7 tips for cooking juicy, fall off the bone ribs that you'll want to make again and again

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It doesn't matter what time of the year it is - ribs are always an appropriate choice for dinner, lunch, or that big backyard barbecue you're hosting for your neighborhood. But no matter what kind of ribs you're cooking, pork or beef, things can go wrong quickly. And when they do, instead of getting that melt-in-your-mouth deliciousness you're stuck with tough and chewy ribs. And with a group that suggests making something else the next time around.
But ribs don't have to be intimidating. You just have to know how to prepare them, what to look for while they're cooking, and when to take all of the necessary steps that ribs entail. Once you know those few tips, you won't be able to stop people from coming over to grab a few of those succulent ribs. And then they'll ask for more!
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1. Remove the silver skin
This is a must whenever you're cooking ribs. The next time you pick some up, flip them over. You'll see that a very thin membrane that's silver in color runs down the back of them. This must be pulled off, or it doesn't matter how tender you get your ribs. They'll never fall right off the bone and instead, people will be trying to tear it off with their teeth.
That membrane really tightens up during cooking and it's nearly impossible to cut through with the teeth, much less chew. So it needs to go. This can take a little bit of practice, but there is an easy way to do it. Just make a small slit with a sharp knife. Then, using a dull knife such as a butter knife, place the blade into the slit you made and lift slightly. It will likely remain in one piece so once one part of it has been pulled up, move the dull blade down and continue until all of the silver skin is loose. Then just pull it off.
Want an easier way to remove the silver skin? If you buy your ribs from a butcher, you can ask them to do it for you.
2. Use a dry rub
There is a great debate among barbecue enthusiasts - do you let your ribs swim in a wet marinade, or do you apply a dry rub ahead of time? Well typically, you would use a wet marinade when you want to tenderize meat and a dry rub when you want to flavor it. But when it comes to rib, it doesn't really matter what you do; until you cook them, they're not going to get tender. So here, both marinades are used as a flavoring agent only.
Wet marinades will give you a great smoky flavor, but if you're going to be cooking your ribs on the grill, you're going to get that anyway. What you won't get with a wet marinade is the one thing a dry rub will give you that a marinade just can't - that crispy barks that develops on the exterior of the rib and protects all of the delicious tender meat inside.
A typical rib rub is made up of: 1 tablespoon each of: brown sugar, cumin, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, and chili powder. Then add 1 teaspoon each of cayenne pepper and black pepper. Add 2 teaspoons of salt and mix it all together very well. Apply generously to ribs, rubbing it in as you do, and leave the ribs to marinate in the fridge overnight.
3. Do not boil them
It's unclear where people first got the idea to dunk ribs in a huge pot of boiling water and then pummel all of that delicious flavor out of them. But that's just what happens when you boil ribs. Think about when you make a homemade stock. You place all those items into a stockpot and boil it until all the flavor is in that water and the vegetables and meat are fairly overcooked. That's just what happens when you boil ribs. All of that delicious flavor ends up in the water so your ribs end up fairly bland and possibly, overcooked. Besides, with the next tip, you don't need to do anything else to help tenderize them.
4. Wrap them in foil - tightly
To keep all of those juices inside the ribs where they belong, there's only one way to do it. You have to wrap them very tightly in foil. With the foil right beside the skin on all side, there's nowhere for those juices to go and so, they stay right inside the ribs. This needs to be done no matter how you're cooking the ribs, whether it's on the grill, in the oven, or even in the slow cooker. Wrap them tight, and then tuck them in for a long cook.
5. Cook them slowly
Ribs have a lot of connective tissue and fat - the two elements that will produce tough, dry meat if they're not cooked properly. When ribs are cooked over a slow heat, the connective tissue slowly breaks down and becomes palatable while the fat slowly renders. And if you've wrapped them in foil, that fat will also go back into the ribs, making them even more tender. There's no way around this one, ribs have to be cooked for a long time over a super low temperature; usually about 250 to 300 degrees Fahrenheit, depending on your oven or grill.
If you are cooking your ribs entirely on the grill, you can still get this low temperature. Just use indirect heat, where you light the coals or burners on one side of the grill, and then place the ribs on the other side. The heat will never get too hot because it doesn't directly touch the ribs, but the gentle heat will cook them just perfectly.
6. Know how to tell when they're almost done
Most meat is easy to tell when it's done. You stick a thermometer in there and wait until it reaches a certain temperature. But you can't really do that with ribs because all those bones make it difficult to get an accurate reading of the meat. Instead, know what to look for. You're looking for the meat to pull back away from the bone, about half an inch to an inch from the bottom of the bone. Also, take one rib and try to wiggle it away from the one beside it. If the meat tears easily and the rib starts to come away from the rest of the meat, your ribs are done.
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7. Wait until the end to sauce
Even wrapped tightly in foil, sauce will start to burn if it's applied to meat too soon. This is because most barbecue sauces have sugar as a main ingredient and sugar is known for burning quickly over heat. Instead, unwrap the ribs when they're starting to show signs of being done and generously apply barbecue sauce. Then place them in direct heat to get some charred bits and to cook the sauce right into the meat. In the oven this can be done under the broiler and when done on the grill, they can cook during this stage right over the fire.
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