Ribs-membrane

[mad mike]

Sometime ago I asked about removing the membrane from baby back ribs, Smithfield Ribs to be exact. I said I was having a difficult time removing it. Some of the "experts" told me that Smithfield Ribs don't have a membrane. I bought some at Costco, some at HEB and some at Walmart. Guess what guys? They all have a membrane.

[CRO]

Paper towels and a butter knife

[shify]

The baby back ribs I have gotten from Costco never had a membrane. The St Louis spare ribs from Costco always had a membrane

[Docooker]

The easiest way I have found to remove the membrane from ribs is to use a pair of catfish skinners

[THE Humble Texan]

you mean a pair of plyers?

[Santamarina]

Baby backs from my local Costco always have a membrane. I’ve always used the pulling it with a paper towel method. A couple beers and a few swear words later and it’s off! Maybe I should reevaluate my methods too :-)

[rodkeary]

The Costco’s here in Canada that I’ve visited always have the membrane on their back ribs. Getting that sucker off in one pull has to be one of the best feelings ever. I’m batting about .500 which ain’t to bad I figure.

[Steve R.]

It's not unlike making the one last swath with the lawn mower that catches the same width of uncut grass. So satisfying! Yep, I'm a dad. 😀

[Ahumadora]

When the membrane has dried it is a s.o.b to get off. Wet it down and wait 1 beer to remove it.

[Frozen Smoke]

I use to buy Smithfield and the membrane had always been trimmed off but the would miss some. I would always take the edge of a spoon and scrape the rest of it off. I now buy Seaboard brand by the case they say "peeled" right on the case so I know the membrane is gone.

Some people say they leave it on and can't tell the difference.

[JeffJ]

It can be left on. If you do leave it on it should be scored.

[shush]

I usually give it a 2 minute attempt... if I cannot get it in 2 minutes, then scoring and moving on.

[Dr. Pepper]

When I've bought my baby back ribs at Costco (they have pretty large babies from Swift) they have had the membranes (pleura) already removed. Since Costco repackages the Swift 3-racks-per-vacuum bag into 2-racks-per-Costco-styrofoam-tray, it's possible that Costco removes the membrane (and not Swift).

[lonnie mac]

Lotta beautiful membranes going in the trash here. I find that stuff to be delish!

[holehogg]

I'm totally with you. Nice crispy crunch adds another dimension.

[Mr. Bones]

They's practically a delicacy, in some locales, Brotha!...

[jfmorris]

The Costco Smithfield baby backs I’ve bought here had the membrane off about 90% of them, but I’ve had it in every other slab of ribs I’ve ever bought. That said, I don’t think I’ll ever get them at Costco again. Last couple of times I had lots of broken ends of bones on some of the slabs, and lots of sharp bits of bone embedded in the ends of some of the slabs. I had to do a lot of trimming, I’ve never seen that with the ribs from Sam’s Club.

[Steve R.]

The ones at my Sam's always have the membrane removed. My Walmart has Tyson ribs, which should be avoided like the plague.

[SmokeyGator]

I buy from BJs wholesale, because Costco is further away and in a hellish spot for me to get to traffic wise. But my experience is hit or miss as far as the membrane goes. Sometimes it is removed, sometimes not. I buy the store brand, which comes as one package with 2 full racks. A few times I opened a package to find one rack with the membrane gone but the other rack needing peeling.

So I just assume the membrane is there until I know it isn’t.

[cwain8845]

I buy babybacks and st. louis here in LA from all places including Costco, Sams and local grocers with all having Smithfield and Swift and every single rack I have bought all have membranes that I remove.

[JeffJ]

I find that, for the most part, Costco's meat is no cheaper than the local grocery store. The exception being prime brisket. Their seafood prices are quite good though, especially 16-20 count shrimp.

[BriggsBBQ]

I can usually find better deals at the grocery store but the ribs and such maybe not as meaty as I want. Costco without fail always has the most meaty ribs. Plus sometimes they have prime tomahawk ribeyes that are huge.

[HawkerXP]

But where else can you get the 36 roll pack of toilet paper!

[Murdy]

In my experience, Costco has been pretty good on lamb too.

I don't know if this is a universal problem, but I will not buy anything that's been cut at Costco by me -- only whole loins and such. Everything that I've purchased that they cut 1) is far too big and 2) looks like it was cut with a butter knife. Even the chicken parts I bought look like they've been torn apart by hand.