Gotta love the convenience of these smokers. Throwing 2 racks os St. Louis style ribs on the smoker at lunch. Back to work while they cook. Will be ready to pull not long after getting home.
Lunchtime Ribs
- Thread starter Dr.Floyd
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That is a nice job of planning dinner.
SmokeZilla
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Like the saying goes; “set it and forget it”. It does seem close to a structure and other items though (unless you work from home). Let us know how it turns out.
My wife was at home and I also have a camera on it.
Came out juicy, smokey, and delicious. Four for dinner, the rest are vacuum sealed for the kids.
SmokeZilla
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They look marvelous!!! Well done. That picture is definitely work 1000 words. Are you a silver skin on or off person?
I take the silver skin off. Usually comes off easy but I was pressed for time today so of course it was stubborn.
Lookin’ really good, Doc!
Threadcutter
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If'n you cold smoke racks for an hour or so before beginning the heated cook, the membrane comes off real easy like....
I'll have to give that a try.If'n you cold smoke racks for an hour or so before beginning the heated cook, the membrane comes off real easy like....
Threadcutter
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I should qualify that a little..........
On Baby Backs, it works great. A little harder on St. Louis style. Still easier than doing nothing though.
The other thing to be aware of is that the warmer the ambient temp, the warmer the barrel temp will be, even when cold smoking. With 85F ambient, I’ve had 90 or 95F barrel temp. Not that it hurts anything, but it is cooking the ribs, albeit at a relatively low temp.
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At the risk of being severely criticized for “boiling” ribs, I have found that simply pouring boiling water over the silver skin side of the rib rack makes getting a difficult membrane loosened enough to remove it easily. YMMV That said, I usually just loosen the end of the silver skin with a meat hook (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001505OU0/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1) and pull it off using a paper towel for a better grip. I save the boiling water trick for difficult situations.
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Threadcutter
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I could see where that’d work for removing the silver skin.
My BIL swore by boiling his ribs before throwing on the smoker. I tried it once or twice, didn’t care for it much.
Seemed like (not surprisingly), it boiled a lot of the flavor out of them.
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Just leave the silverskin on and score it with a sharp knife, it acts like pork cracklin's and is good.
Threadcutter
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Just did that a few minutes ago, will report back
madurochris
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I don't always take the silver skin off either. One of my friends suggested the silver skin will help hold the moisture better. No idea if true or not. But once cooked, I can't really tell it's there and I haven't had anyone tell me they noticed. However, I'm just mostly lazy but I have also taken it off. Doesn't seem all that different to me. I'll have to score them next time. My competition smoker buddy does that when he's cooking for the masses (and not for the win).
I second this. Especially with spare ribs. I have tried scoring and taking off the silverskin and didn't really notice a difference.
The costco baby back come with the silverskin off.
I have done that in the past but my wife does not like the texture with the silverskin on. Using a spoon to start the separation and pulling with a paper towel always works. I was just really pressed for time due to a shorter than normal lunch break.
Another reason why I remove it is that I often cook an extra rack or two and freeze them for later. I always reheat using sous vide and the silverskin becomes rubbery and tough when reheated that way.
I have cooked with silverskin on and silverskin off. I have not noticed any difference in moisture, but I have noticed that the rub permeates the rib better with the silverskin off.
Threadcutter
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This last batch (St. Louis style with silver membrane on and scored) was just great. I'm thinking I'm gonna just leave it on from here on out. I may pull it off Baby backs after cold smoking because it's so easy.....Just did that a few minutes ago, will report back
edit; Dr. Floyd makes a good point above. On St. Louis style, the membrane doesn't cover all of the meat, but on B/B's, it does. So.....I guess I will continue to pull the membrane on B/B's.
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