when giving a recipe to my mom I told her to remember and pull the membrane. when asked the reason for this I told her I don't know however everything I read tells me to do this. what is the reason.
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First of all, the membrane becomes like leather after being cooked. It is a more pleasing experience to bite into a rib and not have it seem tough due to the membrane being left on.
Second, some people have speculated that there is better smoke and rub penetration with the membrane off. Since I have not experimented with this, I cannot attest to the validity of this claim.
Second, some people have speculated that there is better smoke and rub penetration with the membrane off. Since I have not experimented with this, I cannot attest to the validity of this claim.
I've only cooked once with the membrane on.. forgot to remove it from one rack. I cooked it/them in the 008 and didn't find the membrane to be tough.. maybe 'cause of the moistness of that cooker.. I'd definitely agree if they were cooked on a logburner 
Before I learned about the membrane removal, I did a couple of racks on my Weber kettle.. offset cook with aluminum pack of chips.. and it was pretty stiff 
Taste was pretty dern good tho.
Before I learned about the membrane removal, I did a couple of racks on my Weber kettle.. offset cook with aluminum pack of chips.. and it was pretty stiff Taste was pretty dern good tho.
Membrane off.
First, I don't like taking a bite and having a thick paperlike taste in my mouth from the membrane. It's not edible. Actually after cooking, you can usually grap it and pull it, and it will come off, but meat will also.
I also like to put flavor on the back of the rib. When you take a bite, your tongue will be touching the underside of the rib, so any flavor (or none) will provide some benefit when eating.
Yes, it's an extra step, but one I'd rather do than not.
First, I don't like taking a bite and having a thick paperlike taste in my mouth from the membrane. It's not edible. Actually after cooking, you can usually grap it and pull it, and it will come off, but meat will also.
I also like to put flavor on the back of the rib. When you take a bite, your tongue will be touching the underside of the rib, so any flavor (or none) will provide some benefit when eating.
Yes, it's an extra step, but one I'd rather do than not.