Pressure Cooker Or Slow Cooker?
ADVICE FOR THE FOODLORN
By Tom Steele
Should I get my wife a pressure cooker or a slow cooker for Christmas? We both work, and she cooks most every night for me and our two teenaged children. Thanks!
–Gary Jarvis, Hartford, Connecticut
It really depends on time. If your wife is up early enough in the morning to prep a meal that will cook all day in the slow cooker while you’re at work, there are a number of excellent cookers out there. If she gets home and wants to cook dinner then, and have it on the table in under an hour, then a pressure cooker is the way to go. That said, I usually prefer foods that have been pressure cooked to foods that have been sitting in low heat all day. And pressure cookers are much more useful in general—excellent chicken stock can me made in under an hour, stews come together very quickly and flavorfully, dried beans really come to life, and I’ll never make corned beef and cabbage any other way again. Duromatic makes excellent pressure cookers, with all sorts of built-in safety features. Be sure to get a cooker that holds at least 5 quarts; 6 or 7 is even better.
Here’s my recipe for pulled pork made in a pressure cooker. It’s ready in about an hour, and makes plenty for four people:
Pulled Pork in a Pressure Cooker
Use two forks to shred the pork into bite-sized pieces and serve it on hamburger rolls with cole slaw.
3 lb. pork shoulder roast, boned and skinned
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup Marsala wine
1 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Liquid Smoke
1/2 cup Maille Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon Coleman’s dry mustard
1/4 cup Santa Fe chile powder,
or chile powder of your choice
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup water
In a 5 quart pressure cooker, brown the pork roast well in the olive oil over medium-high heat. Place pork on a plate and keep warm.
Add the onion and garlic to the pressure cooker and sauté until softened. Deglaze with the Marsala wine. Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Bring to the boil, return the pork to the cooker, close the cooker, and bring to high pressure. Stabilize the cooker and cook the pork for 45 minutes. Slow-release the pressure and, using two forks, pull the pork into shreds. Adjust the seasonings and return the meat to high pressure for 10 minutes. Serve hot on Kaiser rolls. Store-bought cole slaw is pretty good these days, and some cornbread would be nice.
Yield: 6 servings
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