Preparation and Cooking of Ribs

Here's another in a series from our friends at Texas BBQ Rub

Preparation and Cooking of Ribs


OK sorry it has been a few weeks to get Article 4 written and in
your hands, but I was out at the Houston Rodeo BBQ Cook-off for
about a week. Then it took me a couple of weeks to get caught up
here at the office.  I talked about sending me your estimate on
the amount of brisket and ribs we were going to be cooking in
Article 3 and many of you sent me your estimates. It was great to
see the responses coming in. Thank you for taking the time to
send me your estimate for the amount of meat we were going to be
cooking.
So here is the answer of how much we cooked for the visitors to
our booth.
36 briskets (whole about 11 pounds each)
126 slabs of pork spareribs
175 pounds of sausage
12 pork tenderloins
2 stuffed pork loins
8 pans of Bill's Meatloaf smoked on the pit
30 - ½ pans of Bill's surprise potatoes
30 - ½ pans of beans
6 gallons of Texas Own Products Sweet BBQ Sauce
And we had over 1,000 people come thru our booth at the Rodeo
Cook-off. They had record attendance of over 270,000 people come
thru the main gates for the 3 day cook-off.
We even had the legendary Dr. BBQ, Mr. Ray Lampe come by our
booth on Thursday and Friday nights to say hello, visit, and eat
some Q. I got to sit down with Ray and talk about Texas BBQ for
about an hour on Thursday night and that was a blast. Thanks Dr.
BBQ for coming by to chat with us and eat some good Texas BBQ.
And I am proud to say that the Texas BBQ Rub Cooking Team placed
11th in brisket out of over 130 teams that turned in brisket (and
we were tied with 9th and 10th place and lost the tie breaker).
The Houston Cook-off is a little weird in that you only get to
turn in one meat for each space that you have. We have one space
and this year turned in brisket. We were 45th overall in the
standings out of over 370 teams.
We had a lot of people guess on how many briskets and the pork
spareribs and many of you came pretty close to the actual numbers
that we cooked. That was great to see that you gave it some
thought and have learned a little bit about how much food to cook
for large crowds.
And speaking about ribs this is what this Article is going to
cover. The preparation of pork spareribs, pork baby back ribs,
and country style ribs is at your fingertips.
There are a few big questions I know you are going to ask.
1.   Do I need to remove the membranes from the ribs before I
cook them?
2.   What is the easiest way to remove the membrane from the
ribs?
3.   Do I need to wrap the ribs?
4.   What is the simple 3-2-1 method talked about in cooking
ribs?
5.   How do I know when the ribs are done?
The answer to these questions and others will be covered in depth
in this article.
OH!  THOSE WONDERFUL RIBS (I'M TALKING PORK HERE)
From Kansas City, to North Carolina, back to Memphis and down to
Texas one thing that all barbecue fanatics seem to agree on is
ribs are made for barbecuing. Now that is all they can agree on
because the way they are cooked, the sauce (if any) used on the
ribs while cooking or eating, and the type of rib to use for the
best outcome seem to all have a fierce debate going on all of the
time. But, in all reality, ribs are a wonderful piece of meat to
cook on the grill and they are even better (my opinion) on a
smoker. But let's get down to cooking some ribs and licking our
fingers.
The styles are different, the ribs may be different but one thing
remains the same, ribs are great for smoking and grilling.
Whether you like your ribs wet, dry, with sauce, without sauce,
baby backs, spares, country style: we all seem to love ribs.
OK the basics. First, we all know that you don't use a fork to
eat a rib. This piece of meat was made to be picked up and eaten
with your hands. So it is not the typical meat to cook for a sit
down, black tie affair. This is getting your hands nasty and lick
them clean kind of eating. The fun begins.
When I talk about ribs, I usually talk about spare ribs. But
there are many of you who enjoy cooking and eating baby backs
(loin back) and then there are those that enjoy cooking and
eating Country Style Ribs. So, we are going to spend some time
and talk about each of the three "ribs" I have mentioned above.
Keep in mind that Country Style Ribs are not really ribs at
all…but more on that later. But first…….the single question asked
most when it comes to cooking ribs…..

DO YOU NEED TO REMOVE THE MEMBRANE ON THE RIB OR NOT?
The big debate among the rib cookers is whether or not the
membrane should be removed from the ribs prior to cooking or do
you cook with the membrane on the ribs. Ask 100 people and it
seems you will get 50 that say remove the membrane and 50 that
say leave it on there.
OK for those of you that don't know the membrane is a very thin
piece of cartilage that is on the bone side of the rack of ribs.
You can remove the membrane by peeling it off. Use a sharp knife
and slip it under the membrane at one end of the rack of ribs and
peal back enough to get a good grip on the membrane. Some suggest
using a screwdriver to pry under the membrane instead of a knife,
it is much safer. Try gripping the membrane with a paper towel or
pliers and then peeling it off the rack. This takes some practice
so just keep working at it. Adds time to your preparation so plan
extra time to get these off if you so desire.

Tip: The best thing that I have seen used for removing the
membranes from ribs is a catfish skin remover (not sure that is
the correct name) but what it is it looks like a pair of pliers
except the end is about 2 inches wide and you can grip the
membrane with it and work it off the rib. You should be able to
find one of these pretty easy at a good outdoor supply store.
My personal preference and the way I cook all of my ribs is to
leave the membrane on the ribs when you cook them. That being
said, I'm sure there are plenty of you out there that remove the
membrane and I have no problem with that either. I just think it
is a waste of time if you are going to cook the ribs over low and
slow conditions. If you are grilling the ribs, then I might have
a tendency to agree with you to take off the membrane.
A Big Advantage of leaving the membrane on the ribs is……...
TIP: The juices of the ribs are actually held in the meat by the
membrane as the ribs cook:
 so they hold much more of their natural juices.
Some argue that spices and smoke cannot penetrate the membrane so
you lose some of the flavor you are trying to get into the meat.
Not true in the case of low and slow smoking. After a period of
time of cooking at say 200 to 225 degrees the membrane will
actually start to tear apart. It no longer is in its single piece
stage and does not change or hamper any of the smoke flavor or
rub flavor you are trying to get into the meat.
If you are grilling ribs, then perhaps the best way to get the
ribs to their most tender and best tasting stage is to remove the
membrane because the ribs you are grilling are not going to be
exposed to the long periods of low heat but rather higher heat
for a shorter period of time. I can see the benefit in removing
the membrane for grilling purposes only.
So, this decision rests with you. Try it both ways and find out
which way you prefer the ribs. Membrane off or membrane on. Now
let's get into the discussion of the different types of ribs.
SPARE RIBS
The Spare Rib comes from the side of the pig, right next to the
belly. You ever heard the term "side of ribs" well it comes from
talking about spare ribs and where they come from.
You usually buy spare ribs in the whole "rack". There are 13
bones in a full rack of ribs. Try to find racks of ribs that are
"4 and under" referring to the weight of the rack. There are two
distinct sides to the rack of ribs, a bone side (covered by the
membrane) and a meat side. The rack will be a little curved. You
can buy spares with either the skirt (a extra flap of meat
attached to the rack) on or the skirt off. Most of the wholesale
and supermarkets sell their spares with the skirt on. Just leave
it on there and cook it and enjoy.
Spare ribs are a little meatier than baby backs and they are
fattier cause of their size. But they usually cost ½ as much as
baby backs. I don't cook baby backs as much as I cook spare ribs.
I personally think the flavor of spares just can't be beat and
they are the perfect finger food.
Some folks cut the spare rib rack into what many will call St.
Louis cut spareribs. Basically, they cut the bottom of the ribs
off right above the knuckle and square up the rack. Hey folks
don't waste the time doing this. Serve those whole spare ribs.
There is some of the best tasting meat down in the knuckles of
the rib. So enjoy them.
An Interesting Note
You see restaurants advertising ribs on their menus either as a
whole rack or half rack. These can be any number of ribs that the
restaurant wishes to call a rack or a half rack. So a half rack
can be 3 ribs and a full rack can be 6 ribs. Not exactly a full
rack of ribs, as we know them.
BABY BACK RIBS
The Baby Back ribs are sometimes referred to as "back" ribs or
Loin Back ribs. The baby in baby back actually comes from the
size of the ribs themselves. They are much smaller in nature than
the spare ribs, as the rack on baby backs will weight only 1½
pounds to 3 pounds. They are somewhat meatier for their size than
spare ribs with less fat. The meat from the baby backs comes from
the loin (the back part of the pig, where the better cuts of meat
on the pig are located).
Baby backs are generally the most versatile of the ribs to cook.
You can grill them or smoke them. They are, in my opinion, the
best rib to grill as they are smaller and leaner and will cook in
a shorter period of time than spares they are more geared to the
high temperatures that grilling is all about. Because of their
size they will cook quicker than spare ribs.
If you were grilling baby backs then I would recommend removal of
the membrane prior to cooking. They are not going to be exposed
to the smoke and fire long enough to break down the membrane by
cooking. So spend some time and remove the membrane.

COUNTRY STYLE RIBS
So-called country style ribs are not ribs at all. Now don't get
mad because these little gems are cut to look like a rib but they
come from the blade side of the loin or in many cases they are a
pork butt cut into strips. They resemble fatty pork chops cut
into pieces that resemble a rib. These you can get for under a $1
a pound when you find them on sale and they make great BBQ.
Nothing wrong with them they just are not a real rib.
The have no membrane and are usually cut in about 1 inch thick
pieces about 3 to 5 inches in length. Recommended cooking of
these is low and slow. But they can be grilled as well.

COOKING RIBS - EASY AS 1-2-3

Simply rub down the rack of ribs you are cooking with
Worcestershire sauce and apply Texas BBQ Rub to the ribs. On
spare ribs about ¼ cup of rub on the bone side (just cover the
meat that is exposed, not the membrane) and ¾ cup on the meat
side of the rack. Baby backs it will be about ½ of that amount,
so roughly 1/8 cup of rub on the bone side and about ¼ cup on the
meat side of the rack. For country style ribs you will have to do
each "rib" separately by adding just a little rub to the "rib"
after you cover with Worcestershire sauce.
Place the ribs on the grill or pit with the bone side down.
For indirect smoking/cooking, cook at 200-225 degrees for about 5
to 7 hours for spare ribs and 3 to 4 hours for baby backs. No
need to turn them over they will be fine. You will notice during
cooking that the ribs will look like they are drying out. This is
part of the cooking process and they will not dry out unless your
cooking temp is too high. As the ribs get close to being done you
will see them glaze back over. This is the rub working its magic
on the ribs and they will soon be done. No sauce needed let Texas
BBQ Rub take over on the cooking and just keep the fire at the
right temp.
How do you determine when the ribs are done?
Tear Test
The best way for you to determine if the ribs are done is to use
your hands. Pick them up with gloves on your hands and twist the
ribs at the top of the rib to see if you see the meat start
tearing away from the bone. When done the rib meat will tear away
from the bone cleanly. If they are tough to tear then leave them
on the smoker for more cooking.
Take them off the pit and enjoy. If you don't have a good pair of
gloves that can handle the heat, the grease, and holding or
moving the meat then we have those on our site so order a pair of
those gloves with your rub order and you won't need another tool
around the pit for moving or holding the meats you are cooking.
Toothpick Method
Tooth picks are great around the smoker to do things like hold
stuffed meat together but they are great when it comes time to
test the meat for doneness. You can use a toothpick to determine
if the ribs are done by simply running a toothpick between two
bones and see if it passes thru the meat easily. If you feel
resistance then the meat is not as tender as you may prefer it to
be so let the ribs cook a bit longer. You can also use a
toothpick on a brisket to determine when it is really tender.
Bones of the ribs are exposed
You will sometimes see the meat pull down the bone of the rib.
This is fine and I usually see it on pork spareribs and not so
much on baby back ribs (usually on the baby backs a few of the
bones will become exposed as the meat pulls down but they are
hard to see do to the curve of the baby back can hide that on
your grill). This is just an indication that the meat is
shrinking and it is not the best way to determine if the ribs are
cooked to your liking. They are pretty when the bone is exposed
but do not use this as a measure of the doneness of the rib. You
will notice also that ribs that are wrapped in foil for a hour or
so that the rib bone is often more exposed than ribs that are
cooked without wrapping.
For grilling you can cook either baby backs or spares over direct
heat. Prepare the ribs the same way as before except this time
you will be cooking directly over a very hot fire.  I would add
some smoke flavor to the ribs by adding some wood to your fire.
See our website at www.texasbbqrub.com for a discussion on adding
smoke to the gas or charcoal fire.
You will need to turn the ribs over about every 15 minutes or so
to ensure that both sides cook evenly and to prevent the ribs
from burning. Watch the ribs carefully as to not burn the coating
of rub or sauce you have on the ribs. Rubs and sauces all have
some sugar in them and sugar will burn at a little over 300
degrees so keep turning the ribs to avoid the burn. Cooking time
for the baby back ribs on the grill (try to stay in the 300
degree range on the grill) will be about 1 to ½ hours and for
spares about 2 1/2 to 31/2 hours.
If you want to finish off the ribs will a BBQ sauce add the sauce
the last 15 minutes of the cooking time. This will keep the sauce
from burning.
WRAPPING RIBS IN FOIL
I have had hundreds of questions about wrapping ribs. Here are my
thoughts. There are a lot of smokers that prefer to wrap their
ribs during the cooking process to shorten the cooking time and
to also make the ribs fall of the bone tender. I prefer not to
wrap my ribs but if you would like to wrap your ribs during the
cooking process then there are a couple of rules of thought on
this.
I would like to tell you that when you wrap the ribs the meat
texture will begin to change. They can get mushy if you leave
them wrapped too long so be careful with the wrapping of ribs. I
hate to change the wonderful texture of ribs so I stay away from
wrapping except in competition where the judges think the meat
has to be falling off the bone. I personally like to pick up the
rib bone and eat the meat off of it. You  decide and try both
methods.
Spare ribs: If you are cooking on a pit (low and slow under 225
degrees) then the general rule of thought is to do the ribs using
the 3-2-1 method. That is the method that says 3 hours uncovered
on the pit, then wrap for 2 hours, and then take them out of the
foil and put them back on the pit for another hour to tighten the
ribs back up. I find that wrapped 2 hours the ribs are overcooked
so use the same method and do the ribs 3 hours on the pit
unwrapped then 1 hour wrapped then another hour unwrapped back on
the pit to tighten up the ribs. Pour or spray some liquid over
the top of the ribs to give it some moisture inside the wrapping.
You can use apple juice, or the best I think is some spray
margarine and spray the top of the ribs real well. You can add
some honey or brown sugar or both to give a much sweeter taste to
the rib.
Baby Back ribs: For the smoker, use the same method but cut your
time to say 1 1/2  hours on the smoker unwrapped, 1 hour wrapped,
and then 30 minutes back on the smoker uncovered to tighten the
ribs back up. Again, add some liquid to the ribs that you are
wrapping like apple juice, honey, butter, or spray margarine.
This will give the ribs some moisture to work with inside the
wrapping.
If you are cooking baby backs on the grill then use a 1 hour on
the grill, 45 minutes wrapped and then 15 minutes to tighten the
ribs back up.
Cutting the Ribs
First fresh cut ribs straight out of the pit are the most
wonderful tasting ribs you will ever pick up. Dripping with
natural juices and full of flavor it just does not get any better
than a rib coming off the pit and cut while it is hot and then
eaten immediately.
Ribs should be cut off the full rack when you are ready to serve
them and you should not cut them in advance as the rib will dry
out as the air hits the meat. So try and cut the ribs right when
you need them and cut just enough for everyone to enjoy and then
cut more for the second round of eating. And there will be a
round 2 and maybe a round 3.
The best way to cut your ribs is to lay the rib on a cutting
board with the bone side of the ribs facing you. You are going to
want to cut between the bones where the meat is. You can take a
sharp knife and just place it between the rib bones starting at
the top of the rib and work it down between the rib bones. Once
you get pretty good at this and for some great show to your
friends you can stand the rib on end and with a really sharp
knife and nice cooked ribs take the knife, starting at the top
between the bones run the knife down the rib letting the knife
naturally follow the rib bone. Makes a nice show and it will
impress the friends. And then once they eat your ribs you will be
the rib king.
What I just Did on the Pit
I just finished cooking 2 racks of baby back ribs. I did this
while I was writing this article so that I could cover all of the
thoughts that I had while cooking. I cooked the baby back ribs at
200 degrees for 3 ½ hours. I did not remove the membrane. I just
applied some worchestershire sauce and then Texas BBQ Rub (the
simple 1-2-3 method) and placed the ribs on the pit bone side
down for 3 ½ hours and they were dripping with juice fabulous
tasting ribs. I couldn't resist eating a couple of the ribs. I
could not tell the membrane was there at all. I took some home to
my wife and she loved them. I don't cook many baby back ribs so
she asked all about them. It is nice to make your wife happy with
some good eating ribs.
Hope you enjoyed this Article and we will be getting Article 5
out to you in about 3 weeks. Be looking for our newsletter next
week where you will find a great offer from us that will be
outrageous. I can't spill the beans on it yet but you are going
to love it.
Thanks for being one of our great subscribers. We do appreciate
all of you.

To your better BBQ.
Bill Cannon
President
Texas BBQ Rub
bill@texasbbqrub.com
281-344-1076