Baby back ribs my husband cooked with our Chef IQ Smart Cooker.

A few months ago, we went to a neighbor’s house for dinner. They told us they had perfected barbecued ribs and wanted us to try them. The best ribs ever. My husband asked for their recipe and it included a rub, but the big thing was a Chef IQ Smart Cooker.

I don’t like having kitchen gadgets that take up space. I have a crockpot that I’ve used once in the last ten years for a party — for meatballs. Before that, the crockpot showed up on the pool deck for swim meets for our snack bar, for soups or whatever was needed.

I’m also a fan of cooking the old fashioned way with pots and pans. Mostly I cook without recipes — unless it’s baking.

My husband asked me to order the Chef IQ. I was skeptical at best, but I bought it anyway. At first it was very confusing to use. It has an app on the phone and has step-by-step cooking instructions. I couldn’t figure it out, called our neighbors and they said they use the manual cooking method and press the button on the cooker itself.

We’ve done ribs a few times, and my husband’s are just as good as our our neighbor’s — fall-off-the-bone tender and juicy. The Chef IQ pressure cooks the ribs and then hubby throws them on the grill with BBQ sauce for a finishing touch. Yum!

I decided to get adventurous and tried seared chicken thighs this week which is a recipe on the phone app. The app talked to the cooker and gave me step-by-step instructions, complete with a timer!

Above is a screen shot of the the app my phone. Each step had a video, and the “Next” on the bottom was the timer. Once the white went across the bar, it was time for the next step.

Chicken thighs searing. FYI, they were delicious! Tender, juicy and done perfectly.

Now that I know the Chef IQ can sear and pressure cook, I’m curious to try more. It even weighs whatever you’re cooking and adjusts the cooking time.

I’ll try oxtails and soups in a few weeks. (I wrote about my oxtail recipe HERE. It originated in one of my great-grandmother’s Nellie’s cookbooks.)

The app on my phone for the Smart Cooker has tons of recipes including chicken, fish, beef, pork, Mexican food, Chinese, pasta — even desserts.

My husband wanted to hand out ribs to our neighbors. He said, “I’m going to be known as the Rib King of our neigborhood.” I reminded him that he was following our neighbor’s recipe…

Do you use recipes or cook without them?

What kitchen gadgets do you find invaluable?