Parboiling Ribs: Pro and Con

[albie]

Proponents of a leaner diet suggest that the fat content of old favorites like pork ribs can be reduced by a parboling in advance of grilling. My questions: does parboiling achieve a significant fat reduction, and does it appreciably diminish flavor? In consideration of the latter, is it then advisable to use a liquid flavored with herbs, spices, etc. or beer/wine/Guinness?

Any feedback would be most welcome....

[bushey]

Over the past few years I've become a convert to the slow, indirect heat method of cooking ribs and I think the results are far superior to pre-cooking them. Let's face it: ribs are fatty. Cooking them low and slow with a spice rub, imparts so much flavor and a lot of the fat does cook off. I also found the texture of the meat to be much more tender than par-boiling and finishingon the grill.

[Jinmyo]

Long and slow is the way to go.

[itch22]

There is a scene in Apocolypse Now, where the saucier was describing his first day of training in the Navy. He descibes beautifully marbled racks of ribs, and then breaks into tears as he recalls how they began boiling them and confesses at that moment he wanted to quit the navy. Enough said.

[fifi]

Why anyone would take a nice bunch of ribs and boil the flavor out of them is beyond me. There are some things that shouldn't try to be converted... "low fat ribs" is an oxymoron.

[ladyyoung98]

i tried it just once and will never do it again..they lost too much flavor and no amount of bbq sauce can hide it either

[ScooterQ]

If you want to make stock, boil the ribs. If you want real BBQ, low 'n slow is it.