Want Tender Pork Ribs Without The Long Wait? Try This Method

Flavorful, fall-off-the-bone tender ribs are among the most prized achievements in barbecue. They typically represent many hours of careful slow-cooking on the smoker, paying close attention to a variety of key factors. However, those looking for ultra-tender ribs don't need to fire up the smoker or dedicate years to become a barbecue master. The secret lies in a versatile, common piece of kitchen equipment that may already be sitting in your cabinet: the Instant Pot.

Instant Pot ribs are surprisingly easy to make. It's simply a matter of prepping the ribs, giving them a rub with your favorite spice blend, and then pressure-cooking them for about half an hour. Afterward, home cooks can apply sauce and finish the ribs under their oven's broiler for a few minutes, creating the lightly crispy, slightly charred exterior of traditional smoked ribs. The ribs can also be finished on the grill, if you've got one available.

From the start of the process to plating these succulent, tender ribs takes less than an hour. In contrast, ribs can take up to five hours on the smoker, not including any time required to preheat. There's also far more active work required when smoking ribs, from needing to monitor the temperature to watching wood levels and other factors. Instant Pot rib makers simply set the device to high pressure and walk away until the timer goes off, allowing them to focus on other aspects of their impending meal.

The extremely high pressure used to cook the ribs is the secret to creating these tender marvels in such a short time span. Inside the pressure cooker, steam builds up, raising the temperature — and pressure — which helps to quickly break down collagen, the connective tissue that makes meat tough. This happens in just minutes, compared to the hours required with the alternative "low and slow" method.

Without the benefit of smoke for extra flavor, the way you season your ribs becomes even more critical with this Instant Pot method. Home cooks can use any of their favorite store-bought spice blends, whip up a combination of their own, or follow the lead of a food icon and put together a batch of Alton Brown's 8-3-1-1 rib seasoning. If you're opting to buy your sauce premade, consider grabbing one from the top of our ranking of grocery store barbecue sauces (rather than an unfortunately underwhelming one).

So, if you're craving tender, succulent pork ribs but don't have hours and hours to dedicate to making them, look to the versatile Instant Pot. With just over a half-hour of cooking time and a few button pushes, you'll have ribs that measure up to any authentic barbecue method.