Has Anyone Done Ribs This Way?

[RonB]

For those who want to experiment, you could cut a rack in half. Then do whatever to one half and your standard procedure on the other half. If the "whatever" includes a one hour hold, start the other half an hour later.

[Starsky]

I'll have to try this

[RichieB]

I remove the membrane and will continue to do so. I don't get the pepper thing. I do rest and wrap as they're usually done b4 I eat. I use butcher paper and depending on the potential rest time put in the oven on warm. I do spray throughout the cook. I will try spraying prior to wrapping.

[klflowers]

Remove membrane, cook, eat. I am a pretty simple guy. Sounds kind of cave man-ish. Kill, cook, eat.

[Panhead John]

BREAKING NEWS!

I just bought some coarse ground pepper for my rib cook!

[Steve R.]

I was reaching for that same exact thing on a shelf at Academy when I spotted the Big Moe Cason Texas Rib Rub I posted about a couple of weeks ago. I still need some of this.

[DaveD]

It's EXTRA Fancy.

[Huskee]

That actually is a cool thing, good coarse pepper is an oft-overlooked luxury, for reals.

[DavidNorcross]

I have not cooked ribs this way but see no reason why it will not work. Membrane? I remove it but have also had with membrane on and had no issue.

[Panhead John]

Same here, the membrane is no big deal to me really.

[bbqLuv]

Scoring or removing the membrane, both ways work. It may have to do with the bite or mouth feel. Scoring is faster and easier than removing. But I lean more toward removing it.

I am going to try wrapping the ribs in foil after they cook and then resting them for an hour plus.

[Huskee]

A slightly easier way, if you're at all interested, is resting a rack or three in a foil lasagna pan with foil on the top, in the oven. Easier than wrapping all racks individually but same effect.

[das85]

I stumbled into resting when my ribs were ready too early once...liked the result so much that now I always try to.

Mine are already wrapped for the end of the cook though...so after I pull them, I open the foil to vent the steam before wrapping back up. In theory to stop it from continuing to cook.

I find that tightens them up a bit, makes them easier to cut and bite into without falling apart, compared to unwrapping and cutting immediately after pulling. (And maybe they even reabsorb some moisture trapped in the foil?)

[captainlee]

I'm in remove the membrane crowd. If mine are done early i just put them in the holding oven at 170, not wrapped. My ribs are usually sauced before finishing. I don't think that they dry out. I've held them over an hour that way.

[BKYDBBQ]

I have seen a few BBQ restaurants that pull their ribs and other meats that are not wrapped while cooking and then wrap in saran wrap before they put them in the warmers to hold until serving.

I have also recently seen one place that cooks their ribs in foil boats and then wrap the ribs in foil for holding until service.

[Huskee]

I used to do the foil boat thing after smoking, instead of individually wrapping. It was great.

[tbob4]

I have cooked lots of ribs for parties, thus they get wrapped and put in a Cambro - sometimes for a few hours. Unfortunately, I have never thought "Did these turn out better than simply pulling and resting?" I do think that my party ribs are generally more pliable - sometimes they are overdone. When cooking for crowds I do err on the side of "fall of the bone". More people seem to like really tender and somewhat saucy ribs, I have found.

[jfmorris]

That is my finding as well. I no longer do the 3-2-1 method for myself, as I find it results in ribs that are too fall off the bone, but I do it when serving folks outside the family, like taking a meal to someone, as that is what most folks seem to associate with "good" bbq.

[Huskee]

Yep, most lay BBQ people think 'fall off the bone' is some mysterious level of doneness only the real BBQ Jedi Knights can achieve, they don't realize it's super easy to let them sit there and get overcooked and soft. Pulling at the point of tug-but-tender is trickier.

[bbqLuv]

Amen, brother.
The fewer teeth I have fall-off-the-bone looks promising.

[LA Pork Butt]

My take is leaving the membrane on keeps moisture and fat in the ribs. Wrapping does the same thing wrapping and resting a Brisket or Boston Butt after the cook. I am usually disappointed if I take a Boston Butt off of the smoker and pull it without the wrap and rest.

[Huskee]

With butts it's less 'keeping moisture in' and more time rendering the fats and collagen to liquid to actually be juicier.

[drobinson]

Over the years I have found that it is virtually impossible to mess up pork ribs. I've wrapped during the cook, after the cook, and not at all. The membrane question is a personal issue: remove if you like (I do, because I don't like the way it looks while eating). As always----it's about temp and time.

[Huskee]

One time I simply forgot to remove the membrane and you know what? I could hardly tell. I mean, I could tell, but it mattered zero in the grand scheme of things as far as an enjoyable tasty rib dinner.

[JeffJ]

I sometimes wrap after the cook. It tenderizes them a bit more.

[jerrybell]

Lots of good discussion on this topic. I might have wrapped ribs once. We're usually just ready to eat so I sauce them and pop them under the broiler to caramelize then start cutting. I think next time I'll try a head-to-head experiment with wrapping though, because now I'm curious.

I can't imagine how the pepper first thing makes any difference. It doesn't dissolve the way salt or sugar in a rub does and just sits on the surface through the cook. How would the order of application of the rub ingredients change that?

I don't believe the membrane improves the taste, texture, or mouthfeel of the ribs. I'm usually cooking one to three racks of ribs. Taking a couple minutes to remove the membranes isn't a big deal.