The Part Of The Ribs You Can't Forget To Trim Off

While there are plenty of tips to consider when cooking ribs, we wanted to learn more about why trimming ribs in particular is so important (and if any part needs to be removed before cooking). To do so, Food Republic spoke to Michelle Wallace, renowned pitmaster, TV personality, and owner and founder of B'tween Sandwich Co., to learn more.

According to Wallace, it's important to trim ribs before cooking in order to have the best possible outcome for your meal. "Ribs have a tough membrane on the back of them (silver skin) that needs to be removed before the cooking process, [or your final product] will be tough," Wallace warned. "Removing any other tough cartilage or excess fat is [also] encouraged."

Removing the membrane from the ribs can be one of the more difficult parts of trimming. Just take a sharp knife to get under the edge of it and lift, and then grip it with a paper towel to pull the rest off — slowly, or it may rip. By removing these unnecessary parts, you'll have the perfect base to make excellent ribs. "A cleaned and [trimmed] rib will have a more even cook and tender final product," Wallace explained.

Once you've trimmed the ribs, the next step is to season them properly — our favorite is a smoky dry rib rub, and Michelle Wallace agreed. "My go-to marinade for ribs is a dry marinade that consists of salt, sugar, and a varying list of spices such as cayenne pepper, cumin, black pepper, paprika, granulated garlic and onion, and dry mustard," Wallace said. "This works so well because it's a well-balanced mixture of sweet, salty, and spicy. All of which works nicely with pork." When creating your dry rub, having a good balance between the sugar and salt will help the flavor of the final product. "The ratio of kosher salt to sugar is 1:0.25 ratio, and the varying spices are up to you! The beauty of cooking," Wallace encouraged.

When you're ready to cook, it's important to avoid making common mistakes. "The biggest mistake people make when cooking ribs and pulled pork is overcooking them," Wallace noted. This can happen whether you're cooking ribs in the oven or you're making them on the grill. "Ribs are best when they are cooked to tender but with a very slight chew to them." While it's common to think that meat that's fall-off-the-bone tender is ideal, it's actually not when it comes to pork ribs. "If they are falling off the bone when you pick them up, they are overcooked and will probably be dry," Wallace said. "To avoid this, really manage your cooking temperature and time." Our recommendation for barbecue pork ribs? Low and slow in the oven and then finished on the grill.