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Instructions
- Before you do anything with your ribs, remove silver skin from the back of the rib racks. Unlike other connective tissue — like collagen, which slowly dissolves into gelatin during cooking — silver skin does not break down. When left attached to the meat, it cooks up tough and chewy. You don’t want that.I find that the easiest way to remove silver skin is to pry it up at the bone with the tip of a handle of a small fork or spoon, then I run my fingers between the skin and the rack. You want to start somewhere in the middle of the rack. If it breaks just grab the side and slowly pull away to one of the sides. You can use a paper towel to get a good grip if it’s too slippery.
- Cut the racks into two-rib sections. This is not the typical procedure when cooking baby back ribs, but I prefer doing that. The simple reason is that I don’t have to mess with slicing hot rib racks afterward. It’s not easy and the meat tends to tear when it’s fall-off-the-bone tender. Pre-cut ribs look neat and presentable. Try this, you will thank me later.
- Apply dry rub and garlic. I always apply the dry rub to the meaty side of the rib rack. There is no meat on the other side so applying seasonings there is pointless.Some folks like to wet the ribs with a couple of teaspoons of vegetable oil or yellow mustard to make the spices stick better. I used to do that but not anymore. I find that my dry rub sticks to the meat just as well without oil or mustard. That said, either approach is fine so pick whichever you like best.
Place the ribs on a baking sheet or dish and cover with foil. Make sure that whatever you will be baking the ribs in has at least 1 inch-high walls as the ribs will release some water during baking.
The ribs are now ready to be baked. If time permits, let them sit at room temperature for about an hour. This will allow the seasoning to penetrate the meat and the meat will come up to room temperature and won’t sweat in the hot oven once you put it in.
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