Thank goodness I am not alone on that island. I totally understand why an abdominal lining would
creep people out. And honestly, if you had to pin em down on WHY they remove it, they
would say for better smoke penetration, I'd bet.
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People remove it for various reasons. I've found that it does not cook away and I personally don't care for the texture of what remains. Depending on the way the ribs are cooked, it can become tough and can detract from the food. Some people remove it for the same reasons that they remove the heads from fish - presentation and "classic gourmet" plating styles. I know some people who marinate the ribs beforehand and it will serve as a partial or even full barrier to a marinade depending on soak time. It's also questionable as to how much seasoning from a rub will penetrate through the lining. As for smoke penetration, without doing a side by side cook of ribs with the membrane and ribs without in the same pit at the same time, the equal smoke penetration theory is nothing more than that, a theory.

There are many ways to cook the same thing and end up with equally good, abet different results. Some people like "dry" ribs, some people like them sauced, some like them in a caramelized sugar style. Some people cook them with the membrane, some without. None are "wrong" and to prefer a method or style is simply personal taste.
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Brad,

I grew up eating kishka, a (Russian) Jewish tradition of stuffing intestines with potatoes and spices and then slow simmering/cooking this in a meat stew where it picks up even more flavor. I love offal and still eat plenty of liver, tongue and such, cooked in various ways. And every time I see an interesting dish in a Chinese restaurant, such as jelly fish or stir fried pig's ears, I order. Try ankimo (fish liver, cooked) next time you're in a decent Japanese restaurant.

As for ribs, that membrane cooks down to nothing as you said, even for the "faint of heart". I have lately tried cooking them at slow temps in a smoker, then transfer them to the grill to get some crispness on them as well as apply sauce, a few layers worth in the last 30 minutes of cooking.
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Remove membrane (usually, but not always)

Rub with Goodness

Smoke lovingly for around 5 hours in my favorite pit
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Serve
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Chow downdown.
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I usually have some sauce if anyone wants it, but rarely does much get used.
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Some people also say that by leaving it on helps hold in moisture. Usually it depends on how I feel and who I'm cooking for.
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Steve, I LOVE your 'by the pit' shots. You have enthusiasm that shows through in photos really well.
I have to admit I used to boil my ribs to "remove most of the fat" and get em cooked enough to where I could
oven roast them to perfection. But the next day they always got that stored taste to em, the flavor
that pork sometimes gets, kind of rancid oil flavor. But one trip to Memphis in May BBQ fest fixed my brain.
With smoking, the meat stays good for a LOOOoong time in the fridge, although sadly, it is never ever
as good as hot, even if you heat it back up. I guess it's cause I never had a big grill, and I would cook ribs in winter
as opposed to summer, when I rarely feel like eating much anyway. Curse of the hot south.
But that's what got the indoor oven method thing started. Plus I used to work in restaurants, and that's how
my old boss did it, boiled em in huge deep chafing dishes in the oven with crab boil, celery and stuff.
They were tender, but oh man how glad I am that I became a meat smoker.

Do you always cook your racks whole? I used to all the time, but now I like to St. Louis cut my ribs
and save the spare meat for use in Red beans instead of sausage. It is awesome. It also kicks a$$
in pintos. When you cook the rack whole, they always seem to break off at the cartilage point anyway.

http://www.bbq-book.com/news2006/html/october_2006.html for anyone who does not know what I mean.
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Sometimes I St. Louis trim my racks. Again, it kinda depends on mood, who, why, etc. I'm cooking. I do save the trimmings for my beans.
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Subscribed aswell. :-)

Unfortunatly I am an apartment inmate so I don't have a place for a BBQ or Smoker. But I still do cook my ribs, I just use a slow cooker (crock pot) not ideal but it gets the job done.

I use a rub of:
Cheyanne Pepper
Paprika
Garlic powder
Black Pepper
White Pepper
Sea Salt
Brown Sugar

I also use the Sweet Baby Rays Sweet and Spicy sauce, I have tried making my own and just haven't found a recipe that I like yet and the sauce I can buy in the store has the taste I am looking for so...
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What do you use the cut off meat with? I save it for pasta or paella. Cooks up well.
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Used some trimmings today, I had a new grill-smoker to season, and i wanted to make it cook something.
I tossed a bag of trimmins on the grill today and the results were pretty good. This new grill is a colt, though.
I had my old unit broke in real good like.
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Usually my homemade Baked Beans, but your idea of Paella has me thinking...!

When I'm doing a catering job I'll also put them on and use them to "make friends" while the rest of the grub is cooking. People love to feel like they are getting a "sneak peak.
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OK, I never removed the membrane before cause it was too much trouble.
Sunday I decided to check the web and make sure I wasn't doing something wrong.
Come to find out you can grip it easier if you grab it with a paper towel. So that went alot
better. I de-membraned two racks and broke in the new grill in style. Too much salt in the rub,
but the results were pretty good. Shouldn't have mixed my tiny amount of rub with cajun seasoning
to extend it. Mistake. Couldn't tell any difference without the membrane, but I imagine I will continue
to remove it as it was easier than I had made it out to be. Pics when I finally get home to my camera.

I like the idea of using the trimmings to keep the finger-pickers from depleting the meal meat
at catered events. Some people just feel like they have to get a taste. Give em some
cartilage for their trouble, lol.
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MAN I love smokin. Cigars too.:-)12lb butt this weekend along with some ribs. Gonna be good.:-)
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Couldn't agree more about commercial rubs. Too much salt. I leave it out entirely in my own recipe, just feel it draws out moisture from the meat. I remove the membrane and work a fork in between each bone to tenderize and allow for better spice penetration. This is last years BBQ and last weekends Pastrami.
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Holy carp...feeding someone!

Lessee, today I picked up 8 Jalepenos, a pack of CC, so I will try the ABTs this weekend,
nothing more than a toe in the water. But I do not like Jals, so I hope someone eats em.
It's also gonna steal my fattie bacon, so I need to get more bacon before I make another fattie.
A bag of lemons...and sugar was onsale, so we know where that is going, lol.
2 reduced for QS T-bones and a few RFQS Sirloin-end pork chops, and a few reduced round steaks
for the jerk-o-matic 5000. And for the piece de resistance, I am gonna break out a bag of rib trimmins'
from the freezer and produce a lil throwdown. With potato salad.
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I live in Colonie, NY. My idea of procurring a rack of ribs is usually by way of the telephone. I gotta try throwing a slab on my grill one of these days.
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"Hey yo, Ant-ny, hows about you bring up a coupla racks a ribs from Scotia when youse come up."

Well, I thought that was cause you were slam up in da city, but you are in the country enough to be able to get RIBS. What's da deal? Unless you are saying that in order to get
ribs you just phone in an order to the local rib joint. Of course, this is NY. Local rib joint
is kind of a silly dream. But yeah, you should fire some up.

I had a good friend in Scotia that was one of my old USAF buddies. Have no idea where he is today. Wish I knew.
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There's not much in my neck of the woods as far as a "good" rib joint goes. I have a buddy that lives in SC. The BBQ is to die for there. Maybe I can get him to bring a few slabs with him when he comes up in July. Otherwise, I'll have to dig deep into my culanary data base and cook me up some at home.
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OK, but you MIGHT be able to find em at the store? That is the important thing, lol.
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OK, so I get a big box of spices in from Firehouse Pantry dot com. Bout 120 bucks worth. Everything
I need to make a giant bulk batch of rub. So I get a big bag done and think, hell, why not do another bag.
So I am mixing and shaking and sqeezing and WHAMMIE! Whoosh, 45 bucks worth of rub flies into the air,
coating my shirt, pants, in my shoes, on my chair, in my keyboard, in my nose. So naturally, I just BUST
out laughing and everybody around me busts out too. We are all sneezing and wiping our runny noses
and laughing and our sides begin to hurt. So I clean my chair with some upholstery cleaner, have
the guys out in the kart shop blow me off with compressed air, sweep and mop the area and it is done
for now. Everybody says it smells great.
TODAY.
In the weeks to come, I have a feeling that I am going to be pubic enemy number one.

Anyway, here's a picture.
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