(affiliate links included, which means you get blessed and so do I)
We had a great 4th of July here, lots of family, lots of fun, and great food. I have always liked cooking for a crowd but I am especially loving my Instant Pot, it is easy, quick and does not heat up the house.
Yesterday we had ribs, burgers, smoked sausage franks, potato salad, pasta salad, corn on the cob, and everything yummy that goes with all of that, but what I want to share about is how much my instant pot helped out.
Since we had a big crowd I used my big 8 qt instant pot.
Let’s start with the ribs, I got 3 big racks of spare ribs, I put the metal rack in the bottom of the pot with 2 cups of water, folded the ribs in to fit without being tight, then set for “meat” let that process and then left on warm for about an hour. Took them out and laid them in a long baking dish one layer at a time with cowboy rub spice and thick BBQ sauce put between each layer, used 2 bottles of sauce so it was thick. I covered with saran wrap and refrigerated for about 6-8 hours until they got the grill going, when these were put on to finish off. They were tender enough to fall apart and very yummy.
Next were the potatoes, keeping that pork broth and rack still in the pot I added several pounds of potatoes peeled and cut into large cubes or sections. Put on manual 3 mins at high pressure. As long as your pot is not over loaded above the max line it does not matter how many potatoes you have in there. When it is done you can quick release and they should be perfect, put in a bowl with none of the liquid (except maybe a few and a cup of liquid in a separate bowl to snack on while the rest cools) and refrigerate until pretty cold. Then add whatever goodness you like best in your potato salad. Mine included mayo (usually homemade) fresh parsley, chives, a red onion diced and some seasonings. I saved that broth for soup or beans.
I also cooked the corn on the cob in my big instant pot. We started with several dozen ears of fresh corn, We shucked it all, my girls had a shucking race on the front porch, and broke each in half. I put the rack in and 2 cups of water, added the cobs, and set again to manual high pressure for 3 minutes. Then let sit for 5-7 mins and released the pressure and then removed. I had a dipping dish to roll them in instead of having butter to pour or rub, we had lots of little people and I was trying to prevent the mess, it worked well. The melted spread had lots of butter a bit of olive oil and that same cowboy rub. It was delicious.
and .. your thoughts?