Ever since @mrsbozz and I bought our Instant Pot, I have been teasing that I was going to make some BBQ ribs in it. This past weekend I finally got around to doing just that and I wanted to walk through the process with you.

It's not that often that I make ribs at home(though I might do it more now!). @mrsbozz doesn't really care for pork so going to all the work to slow cook them all day is kind of a waste for just myself to eat them.

I usually purchase my ribs from our local warehouse store (Sam's Club). I can get three racks in a package for right around $3 a pound or so. Once we get home, I open the package and I remove the membrane from the back of each rack. Then I cut them into smaller sections and I use our Food Saver to vacuum seal them for use later.

The picture above is of the two half racks that I pulled out to cook.

If you have read any of my past Instant Pot posts, you will remember that you always have to add liquid when you are cooking with an Instant Pot. As the liquid heats up, it creates steam and the steam gets trapped in the pot to pressure cook your food.

Because I am cooking with pressure, this means that I can cook the racks of ribs from frozen in right around thirty minutes. "Ribs from frozen in thirty minutes!, your crazy!" you might say. I assure you, I am not lying, keep reading and trust me, you will see.

I added half a cup of apple cider vinegar, one cup of water, and a 1/4 teaspoon of liquid smoke together to pour into the pot.

Then I placed the first half rack of frozen ribs in the pot and used a store bought rub to give them a little more flavor.

I added the other racks and sprinkled some rub on them as well. I finally poured the liquid mixture into the pot and put the top on. I set the Instant Pot to high pressure and made sure the timer was at 30 minutes.

Keep in mind, thirty minutes was the cooking time. It takes a while for the pot to get up to pressure before the timer actually starts counting down. Also, after you finish cooking the recipe calls for a 10 minute natural release of the pressure.

During that ten minute natural release, the food is still slowly cooking, but the pressure inside the pot and outside is starting to equalize. You can think of it as being similar to letting a piece of meat rest before you cut into it.

I decided to cook the ribs out in the garage so I could easily move them from the pot to the grill to finish them off.

Many people that use this method to cook their ribs choose to finish them by adding some BBQ sauce and placing them under the broiler in their oven. Others choose to finish them on the grill which is the method that I went with. With about 10 minutes left on the cook time, I got my chimney starter going on my grill (see picture at the top).

The ten minute natural release was finished, the grill was ready, so now it was time to see how they turned out!

I pulled the cover off and though not physically appealing, they smelled phenomenal. I had to be really careful when I pulled them out of the pot with my tongs that they didn't fall apart. That is how tender they were!

I quickly moved them to the grill and brushed some of my favorite BBQ sauce on them. It is a honey chipotle flavor by a company called Sweet Baby Ray's. It only took a couple minutes on the grill to finish them off. I didn't put sauce on one of the racks because @mrsbozz and I were babysitting and I wasn't sure how the kids would feel about the spicy sauce.

I know a lot of BBQ purists will say that this is cheating. The traditional method requires a slow cook over several hours and when you bite into the rib you need to tug a little to get the meat away from the bone.

Most restaurants however cook them similar to this. The either bake them ahead of time or pressure cook them so that the meat basically falls right off the bone. Then they finish them on the chargriller or whatever similar cooktop they have in kitchen.

While I appreciate the traditional method and I love the art of slow cooking ribs to perfection, I'd probably stick to the Instant Pot if I were feeding a large group or just wanted some ribs quick for myself.

I think the results speak for themselves:

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