Anyone that knows me knows that I love my power pressure cooker XL. I will talk people's ears off about how great it is to cook with. I will brag about how I can take frozen meat or poultry and cook a delicious meal in next to no time. I will rave about how the power pressure cooker infuses your food with flavor. I will elaborate on how multifunctional this machine is from searing or browning your meat, cooking your rice or beans, making your soup, baking a pudding or sealing your jam! And last but not least I gush about how easy it is to use. Basically I am a walking talking preaching gushing power pressure cooker infomercial!
I have noticed a common reaction I get to my excitement of the pressure cooker and it is FEAR! People are seriously afraid of pressure cookers. If you've ever googled PRESSURE COOKER ACCIDENTS (DON'T DO IT!) or if you've seen the horrific pictures that circulate around social media you would be understandably afraid too. You might notice that all of those pictures shown people are using the stove top pressure cookers. I can report from experience I have used both pressure cookers and the power pressure cooker is way less intimidating. It has several safety features and I feel very safe using it.
I thought I would try to ease your mind by helping any beginners out with a real basic roast beef how to tutorial. So here we go: This is a very cheap cut of beef from Costco and it is frozen solid!
Start your pressure cooker by pressing the meat button. We use this setting to sear or brown our meat.
Generously oil the bottom of the pot and once hot add your meat.
season your meat as you sear each side, next add a chopped onion and some garlic cloves and sauté you may need more olive oil while the final side of your beef is searing added some carrots.
Now I add some celery, fresh thyme, cooking sherry, maggi, pepper and more garlic!! (You can add whatever spices and vegetables you like).
You need to produce steam to cook so now you add beef broth add at least 1-1 1/2cups.
I used about half of this.
As you can see there is approximately an inch of liquid in the bottom of the pot.
You want to restart the machine now by pressing cancel and restarting it on the meat setting and selecting the desired degree of done. I use well done because the meat is frozen (and we like our meat on the medium well side) making this selection will start the machine for 1 hour. Secure the lid and make sure the valve is closed. The unit will not pressure up if it is not locked and the valve is not closed.
After you have done that you will see the following.
This indicates that the machine is in the process of pressuring up. After it reaches the right pressure it will start the timer to countdown the cooking time.
When the timer is done you will want to release the steam. To do this use tongs or a towel to turn the valve to the open steam position. I put a towel over the release valve so that the steam is contained. The lid will not open until all the pressure is release.
Let the meat rest a few minutes before cutting to retain moister. While you are waiting remove veggies and put them through a mill to purée and return to broth. Press cancel on your machine and then restart by pressing the meat button. As the broth comes to a boil slowly add a thickening agent of your choice to the consistency you prefer your gravy. When you have reached that consistency press cancel. Carve your meat and dinner is ready!
I hope this has been helpful. Just a side note I love this machine so much that I have a 6qt and a 10qt. While my meat was cooking I used my 6qt to make potatoes and broccoli.
If you have any questions or you have a recipe you'd like me to try just leave a comment below. Happy cooking everyone!
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