baby back ribs Archives

Don’t Forget the Membrane!

June 12, 2023 By Ms. K

Baby Back Ribs with Killer Hogs The BBQ Rub — Before you do any of this…

For those of you with years of smoky, lip-smacking pork rib bbq under your belts, this may seem like going back to square one. But it’s such an important tip that it really isn’t a tip at all; it’s a non-negotiable necessity of rib making.

We’re talking about removing the membrane or silver skin from the back of your pork ribs – and yes, there are better and worse ways to do it.

You will usually find a membrane on your pork ribs – glossy, connective tissue, a sort of shiny ‘film’ that lays over the bones. (Occasionally, butchers remove it for you. We’ve even bought pairs of racks where one rack had the membrane still attached, and the other had it removed. Bottom line: ALWAYS CHECK.)

The membrane absolutely NEEDS to be removed before oiling up, seasoning, or grilling. If you leave it in place, your flavours are not going to penetrate into the meat as desired. And worse – you’ll be left with ribs that are unpleasantly tough and chewy since this tissue doesn’t break down during cooking.

Shiny membrane or 'silverskin' still attached — Look for this – a shiny membrane or ‘silver skin’ still attached

There are various techniques for removing the membrane. If you’re using one that’s different from what we describe below and it’s working for you, keep doing it! Our hope though is that you’re not simple hacking it off in little bits and strips – a messy, inefficient and time consuming process (we’ve been there). There IS a better way!

Make a small slit in the membrane with a paring knife

First, flip the rack over so that you’re looking at the back side of the rack. If that tell-tale glossy filmy stuff is there, you’ve got yourself a membrane.

With the tip of a sharp paring knife, make a slit in the membrane. (We like to start at the “narrow side” of the rib rack.)

Coax membrane off rack with a dinner knife

Next, take a regular dinner knife and slip it into and under the slit. Wiggle the knife around to begin loosening the membrane.

Put the knife down and wiggle it just a bit looser with your fingers. (This sounds like a lot of steps, but it only takes moments – especially when you get the hang of it!)

Now for the fun part: Holding a paper towel in your hand, grasp the loosened bit of membrane. Steady the rack, and pull the membrane along the rack to peel it off. It should come off in a clean motion with little effort. (Soooo satisfying…)

Discard the membrane, and season up your ribs to your heart’s content.

Good eating starts with good preparation. Happy bbq, nation!

Winter Cookery: The Thermal Jacket for the Yoder YS640s

February 14, 2022 By Ms. K

Nothing says Christmas Holiday Dinner like baby back ribs.

Okay–maybe not.

But then again, why not? If you’re like us, the answer up until now is that for a big chunk of the winter, it’s just too darn cold to be thinking of smoking meat low and slow outside. That’s why we were excited to come across Yoder Smokers’ Thermal Jacket for our Yoder YS640s pellet grill.

YS604S with Thermal Jacket — YS604S with Yoder Smokers’ Thermal Jacket

The jacket is an insulated cover custom-made to fit over the cooking chamber of our YS640S. It’s a three-piece system that easily attaches to the unit and to the other jacket pieces with simple hooks straps.

Another View of Thermal Jacket on Yoder YS640S

The idea is that when the cooking chamber is insulated, your smoker won’t have to work as hard – i.e., consume more pellets than necessary – to fight cold outside temperatures.

Note that the thermal jacket is specifically designed for low cooking or “smoking” temperatures (below 300 degrees). Yoder recommends that you remove the jacket for higher temperature cooking.

We gave our insulating jacket a whirl on December 23rd when the thermometer dipped to -9 degrees Celsius (about 16 degrees Fahrenheit). It definitely gets colder than that around here, so we’ll be updating you on our experiences with more frigid temps.

As you can see from the time and temperature chart above, we were able to keep a low smoking temperature (~225 degrees) nice and steady for hours – exactly what our Holiday Ribs needed. Despite the cold temperatures, we went through an average amount of pellets and didn’t have any problematic temperature swings.

(BTW – we’re totally loving our smoker’s built-in FireBoard wireless temperature monitoring technology, where the screenshot above is from. It lets you monitor what’s going on with your grill via an app on a tablet or smarthphone. Handy all year round, but especially welcome when it’s cold outside! Read more in our Yoder Grill overview.)

Ribs in late December is no longer just a dream thanks to our new Yoder Thermal Jacket. At about $270 US, it’s not cheap but it saves pellets, constant checking, and the potential for weird temperature swings when what your meat needs is consistency. In our books, it’s a win.

We definitely recommend that cold-weather citizens of Grill Nation with Yoder Smokers’ pellet grills check it out.

Baby Back Ribs on Yoder Smokers YS640S Smoker

August 3, 2021 By Ms. K

One of the primary reasons we invested in a Yoder YS640S Smoker was the ability to make a mess of baby back ribs. Our first attempt turned out really well, and we learned a few things for next time (which is right around the corner). Let’s get right to it!

First, after zipping off those membranes, we prepped two racks of baby back ribs by brushing on a coating of yellow mustard and a generous sprinkle of Killer Hogs The BBQ Rub.

Meanwhile, we filled up the smoker’s hopper with pellets and got it heated to 225 F. For reference, it probably took about 20 minutes or so to get to temp. (We’ve been allowing about 30 mins. in our planning for the heat up process just to be on the safe side – and have never been sorry.)

Another look at the Yoder Smoker — The YS640S Smoker from Yoder Smokers

Once the ribs went on, the whole process was set to take about 4 hours, give or take. Unlike some other meats, we weren’t using a probe with ribs (too finicky) – instead we planned to cook according to some timed steps, and a bit of peeking. Basically: 2 hours of low and slow cooking and smoke absorption, ~ 2 hours (or less) with racks wrapped in foil, and about 30-40 mins unwrapped and sauced.

The first step was to get the ribs onto the smoker. For the next two hours, it was all about low and slow cooking, and allowing the ribs to absorb all that smokey goodness.

Ribs on the Yoder Smoker's S640S Smoker — WRibs on the Yoder Smoker’s YS640S Smoker

With the ribs taken care of for the next while, we moved back into the kitchen and mixed up a tasty pot of Boston Baked Beans as our featured accompaniment. (We used a slightly different recipe than the one linked to here – our recipe came with the pot – but there seem to be a few variations out there. The beans themselves seem quite forgiving and flexible!)

Making Boston Baked Beans for a Scrumptious Side

We took a pound of navy beans, pre-soaked overnight, and brought them to a boil to soften them up. We then mixed them up in our super-cool, authentic Boston Baked Beans pot with thick cut bacon, molasses, brown sugar, onion, s&p, spices… Even at this point this tasty side smelled goooooooood. This baked in a 300 degree oven for a good 3 1/2 hours, so it was a good match timing-wise for the ribs.

Prepping the Boston Baked Beans (Bacon!)

Of course, we could have made the beans in advance and simply kept them warm for dinner, but making them while the ribs did their thing on the smoker happened to work great.

Preparing the Crutch with Margarine, Brown Sugar and Honey

All right – back to those baby backs! With the beans doing their thing in the oven, after about two hours of smoking on the Yoder it was time to bring the ribs in for some TLC. They’d taken in a great smoke flavour, but we weren’t done yet.

To hasten the cooking (and eating) process and keep everything moist and wonderful, we used the ‘Texas crutch’ technique. To prep the crutch, we laid out a sheet of foil for each rib, smearing them with some margarine, a sprinkle of brown sugar and a drizzle of honey to create a tasty, moisture-enhancing glaze.

Note to ourselves (and maybe to you, too) – we went a little heavy handed on the spread this time around. We’ll be more sparing in the future. You’re not making a sauce here, you’re just giving the meat a ‘crutch’ to hasten things along.

Rack on Margarine, Sugar and Honey "Glaze" — Rack on Margarine, Sugar and Honey “Glaze”

Wrapping the racks snugly is a crucial part of the crutch to be sure to prevent leaks. Once this was done, our ribs went back on the grill for another 2 hours.

For these particular racks, we actually found that this step was a bit long. The meat was literally coming off the bone – and while still ultimately tasty, it wasn’t ideal. Pitmasters actually strive for a situation where you can bend the rack and see the meat crack. You’re not wanting the rack separate into pieces (see below). We’ve since found that an hour and a half is more like it!

We knew at this point that our ribs were a bit more done than we wanted, but we continued with the plan anyway. We removed the racks from the foil and sauced them up. They then went back into the smoker for about 30-40 mins. more until the sauce got tacky. (You want your fingers sticky, right?)

All in all, not bad for a first try.

Baby back ribs, Boston baked bean, and Ms. K’s Homemade Slaw made for a pretty fine meal.

Flight of Ribs on the Big Green Egg

June 23, 2017 By Ms. K

It’s the beginning of summer. The hose has been uncoiled. The deck furniture has been dusted off and set out. The comforting hum of distant lawn mowers fills the air… You’ve probably been grilling and even bbq-ing all winter, but now begins the season of ‘low and slow’. What better way to herald in those glorious pitmaster meals than by smoking up a tasty rack of baby ribs?

Baby Back Ribs with Assortment of Rubs

The answer is by smoking up four racks of baby back ribs.

And for bonus points, why not approach each rack like the work of art it is and treat it to its own rub? That’s what we did for a recent gathering of hungry pit aficionados. We took four different approaches to our racks using a couple of stellar spice blends from The Spice House and some other tasty favourites:

Gary Wiviott’s Barbecue Rub – a tangy/herby blend with definite spicy zip. The paprika gives the meat a gorgeous reddish-orange colour. They look yummy even before the smoking begins…

Bronzeville Rib Rub – You’re gonna get a sweetly spicy hint of nutmeg here – sensitive noses may catch a unique smoky sweet scent as it cooks. Mmmmm…

Rub Some Butt BBQ Seasoning (from Old World Spices and Seasonings Inc.) – as a Carolina-style rub, this one’s mustard-based combined with tangy apple cider vinegar and a sweet dose of brown sugar. Definitely stood out as different among the other two where chili and paprika played more of a leading role,

Last but not least, we went salt-and-pepper only, then brushed on some Rufus Teague’s Honey Sweet Sauce, a great sticky-sweet sauce whose name says it all.

Preparing for the Flight of Ribs with the Big Green Egg

Three hours or so of smoking goodness on our Big Green Egg resulted in our first ever ‘Flight of Ribs’, our bbq spin on what you might find on a fine-dining menu. (Frankly, paired with Two Left Feet, an unctuous Molly Dooker Shiraz/Cab/Merlot, our meal was as exquisite as it gets. And it’s inspired us to develop a beverage pairing for our next Rib Flight. It’s going to be one, luxurious summer.)

As for the verdict on which rub was best, each approach was appreciated, but one of our guests singled out the saucy goodness of the “Rufus” ribs while another preferred the spicy bite of Wiviott’s blend. A lengthy discussion ensued on the ideal order for the various ribs to be eaten (spicy to sweet? tangy to saucy?) and how that might have affected the palate. Debates are great because to resolve them, you have to revisit the evidence, so to speak.

Fours Racks of Baby Back Ribs on the Big Green Egg

To sum up, ‘food flights’ are no longer for the fancy folk. Get creative with your ribs – but put out the white cloth napkins at your peril.

– Ms.K