AmazingRibs.com is supported by our Pitmaster Club. Also, when you buy with links on our site we may earn a finderโ€™s fee. Click to see how we test and review products.

How to Remove the Membrane from Ribs: Skin & Trim ‘Em

Share on:

Removing the paper-like membrane from the bone side of ribs prior to smoking ensures that they are as tender as possible without guests having to gnaw through the membrane’s tough texture.

There are two sides to a slab of ribs. The meat side is convex and meaty (doh!) and the bone side is concave and you can see the bones (double doh!). The bone side has a silvery membrane that should be removed. You will often hear that the membrane is like a condom, that it prevents flavors from the rub, the marinade, or the BBQ smoke from reaching the meat. Yet another barbecue myth.

The thick latex-like membrane is part of the pulmonary pleura, a layer that encloses the lung cavity in both hogs and humans. Contrary to myth, it is highly porous and smoke can easily pass through it. And here’s the proof. We asked our friend Ryan Amy to do a test:

The membrane can also get very tough and chewy, especially if you cook hot, and if you cook low and slow, it can get rubbery. In addition there is a layer of fat under the membrane, and removing it lets it melt and drain.

You can just make slits in the membrane and some fat will drain, but you still have the texture issue. In competitions, if you leave it on, you lose. In some subcultures it is common to leave it on, especially if it is cooked to crunchy. A lot of restaurants just can’t be bothered to remove it. But more and more people expect you to yank it and if you don’t they think your a rube or impolite. It’s like de-veining a shrimp. Skip it at the risk of deprecation.

I think removing the membrane is like Japanese kaiseki. In Japan the haut cuisine is called kaiseki. When guests come over you can cook the same food as you do every day, but you take special care to make sure everything is precise. Chopped foods are all exactly the same size. Presentation is immaculate. It is a sign of respect for your honored guests. I think removing the skin is like that. An extra step of respect for guests. Here’s how to do it.

Many stores sell their slabs already skinned, but it’s hard to tell when the slab is strapped into a styrofoam tray. Ask your butcher if the membrane has been removed, and if the answer is “no”, ask if it can be removed.

If the answer is again “no” or if you get the slab home and discover the back is smooth and shiny, it’s time to skin and trim. It’s not hard, once you get the hang of it.

If you are unable to execute this maneuver successfully, take a sharp knife and cut slashes through the membrane every inch so some of the fat will render out during the cooking.

Hungry for more ribs recipes, tips, and techniques?ย Click hereย to download our ebook “Amazing Ribs Made Easy” $3.99 on Amazon (free Kindle app runs on all computers and devices).ย Or, get this book and others FREE as a member of the AmazingRibs.comย Pitmaster Club.ย Click here to join.

Step 1. This is a St. Louis cut. Turn the slab to the bone side. There is a flap of thick meat from the diaphragm that most chefs remove. Some set it aside for stir frying, some use it in sausage, but I just toss it in the smoker and munch on it a few hours into the cook. I call it “Chef’s Bonus.”

Removing the flap meat

Step 2. If the slab is irregular at the ends or too long to fit on the smoker, trim off a bone or two. Cook them with the slab. They’ll be done in a couple of hours. More Chef’s Bonus.

trimming the ribs to fit in the smoker

Step 3. Insert a butter knife or, as this cook is doing, an ice pick, between the membrane and the meat at one end.

Inserting a knife under the membrane

Step 4. Work your fingers around under it to loosen it so you can get a grip on it.

loosen the membrane with fingers

Step 5. Gently begin peeling it off, trying not to rip it. I like to use a paper towel to help me grip the slippery dang thing. Some folks like to use needle-nose pliers or, better still, catfish skinning pliers.

Peeling off the membrane   catfish skinners

Step 6. If you work it right, you should be able to pull it all off in one long strip. Discard it.

peel the membrane off in one strip

Step 7. After you pull the membrane, you’ll see a thin layer of fat and some chunks. With a sharp filleting knife, cut and scrape some of the excess off and trim excess fat from the other side too. Some competition cooks trim off a bit of the meat where it is thick, in order to make the slab uniform so all the ribs are cooked to exactly the same doneness. I leave it on. You are now ready to apply the rub and start cooking.

remove excess fat

Related articles

Published On: 3/24/2014 Last Modified: 6/22/2024

Share on:
  • Meathead, AmazingRibs.com Founder And BBQ Hall of Famer - Founder and publisher of AmazingRibs.com, Meathead is known as the site's Hedonism Evangelist and BBQ Whisperer. He is also the author of the New York Times Best Seller "Meathead, The Science of Great Barbecue and Grilling", and is a BBQ Hall Of Fame inductee.

 

High quality websites are expensive to run. If you help us, weโ€™ll pay you back bigtime with an ad-free experience and a lot of freebies!

Millions come to AmazingRibs.com every month for high quality tested recipes, tips on technique, science, mythbusting, product reviews, and inspiration. But it is expensive to run a website with more than 2,000 pages and we donโ€™t have a big corporate partner to subsidize us.

Our most important source of sustenance is people who join our Pitmaster Club. But please donโ€™t think of it as a donation. Members get MANY great benefits. We block all third-party ads, we give members free ebooks, magazines, interviews, webinars, more recipes, a monthly sweepstakes with prizes worth up to $2,000, discounts on products, and best of all a community of like-minded cooks free of flame wars. Click below to see all the benefits, take a free 30 day trial, and help keep this site alive.


Post comments and questions below

grouchy?

1) Please try the search box at the top of every page before you ask for help.

2) Try to post your question to the appropriate page.

3) Tell us everything we need to know to help such as the type of cooker and thermometer. Dial thermometers are often off by as much as 50ยฐF so if you are not using a good digital thermometer we probably can’t help you with time and temp questions. Please read this article about thermometers.

4) If you are a member of the Pitmaster Club, your comments login is probably different.

5) Posts with links in them may not appear immediately.

Moderators

  Max

Click to comment or ask a question...

Spotlight

These are not paid ads, they are a curated selection of products we love.

All of the products below have been tested and are highly recommended. Click here to read more about our review process.

Use Our Links To Help Keep Us Alive

Many merchants pay us a small referral fee when you click our “buy now” links. This has zero impact on the price you pay but helps support the site.