Wonder Oven Baby Back Ribs

It's been so darn hot in Houston this week that I just haven't wanted to use the oven.  Although I have used my Instant Pot (I might even call it my Wonder Pot) to cook the ribs, today I decided to cook one of my favorite meals in my wonder oven.  Baby Back ribs.

I started out by rubbing jerk seasoning on the ribs, and cutting them so the pieces would fit in my pot.

I cut them with about 3 ribs per piece.  I was able to stand the first 3 pieces up, and then pressed the next  two pieces on top.  They're really crowded in there, but that's okay.

I bought this cool stainless steel pot with the lid attached last year, and honestly, I haven't used it until today.  The lid has a silicone gasket, so the heat and juices should collect in this pot; and the best thing is that I didn't have to put parchment paper or aluminum foil on the top to keep the condensation out.

I had to squeeze the ribs to fit in the pot, but that's okay, because when using the wonder oven, you don't want extra air in your pot.

The stock pot I used was big enough that I had room to add a smaller stainless steel pot, so I filled it with small red potatoes and added some water.  I didn't cover this pot with foil because I don't care if the potatoes have hot water dropped on them.

There was still some wiggle room in the pot, so I added two pint-sized canning jars and allowed some of the water to fill them up.  This keeps the meat and potato containers from flipping over during boiling.

Wish I'd have thought to add some green beans, bacon and onion to one of those pint jars!  Next time I'll do that.

I bought this stainless steel pot (shown on the right) at my local Dollar General for about $10.   The lid just kind of sits there on the top, so I rigged up a couple of small bungee cords and hooked them on each handle, running the cord through the handle of the lid.  I thought that might help keep the steam in better when it starts to boil.

Have you noticed that I like stainless steel?  I really do.  One of my first sets of pans was stainless steel, and although I use iron skillets a lot, too, they are just not good for wonder oven cooking.  The stainless steel doesn't rust, and it's a good thickness for the wonder oven.

With everything now in the pot, I turned the burner on high and waited for it to boil.

Once it started boiling, I set the timer for 15 minutes.

When the cooking time was up, I lifted the pot carefully and placed it in the wonder oven.  I pulled the oven around the pot so that there was contact with every part of the pot.  I put the wonder oven top on,  and made sure it was pushed down, and just because this pot is so big, I put a couple of cookbooks on top to keep the top piece of the wonder oven pressing against the lid of the pot.

With dinner planning out of the way, I proceeded to start breakfast and unload the dishwasher.  After church today, I will pull the ribs out of the pot, slather them with barbecue sauce, and stick them under the broiler for just a few minutes to brown them.  They would be fine to eat the way they are, but I like the stickiness of the broiled sauce on top.   I will probably just take the potatoes as they are, drain them, smash them with a fork, and add some butter and salt.

When I first started using the wonder oven, I was a little afraid to cook meat in it.  Then I realized that water boils at 212 degrees and the high heat on most slow cookers is 190 degrees.  If I was willing to put meat in a slow cooker, I shouldn't have a problem with a wonder oven.  After all, this pot has boiled for 15 minutes at 212 degrees, and the wonder oven will hold the temperature for about 12  hours.  I can't wait to get home and get those babies on my plate! 

Later ...  The ribs weren't browned, but with the seasoning on them, they really did look good enough to eat just like they were.  The meat was tender, but not falling off the bone, and that's the way they should be.    This picture shows ribs with barbecue sauce after about 5 minutes under the broiler.  I just smashed the potatoes and added butter, salt and pepper.

I'd say this was another success.