From Kansas City, to North Carolina, back to Memphis and down to Texas one thing that all barbecue fanatics seem to agree on is ribs are made for barbecuing. Now that is all they can agree on because the way they are cooked, the sauce (if any) used on the ribs while cooking or eating, and the type of rib to use for the best outcome seem to all have a fierce debate going on all of the time. But, in all reality, ribs are a wonderful piece of meat to cook on the grill and they are even better (my opinion) on a smoker. But lets get down to cooking some ribs and licking our fingers.
The styles are different, the ribs may be different but one thing remains the same, ribs are great for smoking and grilling. Whether you like your ribs wet, dry, with sauce, without sauce, baby backs, spares, country style: we all seem to love ribs.
OK the basics. First, we all know that you don’t use a fork to eat a rib. This piece of meat was made to be picked up and eaten with your hands. So it is not the typical meat to cook for a sit down, black tie affair. This is getting your hands nasty and lick them clean kind of eating. The fun begins.
When I talk about ribs, I usually talk about Spare Ribs. But there are many of you who enjoy cooking and eating Baby Backs and then there are those that enjoy cooking and eating Country Style Ribs. So, we are going to spend some time and talk about each of the three “ribs” I have mentioned above. Keep in mind that Country Style Ribs are not really ribs at all…but more on that later. But first…….the single question asked most when it comes to cooking ribs…..
Do you remove the membrane on the rib or not?
Do you need to remove the membrane on the rib or not?
The big debate among the rib cookers is whether or not the membrane should be removed from the ribs prior to cooking or do you cook with the membrane on the ribs. Ask 100 people and it seems you will get 50 that say remove the membrane and 50 that say leave it on there.
OK for those of you that don’t know the membrane is a very thin piece of cartilage that is on the bone side of the rack of ribs. You can remove the membrane by peeling it off. Use a sharp knife and slip it under the membrane at one end of the rack of ribs and peal back enough to get a good grip on the membrane. Some suggest using a screwdriver to pry under the membrane instead of a knife, it is much safer. Try gripping the membrane with a paper towel or pliers and then peeling it off the rack. This takes some practice so just keep working at it. Adds time to your preparation so plan extra time to get these off if you so desire.
My personal preference and the way I cook all of my ribs is to leave the membrane on the ribs when you cook them. That being said, I’m sure there are plenty of you out there that remove the membrane and I have no problem with that either. I just think it is a waste of time if you are going to cook the ribs over low and slow conditions. If you are grilling the ribs, then I might have a tendency to agree with you to take off the membrane.
A Big Advantage of leaving the membrane on the ribs is………
TIP: The juices of the ribs are actually held in the meat by the membrane as the ribs cook:
so they hold much more of their natural juices.
Some argue that spices and smoke cannot penetrate the membrane so you lose some of the flavor you are trying to get into the meat. Not true in the case of low and slow smoking. After a period of time of cooking at say 200 to 225 degrees the membrane will actually start to tear apart. It no longer is in its single piece stage and does not change or hamper any of the smoke flavor or rub flavor you are trying to get into the meat.
If you are grilling ribs, then perhaps the best way to get the ribs to their most tender and best tasting stage is to remove the membrane because the ribs you are grilling are not going to be exposed to the long periods of low heat but rather higher heat for a shorter period of time. I can see the benefit in removing the membrane for grilling purposes only.
So, this decision rest with you. Try it both ways and find out which way you prefer the ribs. Membrane off or membrane on. Now let’s get into the discussion of the different types of ribs.
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The Spare Rib comes from the side of the pig, right next to the belly. You ever heard the term “side of ribs” well it comes from talking about spare ribs and where they come from.
You buy spare ribs in the whole “rack”. There are usually 13 bones of ribs in the rack. Try to find racks of ribs that are “3 and under” referring to the weight of the rack. I find that that size rib is hard to find if it has not been trimmed but you should be able to find 3 ½ pound racks fairly easily. There are two distinct sides to the rack of ribs, a bone side and a meat side. The rack will be a little curved. You can buy spares with either the skirt (a extra flap of meat attached to the rack) (sometimes referred to as the brisket) on or the skirt off. Most of the wholesale and supermarkets sell their spares with the skirt on. Just leave it on there and cook it and enjoy.
Spare ribs are a little meatier than baby backs and they are more fatty. But they usually cost ½ as much as baby backs. I don’t cook baby backs just spare ribs. I personally think the flavor of spares just can’t be beat and they are the perfect finger food.
Some folks cut the spare rib rack into what many will call St. Louis cut spareribs. Basically, they cut the bottom of the ribs off in the knuckle and square up the rack. Hey folks don’t waste the time doing this. Serve those whole spare ribs. There is some of the best tasting meat down in the knuckles of the rib. So enjoy them.
BABY BACK RIBS
The Baby Back ribs are sometimes referred to as “back” ribs or Loin Back ribs. The baby in baby back actually comes from the size of the ribs themselves. They are much smaller in nature than the spare ribs, as the rack on baby backs will weight only 1½ pounds to 2 pounds. They are somewhat meatier than spare ribs with less fat. The meat from the baby backs comes from the loin (the back part of the pig, where the better cuts of meat on the pig are located).
Baby backs are generally the most versatile of the ribs to cook. You can grill them or smoke them. They are, in my opinion, the best rib to grill as they are smaller and leaner and will cook in a shorter period of time than spares they are more geared to the high temperatures that grilling is all about. Because of their size they will cook quicker than spare ribs.
If you were grilling baby backs then I would recommend removal of the membrane prior to cooking. They are not going to be exposed to the smoke and fire long enough to break down the membrane by cooking. So spend some time and remove the membrane.
COUNTRY STYLE RIBS
So called country style ribs are not ribs at all. Now don’t get mad because these little gems are cut to look like a rib but they come from the blade side of the loin or in many cases they are a pork butt cut into strips. They resemble fatty pork chops cut into pieces that resemble a rib. These you can get for under a $1 a pound when you find them on sale and they make great BBQ. Nothing wrong with them they just are not a real rib.
The have no membrane and are usually cut in about 1 inch thick pieces about 3 to 5 inches in length. Recommended cooking of these is low and slow. But they can be grilled as well.
COOKING RIBS – EASY AS 1-2-3
When you signed up for the newsletter you should have received by return email our Tried and True Championship Recipes. We use these recipes every time we cook and we did not leave any thing out of them. The recipe for cooking Spare Ribs is there. I usually don’t cook Baby Backs but the same recipe will work for any of the ribs talked about above. Simply rub down the rack of ribs you are cooking with Worcestershire sauce and apply Texas BBQ Rub to the ribs. On spare ribs about ½ cup of rub on the bone side and ¾ cup on the meat side of the rack. Baby backs it will be about ½ of that amount, so roughly ¼ cup of rub on the bone side and about ½ cup on the meat side of the rack. For country style ribs you will have to do each “rib” separately by adding just a little rub to the “rib” after you cover with Worcestershire sauce.
Place the ribs on the grill or pit with the bone side down.
For indirect smoking/cooking, cook at 200-225 degrees for about 6 to 8 hours for spare ribs and 3 ½ to 4 hours for baby backs. No need to turn them over they will be fine. No sauce needed let Texas BBQ Rub take over on the cooking and just keep the fire at the right temp. The ribs will be done when you see them pulling away from the top of the bone about ½ of an inch or so. You can also pick them up and twist the ribs to see if you see the meat start tearing away from the bone. Take them off the pit and enjoy.
To add a great finishing sauce to the ribs try Texas Pepper Jelly (my personal favorite is pineapple habanero). Some will add a finish sauce of honey. There are plenty of finishing sauces available on the Internet. I personally just eat them as they come off the pit. No finishing sauce, no BBQ sauce just tender juicy ribs.
For grilling you can cook either baby backs or spares over direct heat. Prepare the ribs the same way as before except this time you will be cooking directly over a very hot fire. I would add some smoke flavor to the ribs by adding some wood to your fire. See our website at www.texasbbqrub.com for a discussion on adding smoke to the gas or charcoal fire. The ribs will need to be turned over to expose both sides to the fire. Watch the ribs carefully as to not burn the coating of rub or sauce you have on the ribs. Rubs and sauces all have some sugar in them and sugar will burn at a little over 300 degrees so keep turning the ribs to avoid the burn. Cooking time for the back ribs on the grill will be about 30-45 minutes and for spares about 1 hour to 1 and ½ hours. Finish off with a BBQ sauce or finishing sauce if desired.
Order Texas BBQ Rub right now so you will have it in the pantry for that next time you cook ribs. You can order it at www.texasbbqrub.com/shopping.html . Trust me you will love it and our 100% money back, no questions asked guarantee is the best in the industry. You owe it to yourself, so go ahead and order some now. You have nothing to lose, if you don’t like our rub, just send us and email and we will cheerfully refund the money you paid for the rub.