Cooking is a skillful art. Till now, women have been maintaining the kitchen and household. But with the change of generation, cooking has become a work of passion.
Many of us like to follow the conventional way of cooking, while some might like to be more experimental. This article draws attention to those folks who like to cook out of the box.
Because in this article, we’re going to teach you how to cook chicken in a pressure cooker.
Process of How to Cook Chicken in a Pressure Cooker
Table of Contents
Choosing the Right Pressure Cooker
A pressure cooker uses the mechanism of steam pressure to cook perfectly tender foods. Usually, these are used for cooking red meat, boiling beans, or chickpeas as it decreases the time to almost half of the required time. But almost anything from rice to eggs can be cooked in here.
Types of Pressure Cooker
Let’s get to know different types of cookers.
First Generation
These ones are old fashioned and use a weight modified valve to create pressure. The outcome of the food cannot be controlled by this as it has to be operated manually. When cooking is done, the pressure is released by a whistle.
Second Generation
They use spring-loaded valves and can be operated manually or using a dial. These are called the second-generation pressure cookers.
Third Generation
These are electric cookers, and they use an electric power source to create both temperature and pressure. To put an opinion, second-generation pressure cookers are more feasible, but the electric cookers have all the glamour.
How to Cook Chicken in a Pressure Cooker
Chicken is known as delicate meat. It does not require any hard work or too much preparation to cook a chicken. But if you are running short of time or in need of a delicious chicken broth, pressure cooking is the solution.
How to Cook Whole Chicken in Pressure Cooker
A whole chicken is usually preferred roasted, but in a third-generation cooker, you can roast it or air fry it or make a gravy out of it. Here are the steps of cooking and air frying:
Step 1
Take an average-sized chicken (3lb). Clean it properly, keeping the skin on, and tie the legs with butcher twine to fit it in the cooker.
Step 2
Make a compound batter using 150g of unsalted butter, 1 teaspoon of fresh herbs like thyme, rosemary, oregano, 1 tbs spoon of paprika, 2 tbs spoon of garlic and ginger paste, 2 tbs spoon lemon zest, salt & pepper (as per taste) together in a bowl.
Step 3
Use your hands to evenly spread the batter in between the skin of the chicken. Cover breasts and legs with batter. Melt the remaining of the batter and brush it on top.
Step 4
Put the chicken in the wire rack of the cooker and pour your desired broth or water if you do not have any broth. Set the timer for 15 minutes and step aside. When pressure is released automatically, let it rest for 10 minutes, at least.
Step 5
The third generation cookers have an option for air frying. Brush the remaining butter and set the temperature to 400F in the air-crisp mode for 10 minutes. When it is golden brown, take it out of the cooker and serve with potatoes and sautéed vegetables.
How to Make Chicken Gravy
To make a gravy that goes perfectly with your roasted chicken, all you need is to save the broth from your roast. Take all the dripping from the pressure cooker mix it with some corn starch and water. Mix it well and add some herbs. Then bring it to simmer and cook until you have reached the desired thickness.
How to Cook Boneless Chicken in Pressure Cooker
Boneless chicken has multiple purposes. You can use it shredded, cubed, or sliced as preferred. Shredded chicken can be used in pasta dishes, noodles, tacos, or in sliders.
Top a salad with cubed chicken or slide some sliced chicken in your sour cream sandwich. You can also mix shredded chicken in your soup. Recipe for cooking boneless chicken:
- Step 1: Prepare 1/2 -2 pound boneless chicken by taking out the skin and excess fat and wash them properly.
- Step 2: Place them evenly in the cooker in a single layer fill with 1 cup of water.
- Step 3: Add 2 bay leaves, 3 cinnamon, 3 cloves of garlic, and salt as per taste.
- Step 4: Set the timer for 10 minutes. If the chicken is more than 2 pounds, it might take a bit more time.
- Step 5: After the pressure is released, put a digital thermometer to check if the temperature has reached up to 165F. If not, let it cook for another 5 minutes. Take out the chicken using a pair of tongs and shred slice or cube them as per choice.
You can use the remaining broth as base of a soup or turn it into a gravy to serve with roast. Broth can be stored in the freezer for up to six months and in normal temperature for 1 week.
How to Cook Frozen Chicken in Pressure Cooker
If you want to defrost and cook a frozen chicken real quick, a pressure cooker is your best option. And if the chicken pieces are frozen in different ziplock bags, they are quicker to defrost rather than one frozen solid block.
The preparation for cooking is all the same, but the timing is different. It usually takes longer to cook a frozen chicken than a defrosted one. Here is a list for cooking different frozen chicken parts:
- Bone-in skin-on breasts: Around half an hour on high
- Boneless skinless breasts: Quarter of an hour
- Drumsticks: Around half an hour
- Bone-in skin-on thighs: Around half an hour
- Boneless skinless thighs: One-third of an hour
- Wings: One-third of an hour
The timings may vary according to the weight of chicken, but more or less, this chart will guide you throughout your cooking. While cooking, make sure your pressure cooker is sealed properly. Otherwise, accidents are bound to happen.
Conclusion
Pressure cooking chicken is one of the unusual things. But who knew cooking in a pressure cooker could be so life-changing. Stories like exploding cooker pots heard from grandmothers are almost a tale of the past now.
With the new generation cookers becoming so handy, we hope you get to cook one of the recipes above and enjoy it.