Membrane on ribs. Remove or not?

[Mosca]

I remove it because I don’t like having the membrane on the rib when I eat it.

[Dewesq55]

Remove it.

[Joetee]

Out of 3 racks, I usually have 2 that peal off real easy. 1 usually gives me trouble. So I leave it but I'll cut criss cross slices through it for the rub and sauce to get to the meet.
The membrane left on is always like a thick chewy paper. But the ribs are good.

[Mr. Bones]

I don't never eat that side of th rib, nohow, an it gives me a lil bit o membranous tissue, along with th rub, to enrichen th pork stock I make from th bones

[Panhead John]

Right on brothu.

[jfmorris]

When I was doing ribs 30 years ago, not sure I knew there was a membrane to remove, but I've been removing it for at least 20 years. It's not hard, and just takes a minute or so per slab of ribs, so why not?

You are incorrect about rub and salt on that side. There is plenty of meat in between rib bones that does get rub and salt. I remove the membrane, trim if doing spares, and salt both sides to dry brine overnight. I apply MMD or whatever rub I am using liberally to both sides of the ribs before hitting the smoker.

The membrane tends to get papery and cannot be eaten, and just detracts from eating the ribs. I've had them both ways, and prefer it gone.

[Troutman]

Finally I’m just now reading this post and you’re the only one who has the correct answer. For those who salt brine or for those who just season, there is opportunity to get that seasoning and salt at the backside of the ribs. That’s why you remove the membrane.

[WI Bubba]

If it peels off easy, it comes off. If it puts up a struggle, it stays. I never used to take it off, but then peer pressure got to me and now I at least try.

[GolfGeezer]

I always do what Panhead John does not do, and I do not do what Panhead John does do. Works for me.

[Bruceski44]

It peels off so easily once it's cooked, it's not really a problem. But still, I try to remove it all before cooking. The Costco ribs seem to have it all removed already.

[STEbbq]

I like to remove it but it maybe works 25% of the time even using the paper towel and butter knife approach.

it doesn’t seem to make a difference either way though.

[Panhead John]

Glad I’m not the only one who has a hard time removing it. I was beginning to feel slightly inadequate. 🥸

[gcdmd]

Panhead John
I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm not going to take the bait.

[STEbbq]

I’d say it needs to be practiced regularly for sure. 75% of the time I buy from the Mexican butcher who removes it for me. I will probably buy Costco BBs in the future because I have yet to eat them, and that comes removed too. Usually I am practicing on a random grocery store find.

[Santamarina]

Remove! One less road block to delicious ribs!

[Jerod Broussard]

The people I cook for like it on. I also cook hot (275-300) and it is pretty good after a hot cook, a nice waxy treat. I only cook SLC's for other people. I'll take it off if doing back ribs for myself, cause they were out of SLC's.....grrrrrrrr

[radiodome21]

I remove simply because the recipe I found on here the first time I smoked ribs on my gasser told me to remove it. I went to a friend's party a few years ago and he served ribs he smoked on his new vertical smoker. One bite in I could tell he didn't remove the silver skin. Didn't affect the taste per se, but from a tactile perspective I didn't like and neither did my wife.

Costco usually removes them from their back ribs, but I'm not sure about their St. Louis.

I use an older, thinner skewer to remove the silver skin. I slide it along one of the middle bones and then use my fingers to widen my tunnel. Then I use a paper towel to pull it off. I think I spent more time typing this description than the actual process itself.

[USMCCrashCrew89]

I take them off. I think this is a skill like opening bags of charcoal just pulling on the string. You either have a knack for it or you don’t. I say as I hack away at a bag of KBB like Norman Bates.

[IowaGirl]

I'm not fond of eating ribs that have the membrane still on. Sometimes the membrane is not so chewy and tough, and it goes down fine. But a few times, I've ended up with a wad of the stuff in my mouth that refuses to be chewed up. Or I end up having to scrape the meat off the tough membrane with my teeth. Kind of a turn-off.

So I prefer to remove the membrane if it's tolerably easy to get off. I don't do enough ribs to have a well-calibrated eyeball about whether the membrane is still in place or if it's that thinner white layer underneath the main membrane. If it's a struggle to get off, I don't fight it -- I score the membrane with a knife and move on.

[Potkettleblack]

Remove it. While it doesn't really effect the cook, it makes an unpleasantly chewy bite.

[Jerod Broussard]

If you cook hot enough it's quite good.

[Potkettleblack]

If I cook hot enough, am I getting the same smoke profile, bark formation, etc? It’s all about tradeoffs. I never spend more than a minute removing it.