To brine or Not to brine ribs....

[indaswamp]

That is the question! My understanding is that when the salt is applied, it will force out liquid as the salt penetrates the meat. If you take them and cook them at that point, your ribs will be drier than not brining. But, if you wait and let the salt equalize throughout the meat, the liquid that was driven out will be reabsorbed...and now the liquid in the meat will tend to stay there because of the salt holding it.

What say SMF?

 

[nanuk]

following....

 

[mdboatbum]

Yes and no. The liquid doesn't all come out and wait to be reabsorbed, it's more of an exchange. What's really happening is the proteins are being denatured (unraveled?) so they act more like a sponge and hold onto the natural moisture better. This takes place at the surface and gradually moves its way inward. there really is no moment when the liquid is all out and the ribs will be drier.

But there is a caveat. Most of the moisture in ribs (especially spares) comes from the breakdown of connective tissue beginning at around 160°. Thus, no matter how thoughtfully you brine, if you don't get them to this point, they'll be tough and dry. In fact, brining ribs is more about seasoning than moisture retention.

But there is yet another caveat. Baby backs. In recent years, meat cutters have been leaving more and more of the loin meat on top of the ribs, as they can charge ore per pound for baby backs than they can for loin, and depending on the location, there is a higher demand. I've had racks with 2" of loin meat on top. This produces a bit of a dilemma, as the loin meat will dry out by the time the rib meat has reached the point of rendering it's connective tissue. The answer here is brining. As the lean, tender loin mean really benefits from the brine in that it'll hold onto it's moisture well past the 145° sweet spot so that the rib meat can get to the point that it's tender.

 

[SonnyE]

Well, I donno.
My tendencies is no.
But you left it open as to what kind of ribs. I prefer Baby Backs, and they last ones (or several) have had the extra loin on them mdboatbum refers to. Here there is no price difference, same PPP. I like the extra meat.
If any juice is going anywhere, I like it to make steam and smoke.
I only make ribs two ways, Gas BBQ, and 3,2,1 ina smoker oven. I love the 3,2,1, fall off the bone, super good!
But the rest want their's on the pipe burner, my classic way. They don't like smoke. Not smoker smoke anyway.
Either way, I let the method take the excess moisture. Or I let Nature take it's course.

I was pretty much raised on burned food until my older Sisters began cooking in High School. Then I found out that food could taste good.
What it taught me is to not be picky. If it tastes good, eat it. If it doesn't, eat it anyway.
And make corrections next time.

 

[noboundaries]

Personally, I'm not a baby back fan. They are usually $1-$2 or more per lb than spares in my area. I saw $2.68/lb last week, and that was the lowest I've seen in a year. Untrimmed spares were $1.48/lb. BB cuts vary widely, and they can be less forgiving than spare ribs due to the loin meat. When smoked or cooked to perfection, they're great. If not, eh.

Spare ribs absolutely do not need a brine. I've done it. Not a fan. Spare ribs are second only to pork butts in the forgiveness area. You can throw them on the smoker at 225-250, go do something for 6 hours, or longer, and come back to perfection. They don't require wrapping, but respond nicely when wrapped. Whether you smoke to temp, or to bend, or to probe tenderness, spare ribs just wanna fill your belly when they're done.