Since getting my Pressure Cooker I have fallen deeply and madly in love with it. Like this thing has earned permanent coveted space on my kitchen counter. And if you know me, that space is PRIME real estate! It means “Hey I’m proud of this and use it all the time” which is true of this thing. I had been craving ribs pretty bad. Now I’m finicky when it comes to ribs. I hate them fatty and even though you’re supposed to have sauce on your chin, cheeks, fingers and so forth I do try to be somewhat lady-like when eating them. BAHAHA okay well at least part of that statement is true *wink*.
I was at the butchers and spied the most gorgeous slab of St. Louis Ribs ever. We’re talking fat, meaty and just begging to core home with me. Therefore in the cart they went and there on my counter they sat. Normally really awesome ribs take hours to make as there are slow roasted or smoked. However my belly did not want to hear that. They wanted no part of “give it time and the flavors will come. Go eat a protein bar woman.” Yeah, I wasn’t having that. Since discovering all the awesome recipes you can make in the pressure cooker I was bound and determined to make the ribs in it. Now obviously the whole rack couldn’t fit in as-is so I had to cut them down to fit.
One thing I’m a HUGE fan of with ribs is when they are meaty. I like it where the bone is in the middle and there is meat on both sides.
Now some may not like that at it means you are guaranteed to get all kinds of sloppy from the sauce on your face (but seriously its ribs… so what!). But if you’re delicate and eating these requires you to maintain your beauty to be untarnished by the sauce, you can use your fork on one side of the bone to pull the meat away. But again, its wings… use your inner carnivore and ravage them bad boys because lord knows I did! To get the ribs like that, meat on both sides the cutting process it a bit tedious but it’s not difficult and honestly if you don’t want to take the time doing this you can easily just cut the ribs in sections of threes and cook normally. It’s your call. This is just my preference on cooking St. Louis Ribs. I wouldn’t recommend doing that method on Baby Back ribs as there simply isn’t enough meat and it’s more of a PITA than anything.
What is important when you cut ribs is to remove the membrane on the backside. You do NOT want that when you cook. Any bbq pit master I know removes it. The bone side has a silvery membrane that should be removed. The membrane can also get very tough and chewy, especially if you cook hot, and if you cook low and slow, it can get rubbery. Gross, huh? Remove it.
If you’re new to my site (welcome!) I have tons of sauces on here and am always coming up new ways to kick them up even more. I want that flavor train to just explode in your mouth and blow your mind! This recipe has definitely met that expectation. There’s no pre-cooking or simmering. The only additional non-pressure cooker step is putting them under the broiler for a few minutes to get that awesome char on them. You can do the same thing on a grill. Make the ribs ahead of time and right before you’re ready to serve, pop them on the grill and baste away until the sauce chars. Trust me, your guests (and your stomach will thank you!). No longer do you have to slave hours over the fire pit or smoker for ribs. Don’t get me wrong, those are AMAZING but these ones are a top contender.
I’m fortunate enough to have some amazing TKW family members that are champion Pit Bosses who have taken me under their wing when it comes to grilling and giving advice since they know I suck at it. That’s why 99% of my recipes are not grilled on a real grill. Okay that and the fact that Mr. Fantabulous and I have now an 8-year long argument on my buying a new BBQ. Yes, 8 LONG years. *sigh* But in a way I’m sort of thankful for that fight (and if you repeat that I said that I will deny, deny deny… er um, wait, it’s in writing. Crap… *wink*!). I’m thankful it taught me to be more resourceful and accommodate those that don’t have a grill or can’t have one (Are you married to a Mr. Fantabulous also? LOL).
Once I chopped them down, added the sauce I had to do a bit of calculation on the timing for these. I knew High pressure. Since these were a bit over 3 1/2 pounds in weight I opted for a longer time – 30 minutes. Normally you want 15-18 minutes for ever 2 pounds of pork ribs. I went on the side of caution with a longer time. I’m so happy I did. When they were done and the pressure was released I was met with fall off the bone ribs already! Even though I have a pretty good understanding of how amazing the foots
Now getting them out was a little tricky only because they were so tender. I would advise using a large slotted spatula and gently taking them up. Don’t worry, once you slather them with the thickened bbq sauce and broil/grill them they are finger holdin’ perfect! Oh if you’re delicate, knife and fork ready… wuss *wink*. LOL
What I love, Love, LOVE about this Pressure Cooker is that it has a browning feature which allows me to take all of that sauce/juice and thicken it up in a single pot to the most awesomest bbq sauces! Folks that whiskey bbq sauce was pure heaven! This is HUGE! I mean one – this means you don’t have to dirty a pot and 2 dude….
WHISKEY
BBQ
SAUCE!
The sauces thickens up in no time and all I had to do was slather on some sauce, broil these for a few minutes and out of the oven they came. They smelled like they had been cooking for hours when realistically they were done in under what, 40 minutes? C’mon, how good can they really be? I mean ribs, cooked in under 40 minutes that are juicy, tender and fall off the bone???
You’re damn straight! These rival those competition ribs for their flavor and tenderness!
Just like clockwork I heard Mr. Fantabulous coming out to the kitchen, sniffing away. You could see that the smell intrigued him until…
yes, until he saw that they were ribs. Ribs are one thing he’s really not a fan of. Not because he doesn’t like the taste but because they are normally really fatty. But since he loves me (and he has no choice) he tried one.
Now did you ever tell your child to at least try something even though they already made their mind up without having tried the item first that they weren’t going to like it? And before they went to put it in their mouth, their lips already formed the ‘EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!’ face, their eyes shut tight and their nose squinched up? Yeah.. he did that. I couldn’t help but giggle. But then…
yes, but then he bite down and those flavors exploded in his mouth. The meat just seemed to melt like butter and he was left with such an amazing flavor of the most tender ribs and succulent bbq sauce. His eyes got as big as silver dollars and although he tried to fight back a smile I knew he loved them. Yet the little brat, when he finished swallowing, merely said “Not bad. I think I need another taste just to be sure though” and proceeded to open his mouth baby-sparrow style. LOL God help me I swear!
Needless to say WE annihilated those ribs in a single night! We had them for dinner and then later on for a snack during our movie. Reheated they were just as amazing! To reheat I just put them on a foil lined pan, popped them in the oven for 10-15, re-basted with some sauce and they were just as amazing!
Folks I’m telling you, if you don’t have a pressure cooker you NEED to buy this Pressure Cooker! If you do have one, dust it off and use it! This is one of the BEST pieces of kitchen equipment I have ever purchased! I mean just look at these pictures! Look how tender and juicy the meat is! It just falls off the bone and practically into your mouth!
Pressure Cooker St. Louis Ribs with Whiskey BBQ Sauce
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Ingredients
- 3 1/2 lbs St. Louis Ribs
- 2 1/2 cups bbq sauce (not honey)
- 1/2 cup whiskey
- 1/2 cup water
- 1–2 teaspoon liquid smoke
- 1/4 cup molasses, not blackstrap
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Pat dry the ribs.
- With a sharp knife, remove the skirt meat from bone side. This is the extra flap of meat and fat.
- Using a knife, insert that between the bone and membrane (bone side). Gently lift up to break the membrane away from the bone.
- Using 2 sets of paper towels – one in each hand, grab the ribs with one hand and the membrane with the other and pull the membrane off and discard. Once you lift the edge of the membrane, you’ll notice what appears to be another membrane layer. Do not remove it. The second membrane is needed to hold the ribs together. After you get the membrane started, work your finger under the top membrane until you have it pulled loose on the first rib bone. Now you can use the paper towels. The membrane is hard to hold onto, but you can get a good grip with the paper towels. Holding the slab down with one hand, begin pulling the membrane back away. As you get some of the membrane pulled off, roll it around the paper towel so that you can pull on the membrane closer to the ribs. This will help keep the membrane from tearing. If it does tear, just try to pry it up again and grip with towels and continue removing until all of the membrane is off.
- Flip the ribs over and using a sharp knife, cut off every other bone. Place the knife on an angle against the bone.
- Take the knife and go to the other side of the bone cutting in on an opposite angle. The goal is to leave as little meat on the bone that you remove.
- Cut that extra rib in half (where the bone was). Essentially you want meat on both sides of the bone.
- Add the ribs into the pressure cooker.
- In a bowl whisk together the bbq sauce, molasses, whiskey, water, smoke, paprika, onion powder, cayenne, salt and pepper.
- Pour over the ribs.
- Lock the lid down and set it to High pressure, 30 minutes.
- When the 30 minutes is up do a natural release.
- While the pressure cooker is relieving pressure, place the oven to broil with a rack in the middle.
- Line a rimmed pan with foil and place a cooling rack on top.
- Lightly spray the rack.
- Gently remove the ribs from the pressure cooker with tongs and place on the rack.
- Using a spoon or turkey baster, remove the fat from the sauce.
- Set the pressure cooker to browning.
- Place the ribs in the oven and broil for 5 minutes each side.
- While the ribs are in the oven stir the sauce until thickened ~10 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the oven and slather on some sauce.
- Return to the broiler for 2 minutes.
- Place the sauce in a container for serving.
- Store any leftovers in the fridge.
Other awesome Pressure Cooker recipes are:
This Pork Ragu is hands down one of our favorite ways for pork! It’s unbelievably easy and absolutely delicious!
With football season kicking off now (GO STEELERS!) wings are a MUST for Sunday games! These Pressure Cooked Honey Bourbon BBQ Wings will score you the most points!
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