with your first rib cook! Take lots of notes on your cook (how much fuel, vent settings, temps, etc, etc), it will serve you well on the next one. Check back in and let us know how it goes!

R
 
Welcome to the forum. Using a dry paper towel is the trick to pulling off the silver back. Not sure if your paper towel was wet or dry. As Rich mentioned it may have already been off.
 
Kelly C said:
Welcome to the forum. Using a dry paper towel is the trick to pulling off the silver back. Not sure if your paper towel was wet or dry. As Rich mentioned it may have already been off.
Click to expand...
I tried with a butter knife and then a couple dry paper towels and just seemed to be pulling the meat from the ribs. That’s when I started questioning if it was removed already.
 
I have never had one already removed, but a couple that were thin and hard to get started. Dry paper towel is the only way.
 
I've had quite a few lately that have already been removed, mostly on babybacks though. The last several St Louis that I have done hot and fast I have left the membrane on and not even noticed it when eating. May be the hotter temps disintegrate it though, I'm not sure.
 
So I finished and the membrane was definitely removed. 18.5” WSM with water bowl and 2 chunks of apple and 1 hickory. Used Kingsford charcoal briquettes. Smoked for about 4.5-5 hours at 250. A little spritz of ACV/water about an hour and a half in. I wrapped them in aluminum foil about 2 hours in. Unwrapped after about 1.5 hours. Basted and let finish for about another hour. Taste delicious! So happy with my first experience with the WSM. Not sure what I would change next time.
3C4BCADD-71DC-4654-A062-9599FD7BC369.jpeg
04586AB8-C1B3-41FF-87CE-B0C661EADBD9.jpeg
42D11468-91EB-4996-93FD-D80CB5F1AC63.jpeg
 
Kevin, your ribs look delicious! The sun hits it just right in your photo.

Looking at the raw back ribs, I'd say that the membrane was partially removed on the right side end. Remember, there are two layers of membrane. In a human, it would be called the visceral pleura (the membrane touching the lungs) and the parietal pleura (the membrane holding the ribs together).

What you want to do is remove the top membrane (visceral pleura) from the bottom membrane (parietal pleura). You can do this with a butter knife, or as I was taught by the great Ric Gilbert, Ric's Righteous Ribs, using an oyster shucker. Of course, we have oyster shuckers in NorCal and I bet it is hard to find in the Midwest, but it is a perfect tool. A pointy butter knife is good too. I was taught to look for the area where the two membranes are separated by a column of fat. That column of fat runs along each side of the rib bone and can be seen in Kevin's photos. The hogs in the winter tend to have plenty of this fat layer. Yours is less pronounced and thus harder to pick apart.

If you are successful in removing the top membrane from the bottom membrane (with a paper towel), then your bones will remain together during the cook. IF you remove both membranes, the ribs will likely fall away from each other.

However, it should be noted the proper removal of the top visceral membrane will still increase the risk of blowout bones, as we have discussed in the past. With one membrane, it is less able to hold on to the bones, as opposed to two membranes. I can see that there is a good argument to just leave them, especially if you are cooking for home. But some will argue, they don't like the texture, thinking the membranes are like parchment. Some just score both membranes with a sharp knife and are totally happy with the end result. I don't think it should be a requirement to remove the membrane. I do think of it as just an aspect of ribs.
 
Good looking ribs 👍.

I suck at removing the membrane.
The wife usually does it better than me but I try.

I seriously think that a good portion of our ribs have been de-membraned…yeah that’s it 🤥.

If I am boogering it up I will cross cut/scarf it.
To me that’s better than not.
 
Donna Fong said:
...........But some will argue, they don't like the texture, thinking the membranes are like parchment. Some just score both membranes with a sharp knife and are totally happy with the end result. I don't think it should be a requirement to remove the membrane. I do think of it as just an aspect of ribs.
Click to expand...
^^^
This! Corss-hatch score the membrane. Cook.
Edit: Nice looking ribs Kevin.
 
I have pulled it off on all of them and have had some you couldn't , If smoking I prefer to leave on, it wont let the juices run out so bad, beats opening the lid and basting. , if grilling them I prefer to peel, a butter knife to get started and paper towel to grab and pull off, I cut the flaps off if I am peeling, cooks treat later in the cook, if they been tenderized you will have a hard time with all the little cuts
 
Kevin, so glad your first run with the WSM turned out well (they usually do....). The ribs look awesome, and I predict many more, membrane-free cooks from you! :)

Rich
 
I remove membrane as others have suggested, with paper towel and butter knife--I find screw driver is better. The reason I do this, and sometimes it is a chore, is so the rub will better penetrate the ribs.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top