Yesterday I forgot to mention a very important tip for making outstanding BBQ pork ribs. It’s one that I had heard of a number of times previously, but had ignored it because I didn’t believe such a minor thing could make such a huge difference.

On the rear side of any pork rib rack (the concave part), you will notice a thin whitish membrane covering the rack from one end to the other. This membrane acts as a very effective barrier to your BBQ sauce fully penetrating the pork meat from the underside. It also makes the ribs stiff and chewy and sometimes leaves nasty membrane slivers between your teeth. It also happens to be a real pain to remove….unless you’ve discovered my little trick.

I used to get an edge on the membrane and pull with my fingertips (like in the picture above). The membrane would invariably shred and as my fingers got greasier and greasier from handling it, it became almost impossible to get a grip. Frustrated one day, I went to my tool kit and grabbed a pair of conventional pliers (the ones with the broad tip). This time, the membrane came off in almost one complete sheet. Six racks done in about 5 minutes.

Oh yeah, make sure the pliers are clean before and after. The dishwasher does a good job. Unless you want to be eating “Ribs a la Valvoline”.