Named for its silvery white sheen, silver skin is the thin membrane of connective tissue found on various meats. You’re most likely to find silver skin on larger cuts of meat — most often pork, beef, and lamb tenderloins — and on the underside of ribs. Steaks and chops are typically free from the tough membrane.
Although completely safe and not at all harmful to eat, when this layer of silver skin is cooked it can be unpleasant in taste, and really tough. It’s comprised of elastin which doesn’t break down when cooked so can make your smoked pork ribs really rubbery.
What’s the difference between Silverskin and skin-off ribs?
The only plausible theory at our table was that the silverskin held the heat and moisture better, essentially breaking down the protein faster than the skin-off rack. The silverskin-removed ribs, by contrast, held their shape; the meat on the bone still had chew and pull, which is how I prefer my ribs.
Whether you’re cooking pork baby backs or spare ribs, you’ll want to be sure that the membrane, or silverskin, covering the bone side of each rack gets removed. If left on, it keeps seasonings and smoke from penetrating the meat, and it cooks into an unpleasant leathery skin on the ribs .
How to tell if ribs are cooked?
If you obtained your ribs, open the package and check if there is some silvery or whitish dense skin on the bone side of the ribs. If it’s present, there is membrane and you should do its removing. Actually, this membrane may be seen on all meat types but we don’t pay much attention to it until it’s the lamb, pork or beef sirloin or ribs.
Should you remove the membrane from pork ribs?
If it’s present, there is membrane and you should do its removing. Actually, this membrane may be seen on all meat types but we don’t pay much attention to it until it’s the lamb, pork or beef sirloin or ribs. In fact, this membrane is located in the abdominal area of an animal and it covers the organs of the abdomen.
Do St Louis style ribs have membranes?
The ribs, which are smoked using the famous and popular St. Louis style, have their skin removed from the ribs and the peculiarity of cooking in this style is that the ribs are divided into two parts: the part of spareribs and the part of loin-back ribs. So, they are cooked separately.
One answer is that the membrane is found on most rack of pork and beef ribs from the butcher, and is really easy to spot. It’s the layer of silver or white skin found on the underside of the rack. This is sometimes referred to as silver skin, and is fairly commonly found on a lot of cuts of meat, particularly pork, lamb and beef.