Spareribs Cooking Preparation

On this page you will discover the proper cooking preparation for your favourite pork spare ribs to make them taste even better and to achieve really beautiful barbecue spareribs. And you can apply the same procedures for improving the quality of beef ribs or veal spare ribs!

Pork spareribs are probably the most popular barbecue meat worldwide. The meat of spare ribs is tender and juicy, and those little bones make spareribs ideal finger food. A spare rib is like a pork satay for which nature has already provided the little stick!

Photograph of hot smoked Singapore Spareribs by Hot Smoke BBQ.

Spareribs Preparation

To prepare spare ribs in an optimum way for a fantastic barbecue, we can recommend the following procedures:

Step 1 - Wash Your Beautiful Spareribs

Rinse the sparerib slabs thoroughly under cold running water, or in a bowl with water and vinegar, removing any loose meat, fat or bone particles;

If left in place, those loose particles would probably be burned by the heat of the grill, and you don't want any black spots on your beautiful barbecue spareribs!

And loose bone particles are even worse! You defininitely don't want to go to the dentist after every barbecue!

Blot the rib slabs dry using paper towels;

Step 2 - Cut the Crap!

-	Cut off any dangling pieces of meat or fat from the rib slab; As you can imagine, these would otherwise be burned on the grill, and we definitely don't want any black pockmarks on our beautiful barbecue spareribs!

Step 3 - Remove the Tough Membrane

-	For a better barbecue result we remove the tough membrane that covers the hollow side of the rib slab. Without this hard tissue the spareribs will be easier to eat, while the flavour and aroma of the marinade or dry rub will be able to penetrate the rib slab from both sides; And that's exactly what we want more than anything else for our beautiful barbecue spareribs!
-	Remove the membrane by pulling it from the thicker end of the slab towards the thinner end;
-	The easiest way to make a start and get a hold on the membrane for removing it is by poking your finger or the blunt end of a table knife or screwdriver in between the membrane and the bone of the first rib on the slab;
-	Once you've got a hold on the membrane, use your fingers or a pair of pliers to pull the membrane in the direction of the thinner end of the slab;

Photo of the hollow side of a pork rib slab after removal of the membrane.

On the picture above you see what the hollow side of the rib slab looks like after removal of the tough membrane;

Note the open texture of the meat which will allow the flavours and aromas of our marinade or dry rub to easily penetrate into the meat;

Perfect for our beautiful barbecue spareribs!

Step 4 - Trimming the Sparerib Slabs

Trim your rib slabs to a convenient length by cutting off one or more ribs from the thinner end of the slab;

Note:
By trimming your ribs they will not only fit your barbecue nicely, you will also end up with slabs of a more even thickness which will cook more evenly;

Ideal for our beautiful barbecue spareribs!

Meanwhile, the thinner "waste" morsels will be smoked to perfection a lot earlier than the thicker slabs, making for a tasty appetizer!

And Bob's Yer Uncle!

Your beautiful barbecue spareribs are now ready to receive the blessings of a beautiful marinade or a spicy dry rub.

Juancho's BBQ Tips

-	For marinating flat cuts of meat like spare ribs I preref to use a shallow sealable plastic container ;
-	Allow the meat to marinate for at least one hour, but prefereably overnight;
-	For health reasons, keep your meat in the refrigerator during marinating;
-	One hour before you expect to put the meat on the barbecue grill you should take the meat out of the fridge and let it adjust to room temperature; In this way you will gain the first few degrees inside your beautiful barbecue spareribs without spilling a flame!

Photo of China Red Ribs, Juancho's Split Grill, and a basket of oak smokewood chunks. Here's all you need for a lovely barbecue afternoon (well, almost, except for the drinks that is...): China Red Ribs, Juancho's Split Grill, and a basket of oak smokewood chunks...