Advanced Pressure Cooking Techniques  Return to the Main Menu for More Information   Related Information Phased Cooking Method Tiered Cooking Method PIP Cooking Method Infusion Cooking Method Pre-Cooker Method   Phased Pressure Cooking Method Many new, and even some experience cooks only know one way of using a pressure cooker. They fill it with water, often exceeding the 2/3 full rule, throw the food into the water and then proceed to cook it long past the recommended cooking times. There are several different cooking methods that apply to the lost art of pressure cookery, and I will explain the different methods in the section.   See the Cooking Time Charts for the actual cooking times of fruits, vegetables, meats, poultry, seafood, grains and rice, and dried beans. For best results you should not combine foods with widely different cooking times. That said, it's impossible to cook without combining foods, so what's the secret to getting several foods to finish cooking at the same time without serving up overcooked food? Start the longest cooking food first and then interrupt the cooking using the quick release method to drop the pressure, add additional foods according to the times they need to cook. Its quite possible to use the interrupted cooking method more than once in preparing a recipe using ingredients with varying cooking times. I use this method in many recipes to produce tender meats and avoid cooking veggies to death. If your pressure cooker lacks a quick release feature, you can use the cold water release. The pot will take longer to heat up again when you release pressure by this method. If you are cooking a beef stew, for example, and toss everything in the pot at the same time like a lot of people do, the vegetables will turn to mush and lose most of their vitamins and minerals because they are over cooked. To cook that stew so the meat is tender and the vegetables are not mushy we need to cook it in phases. The following recipes demonstrates this method. Timing is Everything For best results don't guess on cooking times. See the Cooking Time Charts for the recommended cooking times of fruits, vegetables, meats, poultry, seafood, grains or rice, and dried beans. Beef Stew Using the Phased Cooking Method Phase 1 - The Beef and Broth 1 - 2 Tbls vegetable oil 1 lb boneless beef round or chuck, cut in 1 1/2 - 2 inch cubes flour 1 large onion, chopped salt and pepper to taste 1 teaspoon ground sage 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 2 tbls Worcestershire sauce 1 cup red wine 1 can cola 1 can beef broth Heat cooker, add oil. Dredge meat in flour and brown it in small batches. Set aside on paper towels. Brown the onion, caramelizing to a deep brown. Deglaze the pot with cola, scraping up all the tasty browned bits on the bottom. Return meat to cooker. Add salt and pepper, sage and garlic powder, red wine, broth, and Worcestershire sauce. Lock the lid in place. Bring to 15psi over high heat. Immediately reduce the heat to the lowest possible setting to maintain pressure. Cook 12 minutes. Cool cooker at once using the quick or cold water release method.   Phase 2 - The Vegetables 4 potatoes, peeled and cubed 2 cups celery, sliced 1 inch pieces 4 carrots, peeled and sliced Place the potatoes, celery and carrots on top of the meat. Add enough water to cover. Close cover securely and return to pressure, cooking an additional 5 minutes. Remove from heat and use the natural release method. Open the lid when the pressure has dropped. 2 tbls cornstarch   If the stew seems too thick, add more water to reach the desired consistency. Mix the cornstarch in 1/4 cup water and stir into stew, simmering as it thickens, but do not boil. Adjust seasonings to taste. Use the recipe above with any flavorful, but cheap cut of meat like round steak or chuck. These tough cuts will be great for the pressure cooker, and using the Cooking Time Charts you'll see that stew meat needs to cook about 15 - 20 minutes, but the vegetables need much less. If we add the potatoes and carrots at the same time as the meat they will be mushy baby food by the time the meat is done. This is why we use the phased cooking method. So lets brown add the meat first in a little hot oil, add the seasonings to develop the flavor for the rich broth, and partially cook the meat. Then interrupt the cooking before the meat is done to go the next phase and add the vegetables. Then return to pressure so that everything will be done correctly. With some recipes you may interrupt the cooking several times to add and/or remove ingredients. Use the quick release button as the preferred method to interrupt the cooking because is doesn't cool the pot and you can return the cooker to pressure quickly after other ingredients have been added. Don't worry, if your cooker doesn't have this feature, the phased cooking method will work with the cold water release method too, it will just take a bit longer to come back to pressure.