How to remove the membrane off the back of ribs

[beginnermike]

Does anyone have a good suggestion for removing the membrane off of the back of beef short rib slabs & pork sparerib slabs before smoking??

 

[mr mac]

Take a sharp knife (or even a dull one) and work it under the membrane and get a piece lifted off.  Once you have something to get hold of, get a paper towel and use it to grab hold of the membrane and pull.  It should come right off.

Here is a video for ya.

Sorry for the double post, not sure what happened.

Mac

 

[SmokinAl]

I use the handle of a spoon & slide it under the second bone from the end, then lift it up & work it toward the first bone & the end. Then grab it with a paper towel & pull it all the way down, it should come off in one piece. Another trick is before you put the spoon handle in run the end of the ribs under warm water for a few seconds. This seems to soften up the fat between the membrane & the bones & it comes off even easier. I forget who figured this out, but it was one of our guys & it works quite well.

 

[fpnmf]

I use the handle of a spoon & slide it under the second bone from the end, then lift it up & work it toward the first bone & the end. Then grab it with a paper towel & pull it all the way down, it should come off in one piece. Another trick is before you put the spoon handle in run the end of the ribs under warm water for a few seconds. This seems to soften up the fat between the membrane & the bones & it comes off even easier. I forget who figured this out, but it was one of our guys & it works quite well.

It was SOB who posted the hot water trick..It works too!!

I put the header in the handy dandy search tool up top and found a lot of interesting reading on this topic!!

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/search.php?search=How+to+remove+the+membrane+off+the+back+of+ribs

Craig

 

[lovinspoonful]

There's a bunch of video tutorials on how to do it on YouTube, if the visual approach helps you. Just search on ribs and membrane.

 

[bluebombersfan]

I always work up a corner then use paper towel to tear it off.  Usually works well!

 

[meateater]

Get a pair of skinning pliers from the fishing dept at wally world, they work great. 

 

[pit 4 brains]

I find a bone in the middle of the rack, slide a butter knife under the membrane and run the knife from one end to the other. Then I grab the membrane with the other hand and pull straight up. the membrane will separate from the middle out and leave very little behind. It takes me less than 15 seconds to do a rack..

 

[bryang]

I will try that with warm water the next time I'm preparing my ribs. Glad I saw that little piece of extra advice.

 

[bruno994]

X2 on meateaters skinning pliers.  I seem to tear the membrane a bit with the pliers, but it makes starting a whole lot easier.

 

[midnight bulls]

Use a sharp knife lift up a corner section then grasp with a paper towel and start peeling once you have a bigger piece lifted off re grasp that section again with a paper towel and just peel off should come off in one piece.

 

[timberjet]

Ditto, best way by far. Pit 4 Brains way. super efficient.