interesting that this just came up, yes an old topic and been hashed over but for the newbs out there i think its is really worth the time. anyway i came across this dvd at the dollar store... is a cabelas smoking meat dvd. they do a butt, brisky, ribs, and something else cant remember what. but backspace to the ribs, they talk about removing the membrane but dont. they take a sharp knife and quickly make slashes through the membrane in same location where later you will cut up into individual pieces. according to them the slashes let the flavor in as much as removing the membrane. i dunno be pretty hard for me to change my ways now but just thought i throw this out there in case someone wanted to try it. be interesting to do 2 racks along side of each other and compare, one slashed and other with membrane removed. they got some other interesting twists they do with their butts and briskeies too that i am gonna try...