The pressure cooker is just another means for the home cook to make some delicious meals often much quicker and easier than using more traditional methods. The pressure cooker does require attention to detail and following the instructions of the manufacturer and the recipe very carefully. There is a potential for mishap with misuse but modern cookers are quite safe and are not subject to the horror stories of the past.

You can use your favorite BB sauce. We have found that Honey Barbecue Sauce (store brand from Publix) or Mild Bar-B-Q Sauce (from Sonny's Real Pit Bar-B-Q) exceptionally well suited for this dish.

• 6.68 pounds boneless pork shoulder ribs
• Garlic salt
• 1 19-ounce bottle your favorite BBQ sauce, divided

• Ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon liquid smoke
• 1 cup water

1. Remove ribs from package. Ribs like these are usually quite random in size; sort and cut as needed to make serving portions. Rinse under running water, pat dry with paper towels. Arrange ribs on a cookie sheet. Sprinkle with pepper and garlic salt to taste. Turn ribs over and season the exposed side. Cover with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator for about an hour.
2. Heat a large frying pan or griddle over medium high heat. Add a bit of olive oil. Sautee the ribs until they just start to brown. Turn while cooking to sear all sides. Do in batches to not crowd pan.
3. Place a bit of olive oil in the bottom of the pressure cooker. Place the rack in the bottom of the pan. AS the ribs finish browning, lay them in the bottom of the pressure cooker. When you have completed a layer, place the ribs in the next layer at right angle, crisscross if you will, so the ribs have air space and do not pack tightly.

   

4. When the last rib is in the pressure cooker (don’t fill over 2/3 full) add ½ cup barbecue sauce, 1 tablespoon liquid smoke and 1 cup of water. Attach and secure pressure cooker lid.
5. Heat over high heat until steam is coming from the vent pipe and the safety interlock has engaged., Place the pressure regulator on the vent pipe. Continue heating until the pressure regulator jiggles and vents steam (about 7 minutes). Reduce heat to maintain a slow rhythmic rocking of the pressure regulator. On my electric ceramic top stove the high heat is 10. Reducing heat to a bit less than 6 keeps the pressure regulator rocking slowly. Your stove will vary from mine but I added this information as a guide to help find your setting.
6. Cook for 18 minutes. Remove from heat and carefully place the pressure I the kitchen sink. Run cold water over the pot until the safety interlock releases. Be careful not to let the water run over the vents because the rapid cooling will lower pressure and can suck in water from the outside. When the temperature has dropped and the pressure reduced, the safety interlock disengaged, it is safe to open the cooker. Remove from the sink and carefully open the lid.

   

7. Remove the ribs from the cooking liquid in the pot and place on a platter or cookie sheet to cool. After the ribs have cooled enough that you can touch them without being burned, it is time to add the barbecue sauce. Place a large amount of the barbecue sauce in a large bowl. A round bottom bowl works best. Take each rib and roll it through the barbecue sauce coating all sides. Arrange the ribs on the cookie sheet.
8. Our plan was to serve that meal from the cookie sheet (warm in the oven if you need) and then freeze the rest of the ribs on the cookie sheet. The next day passing the cookie sheet over the hot stove top releases the still frozen ribs from the sheet and they are easy to bag and seal for a future meal of delicious tender ribs.

Remember to read your pressure cooker instruction book carefully.