Ribs in Texas style are typically done in the 3-2-1 method. This is 3 hours on a smoker on low heat, 2 hours wrapped in foil and braising in something like apple cider, butter, and sugar, and finally 1 hour open on the grill and brushed with BBQ sauce. It’s a 6 hour cook time and it can be fairly hands on in order to keep the heat and smoke level just right but, when do right, you are rewarded with fall off the bone meat with a tangy, spicy, slightly caramelized sauce.
So when Kevin ,my brother-in-law and fellow BBQ afficanadio, told me about ribs he did in ~20 minutes using the instant pot was very skeptical. Very very skeptical. So the first time I tried the recipe I did two racks of ribs: one the more traditional and one using the unthinkable Instant Pot method. I was expecting good ribs and some rubber like material on bones. What I actually got was a huge and pleasant surprise! Ribs Kevin Style were really good! And fast enough for a weeknight treat.
- Prepare & season the ribs. Using a knife and paper towel, peel the membrane or silver skin from the back of the ribs. Then season the ribs with your choice of flavors. I like to do a thin rub of mustard then generously sprinkle the outsides with pepper, salt, garlic powder, chili powder, and a bit on brown sugar. Be bold and experimental. Cover or wrap the ribs and let sit in the fridge for a couple of hours.
- Cook the ribs. Put a trivet in your instant pot and put enough liquid - 80% water to 20% apple cider vinegar - to just below the trivet. Experiment with this step by throwing in some cloves of garlic, liquid smoke or a jalapeño in the liquid. Cook on high pressure for ~20 minutes (or 16 minutes for a small rack)
- Finish them off. This part is basically just a couple of minutes on high heat with a sauce to finish up the outside and caramelize the sauce. Prepare your heat source. I like to use my gas BBQ grill and heat it up with some wood chips resting on foil to get some smoke taste. An oven on broil also works but don’t use the wood chips. Brush the ribs with BBQ sauce to your taste and finish the ribs until they look ready to eat. This won’t take long - just until the sauce on top starts to simmer and turn dark.
Enjoy!
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