25- to 6-pound inexpensive boneless pork shoulders (Boston butt only) or 2 brisket flats, which will support the hog in the smoker (you will not eat these)
Instructies
1 to 3 helper humans, needed for carrying the whole hog
Prep the hog: On a long table covered with clean butcher paper or other sanitary covering, lay long strips of aluminum foil until the table is completely covered.
Place the hog, which has been butchered and split with its head on and its feet removed, flat on its back on top of the foil.
Score the hog: With a sharp chef’s knife, make shallow cuts in a crisscross pattern in the meat all along each side of the spine of the hog, especially making sure to create squares where the ribs connect to the spine.
Then crack and pull down each side of the hog, starting from the spine.
You want the hog to be laying semi-flat (or as flat as you can get it, without removing the sides from the spine), so that you can easily reach inside it.
Remove the membrane (or “silver”) from the backs of the ribs on each side: The easiest way to do that is to make a small incision just below the length of the breastbone.
Work your fingers underneath the membrane until you have 2 to 3 inches cleared.
Grab the membrane with one of my rib skimmers or a towel or your fingers and gently but firmly pull it away from the ribs.
Pulling off the membrane exposes loose fat that will need trimming, so take your sharp paring knife and cut away any excess exposed fat.
Use a meat saw to split and saw down in between the ribs and down each side of the spine of the hog.
You’re going to cut the ribs on both sides 3 inches off the spine.
Why?
Doing this makes baby back ribs out of full-size spareribs.
Take care to saw only the bone, and try not to pierce the skin on the bottom of the hog.
This will ultimately make it easier for you to serve the ribs.
