mguerra Posted October 2, 2014 Report Share Posted October 2, 2014 In a different thread I said I would try some ribs in the pressure cooker and I did it this afternoon. I took a slab of St. Louis ribs, cut it in thirds so they would all fit in my pressure cooker, and cooked them for 10 minutes under pressure. I put about a cup of water underneath the ribs and then elevated them out of the water on a little rack. While they were pressure cooking I started a small fire and threw in about a cup and a half of applewood chips. I did not use a Guru or a Stoker on this cook, I just cracked the bottom vent about the thickness of two quarters, and barely cracked the top vent off its seat so some smoke could get out. I know I have beat this to death before, but you do not need precise fire control for a low and slow. I did not marinade nor brine these ribs, I just took him straight out of the pack, pressure cooked them for 10 minutes, slathered them down with a heavy dose of rub and put them right out on the grill, indirect. I knocked all this out in about 30 minutes or less during my lunch break and went back to work. My original theory on this is that if you pressure cook the ribs you can smoke them for a very short time and still get an excellent result. This is all speculation on my part. As it turns out, these ribs stayed on the grill for 3 1/2 hours because that is as soon as I could get back to them. One of the standard rib cooks is to smoke them by time for four hours and then take them off. So my 3 1/2 hour cook is not a whole lot shorter than that, is it? Doesn't matter, these things came out as good as any ribs I have ever cooked and in fact probably the best I have ever cooked. They were completely and thoroughly cooked but not dried out at all they were super moist and succulent. So this is cook one of this experiment and it came out a smashing success. My goal is to find out what is the shortest amount of time you can pressure cook them and the shortest amount of time you can smoke them and still get super results. Is it possible to come home after work, exhausted, and still knock out super barbecue ribs for supper? Maybe. Standby as I continue to refine this technique. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokydave Posted October 3, 2014 Report Share Posted October 3, 2014 Bold move! There's no reason you couldn't do the same thing to a chuck roast either and save some hours that way too. I remarked in a thread some time ago that chuck was my new brisket substitute since it was getting harder to find a decent packer around here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mguerra Posted October 3, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 3, 2014 We had quite a few chuck threads a while back. Might find it in an archive search. Chuck roll, actually. Ok, I found them. Time to revisit the chuck roll, I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisLinkletter Posted October 5, 2014 Report Share Posted October 5, 2014 I going to do the same except sous vide which gives me more control.. Hot water bath to 167 °F / 75 °C Cook sous vide for four hours Smoke as low a temp as possible until the flex and just start to tear when picked up with tongs and bounced.. I'm hoping that cooking them thru the plateau where all the evaporation happens will increase retained moisture. I was wondering if I browned the ribs first while they were frozen or almost frozen I could add flavor at the beginning of the cook.. Maillard reaction should take place even though the meat is frozen.. I've read about browning steaks while fro zed before sous vide. I'll let you know.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted October 5, 2014 Report Share Posted October 5, 2014 To tie Doc and Dennis's ideas together - Doc's goal was to speed up the process so you could get good results in a short time by using the pressure cooker, then a quick finish on the grill. Dennis' approach using sous vide is similar, although it doesn't seem that way initially. With sous vide, you can't overcook the meat. The bath temperature is the same as the final meat temperature that you want, so you can literally put your dinner into the water bath before leaving for work and come home to perfectly cooked meat. Then toss on the grill to finish it off. There is a slight advantage, time wise, to the sous vide approach. If you are going to be putting them in the bath for hours, you can start out with them frozen and it doesn't make any difference in the final result. It only adds a bit of extra time to allow for the thawing in the bath, but since you're planning on an all day cook to start with, it makes zero difference. I've never started out with frozen meat in the pressure cooker, so I don't know if you end up with a different result in texture, or is it just a matter of adjusting the cooking time? Dennis, I have done the frozen steak cook a couple of times now (but not sous vide), and I see no reason why you can't sear the meat while frozen and then put it into the sous vide bath to finish. I'll be interested to hear the results of both of your experiments going forward. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisLinkletter Posted October 10, 2014 Report Share Posted October 10, 2014 You most definitely can sear before sous vide.. in fact you get less grey meat that way..I did some ribs yesterday as a trial and am doing about 6 racks again tomorrow.. I'm cooking up a mountain of pork this weekend for my daughter's Bday.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mguerra Posted October 14, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 14, 2014 I tried the pressure cooker ribs again. Another slab of St. Louis cut in thirds and ten minutes in the pressure cooker. This time I finished them by temperature, which, in the rib world, is generally not done. They hit 185 in the thickest part in 90 minutes and I pulled them off the fire. They were superb, had the flavor you get from a 4 hour smoke, or a 3-2-1, and they were a lot more juicy than ribs that cook for 4 or 5 hours. So this trick absolutely works, you finish in less than half the time of a typical rib cook, they come out with the flavor you want, don't seem "boiled" at all and are just super. Can you knock them out after work? Well, it's 100 minutes so you can decide for yourself if that seems reasonable. I hate to promote the Special Shit rub company, because it is such a juvenile name, but their products are pretty good. I took about a cup of dark brown sugar and ran through a coffee grinder to powderize it. Then I mixed in about a quarter of a cup of Good Shit. There are about 1000 good rubs out there and this is just another good one. This is going to be a new staple in my armamentarium of KK cooks. The next time I do it I might increase the pressure cooker phase to 15 minutes and see if that shortens the time to finish in the KK. I was not controlling the fire particularly carefully and the temperature started at about 200 and slowly ascended to about 300 by the end of the cook and the seemed to work just fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted October 14, 2014 Report Share Posted October 14, 2014 Thanks, Doc! I will definitely try this in the future. Something else to experiment with. I was thinking that apple juice instead of water in the pressure cooker. BTW - I assume that you had the pressure cooker on High setting? I agree - a thousand good rubs out there (about half of them are in my pantry right now - ha, ha!!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mguerra Posted October 15, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2014 There is only one setting on my Secura 6 in 1 electric pressure cooker. "Pressure" Would apple juice flavor the ribs in the pressure cooker? Maybe. It's worth trying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loquitur Posted October 15, 2014 Report Share Posted October 15, 2014 Doc - have you tried any of the other functions of this appliance - such as using it as a rice cooker or slow cooker? It's an intriguing thought that I could replace some good sized appliances with this all in one and get the feature of pressure cooking along with it. I'm interested in your rib technique also. I've basically given up on ribs because they are, by far, the most erratic cooks I have with the KK. There seems to be no telling whether they will come out fantastic or horrible and, unfortunately, they are more often horrible than fantastic. Seems like maybe I could get ribs back in my cooking rotation with this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mguerra Posted October 15, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2014 This pressure cooker also has several non pressure functions. You can brown and saute in it, slow cook with it and dump your crock pot, it is a rice cooker as well. There is a learning curve, just like using your KK. It is bar none the best kitchen purchase I have ever made. http://www.amazon.com/Secura-Electric-Pressure-Stainless-Browning/dp/B008A852ZW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413387325&sr=8-1&keywords=secura+pressure+cooker Heres a couple of resources: http://www.hippressurecooking.com/ http://missvickie.com/ I could run my mouth endlessly about this thing but just trust me, you want one. Read the Amazon reviews and check the two websites. You are getting one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mguerra Posted October 15, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2014 One bad thing, you could end up doing ribs so often you turn in to a friggin manatee. I feel like cooking them all the time now. Danger, Will Robinson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted October 15, 2014 Report Share Posted October 15, 2014 I'm more in danger of ending up looking like Orson Welles! And, I will drink wine before its time - often! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffshoaf Posted October 15, 2014 Report Share Posted October 15, 2014 Check out the Instant Pot too - 2 pressure settings, 7 functions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted October 18, 2014 Report Share Posted October 18, 2014 You most definitely can sear before sous vide.. in fact you get less grey meat that way.. I did some ribs yesterday as a trial and am doing about 6 racks again tomorrow.. I'm cooking up a mountain of pork this weekend for my daughter's Bday.. Tried the sear before sous vide for the first time tonight. A Denver steak. Seared on very high heat on the sear grill (splitter basket) - 2 minutes on the first side and one minute on the other. Sealed up in the Foodsaver bag. Tossed into a 130F sous vide bath for about 3 hours. Came out perfectly rare. Notice that there is no gray zone - just seared outer layer and beautiful red interior. Used the jus out of the sous vide bag in the sauce for the mushrooms. Twice baked potato, salad, sour dough bread, and a nice Merlot - call it din-din! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mguerra Posted October 30, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2014 Alright I have pressure cooker rib test #3 in progress. And to assist in the adventure, a wee dram of Midleton Irish Whiskey. Oh yeah, the ribs. I pressured them for 15 minutes this time and they are on a mesquite fire now. I can't decide if I want The Doors or Dvorà k for the ambient music… update later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mguerra Posted October 30, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2014 OK, this was exactly 100 minutes again. After the 15 minute pressure cook, I took a few minutes to apply the rub, and then on to the grill. I pulled the ribs off the grill at a temp of 185, 100 minutes after popping them in the pressure cooker. I had a little Manchego with the Irish Whiskey for the duration… Ribs are under foil now, as soon as Penny gets home, it's chow time. So maybe this going to be a 100 minute total time deal. Only way to find out, do a few more! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mguerra Posted October 31, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2014 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mguerra Posted October 31, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2014 It turned my pic sideways because?! Loading photos on this forum, big fun... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loquitur Posted October 31, 2014 Report Share Posted October 31, 2014 Doc: i can't wait to try it!! Ordered the pressure cooker but it arrived damaged and I had to return it so I'm having a short delay. Susan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
