I'm almost done with ribs.

Tom H.

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  1. Bull
Even after watching the videos I cannot for the life of me peal off the membrane from the backside. I just get little pieces and a big mess. Does it make me bad if I smoke them with it on?
 
Removing the membrane does allow for a little more flavor to permeate through the meat from the underside of the rib. That being said, there is nothing in the rule book that says the membrane has to be removed. As a matter of fact, places that cook lots of ribs on a daily basis usually do not go through the time and hassle to remove from every rack.
 
Removing the membrane does allow for a little more flavor to permeate through the meat from the underside of the rib. That being said, there is nothing in the rule book that says the membrane has to be removed. As a matter of fact, places that cook lots of ribs on a daily basis usually do not go through the time and hassle to remove from every rack.

Thanks for the info. Hope you are having a great weekend.
 
Sitting in the sun room watching the RECTEC smoke. It is a great day.
 

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Even after watching the videos I cannot for the life of me peal off the membrane from the backside. I just get little pieces and a big mess. Does it make me bad if I smoke them with it on?

Agree with the one comment so far, it's not the end of the world, just not quite as good. That being said, don't give up just yet, it does take some learning curve stuff to get better at it, and, as often happens, each piece of meat has it's own mind seemingly. It took me awhile to get the hang of it, the paper towel trick really helps, and most times I can get a decent amount per pull, but sometimes...……………..they make ya work for it.
 
Agreed, don't give up. Make sure it's not real wet and slippery as well as your hands when trying to pull. Work a small corner loose, and then slowly pull until ya have 2or 3 fingers full. Then just give'r hell and rip it right down and off. Was the meat really cold yet when you tried?
 
Am curious how you go about it? Also i have had some ribs it comes off in almost one piece and other ribs it was 20. What is your friend is you get it started with a bluntish utensil and when it start tearing away keep you pull close to the ribs and go slow. I have also found that using a papertowel to grip the membrane helps as well.
 
Agreed, don't give up. Make sure it's not real wet and slippery as well as your hands when trying to pull. Work a small corner loose, and then slowly pull until ya have 2or 3 fingers full. Then just give'r hell and rip it right down and off. Was the meat really cold yet when you tried?
The ribs where in the 30s to 40 or so degrees and yes they where wet.
 
The ribs where in the 30s to 40 or so degrees and yes they where wet.
That may have added to the difficulty But,Like Uncle Bob said and others.. Meats have their own ideas of how well the day is going to go...lol.. just do your best to mitigate the things YOU can control. (How slippery you hands and meat are, if the ribs are too cold it'll like break off in pieces instead of pull off easy, get a grip (literally) on it)... Haha if people say they haven't ever had a problem at one time or another, well.... I'd say that would be hard to believe.
Make sure you post your next rib cook and how easily you stripped the membrane! Goodluck !
 
I do not know where you are starting your pull your membrane. When I 1st started I tried to get it at the bone (Wrong- ended up getting a bunch of pieces nd pulling the membrane off the bone). Pat your ribs dry, then use paper towel, and a butter knife and pull from a meaty section, and above all have patience grasshopper!

If you are a hunter, you will know that it is easier to skin when the meat is warm, I do not start until ribs have warmed.
 
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Even after watching the videos I cannot for the life of me peal off the membrane from the backside. I just get little pieces and a big mess. Does it make me bad if I smoke them with it on?
It absolutely does not. As has been suggested keep at it and eventually you will get it. Definitely use paper towel and pull straight across the rib in parallel. Don't pull up . In the meantime here is what some restaurant do. Score the membrane with the tip of a knife. Then three hours in you can just pull it off with no trouble. Shake some rub on the bare spot and back to cooking.
 
This method has worked great for me. 45 seconds in.

Thats slick, will try that way next go round, its always nice when it comes off in one piece like that. To me those ribs look fresh, i can tell you the few that i have purchased onsale were previously frozen and the membrane didnt come off so clean.
 
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There's a difference between peeling the membrane off fresh (i.e. non-frozen) ribs and frozen ribs that have been dethawed. I'm not going to lie, it's been a while since I did ribs so I can't remember which is easier, hah! I think it's the fresh ribs that is much easier than previously frozen.
 
Don’t give up it’s more art than science. He said she said ur the cook, what do the guest say about your cooking.
By the way I use a well made tea spoon turned upside down works much better than a knife. Paper towel is mandatory as someone said, pull straight back low next to the bones. But again your the boss of your pit so smoke-em if you got them.
 
The last time I did ribs, I cheated and used forceps (hemastat) to get membrane removal started. I find them useful for all kinds of things around the house.

Once I had pulled enough to get a good grip with paper towels, I switched.
 
A saw a video of a guy that scored the membrane with a knife both parallel and perpendicular to the bones instead of removing the membrane. He did a test cook and mentioned that he couldn’t really tell the difference. Don’t let pulling or not pulling the membrane turn you away from ribs.

Here’s the video:
 
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