Korean Style Beef Short Ribs in Instant Pot vs Dutch Oven

Today we are making beef chuck short ribs. This type of ribs are perfect for slow cooking, known for their flavor and richness, which makes a great comfort food.  As you already know I am a big fan of simplified and fast recipes, therefore I am using Instant Pot for a lot of recipes on my channel.  Recently, however, I have tried to cook a traditional French dish called Beef Bourguignon using a traditional method of cooking in dutch oven. I was very much impressed with the flavor and texture of the beef from dutch oven. 

Since today I am making dinner for a party of 8, and can’t really fit all ribs in the instant pot at once, I have decided to do a side by side comparison of cooking short ribs in Pressure Cooker vs traditional dutch oven braising. I will give you a side by side view on both cooking methods, trust me you will be surprised with the results. 

So today we will be making Korean style sweet and sour ribs which are also called english style ribs. These types of ribs are cut parallel to the bone with one bone per piece. I prefer to use bone-in ribs as bone adds a nice flavor and also these ribs hold shape better during a long braising process. 

I have tried to cook ribs using different recipes, but this one by far is my favorite and also very simple.

Step#1

Peel, core and cut apples and pears. Peel and cut korean radish in small cubes. Peel garlic.

Chop scallions and separate it into whites and greens. Peel ginger, separate in half, cut one part in small cubes and mince the remaining part using a grinder. 

Now using a food processor or blender we can make the sauce. Since we have quite a few ingredients, we might need to do it in two batches. 

Add apples, radish, pears, garlic, white scallions and ginger cubes into the blender. Now add sesame oil, soy sauce and apple juice. Blend everything very well on high to the smooth texture. 

Step#2

Generously season the ribs on all sides with kosher salt and pepper. 

Now we need to give a good sear to our ribs, caramelize it to a nice brown color. I will start with Instant Pot. Turn Saute mode on Instant Pot, add some oil and when hot add ribs. We need to give ribs a really good sear on all sides. Don’t overcrowd meat, I normally do it in a few batches. 

I will follow the same process in the Dutch Oven. On a medium high add ribs to a hot oil and sear on each side. 

Comparison #1 

Searing in a dutch oven is a lot better than Instant Pot. Look at a nice caramelized color from Dutch Oven.    

Step#3

Now put meat into the Instant Pot, cover it well with the sauce, and set Instant Pot to manual high pressure for 50 minutes. We will wait for natural release.  So in total time 15min to come to pressure, 50min cook time and 20 min to depresurase, total 1 hour and 30 minutes. 

In the meanwhile we will set up our dutch oven.  Follow the same process by covering meat with the sauce, close the lid and put ribs in the oven for 3 - 4  hours at 290° Fahrenheit. Check meat in the process, it is ready when meat is soft and flaking apart. 

Comparison #2 

Nothing new, but cooking under pressure in the Instant pot is quite a bit faster then Dutch Oven. 1.5 hours vs 3-4 hours depending on the oven type. 

Step#4

Open up Instant Pot when pressure is fully released. Now we can take the ribs out….meat looks very soft and falls off the bone. As you can see the sauce is quite liquidy, to make it thicker we want to set Instant Pot to Saute mode again for about 15 minutes. Add remaining ginger to the pot and stir it well. While simmering a lot of liquid will evaporate and the sauce will get to desired texture.  

Now, since slow cooking ribs produce a lot of fat, we can reduce sauce fat consistency by getting it through a fat separator.  Alternatively you pour  sauce in the bowl, let it cool down and use the spoon to take out the fat which will float to the top. 

I would follow the same process with Dutch Oven. Take the ribs from the oven. They look amazing, and the meat is very soft. Put dutch oven on the stove on low heat, stear in remaining ginger and let it simmer on low heat for another 5-10min. Adding ginger at the end adds a nice flavor to the final product. Sauce from the dutch oven has a much thicker structure compared to Instant Pot so technically you don't need to thicken it. 

Comparison #3 

Due to the longer cooking process in the dutch oven, sauce in the dutch oven has the right consistency already so you don’t need to thicken it. 

I like to serve ribs on the bone, it just looks more presentable. It also goes really well with mashed potatoes. Pure some sauce on top, sprinkle green scallions and sesame seeds. 

And finally conclusion on the taste. Collectively all my guests like the Dutch oven version as it has a bit more flavor. I am not sure if it is related to the presentation of the dish, longer cooking time or better searing. But honestly, the Instant Pot version is not too far apart from dutch oven. 

If I don't have enough time for cooking, the Instant Pot option would be my preference as it is also really really good. 

I hope you like this recipe.