How do I cook pork ribs so the meat comes off the bone?

Ribs are a slow cook that ends in a fast one, and almost all the disappointment comes from doing only one of the two. The diagram shows the three cuts and where the membrane sits, because removing it is the single step people skip and then wonder why the underside is leathery.

What you'll need

• A rack of pork ribs
• Foil
• A blunt knife and kitchen paper for the membrane
• A baking tray with a rim

Step by step

1. Know which cut you have bought.Baby back ribs come from the top of the ribcage next to the loin — shorter, curved, meatier, leaner, and quickest to cook. Spare ribs come from lower down towards the belly — longer, flatter, fattier, more flavour, and they need longer. St Louis cut is spare ribs trimmed square with the cartilage tip removed. British 'pork ribs' or 'rib rack' at a supermarket is usually one of the latter two.
2. Remove the membrane from the bone side.There is a thin, tough, silvery skin across the concave bone side. It does not render, it blocks seasoning, and it turns to a papery layer. Slide a blunt knife under it at one end, get a corner up, grip it with kitchen paper for purchase and pull it off in one sheet. This takes about a minute and it is the highest-value minute in the whole recipe.
3. Season, and go easy on sugar at this stage.Salt generously, then a rub. If your rub is sugar-heavy, save most of it for the finish — sugar burns bitter over three hours. A plain salt, pepper, paprika and garlic rub at the start with the sweet stuff at the end works better than one sweet rub applied once.
4. Wrap tightly in foil and cook low.Seal the rack in foil, meat side up, on a tray. 140–150°C. Baby backs need roughly 2–2½ hours; spare ribs 3–3½. The foil traps steam, which keeps the surface moist while collagen converts. A splash of cider, apple juice or stock in the parcel is optional and does no harm.
5. Check for doneness by bend, not by clock.Lift the rack from the middle with tongs. A cooked rack bends sharply and the surface cracks. A rack that stays stiff needs longer. The meat should also have shrunk back from the bone ends by roughly a centimetre. Ribs are forgiving upwards — another 30 minutes rarely hurts.
6. Unwrap, glaze and blast.Drain the liquid off, brush a layer of barbecue sauce or glaze on the meat side, and put it back uncovered at 200–220°C for 10–15 minutes, or under a grill watching it constantly. Two thin coats, five minutes apart, set better than one thick one. This is where the sticky lacquer comes from.
7. Rest briefly and cut between the bones.Five to ten minutes. Turn the rack bone side up so you can see exactly where the bones run, and cut down between them — it is far easier than guessing from the meat side.

Tips

• Falling completely off the bone is technically overcooked in competition terms, but it is what most people at home actually want. Cook to what you like rather than to a rule.
• Ribs are excellent cooked a day ahead up to the end of the foil stage, chilled, then glazed and blasted just before eating. It spreads the work and does not hurt them.
• If you only have an air fryer, the wrapped stage still needs an oven or a hob-based simmer, but the glaze-and-crisp stage works very well in one.
• The liquid in the foil is concentrated pork stock with fat on top. Skim it and reduce it into your sauce rather than pouring it away.

Common mistakes

• Leaving the membrane on — It never softens. You get a tough sheet on the underside of every rib and the rub never reaches the meat through it.
• Boiling ribs first — It does tenderise them, but it pulls flavour and fat out into the water. Wrapped in foil, they steam in their own juices instead and keep it.
• Saucing at the start — Three hours turns the sugars in barbecue sauce black and bitter. Sauce is a finishing layer.

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