pressure cooker virgin here!

[countessofmontecristo]

I want to cook a stew tomorrow and usually cook it slowly in a big pot on the hob. However, DH has bought me a pressure cooker and wants me to use that and I have no clue how long to cook the meat; when to cook the veggies and for how long. Help.

Is there an instruction book ? I normally fry off the meat, add veg and stock and give it about 45 mins.

Wlll look through the instruction book again. Don't think there's anything about stews in though. And what a romantic DH I'vve got eh. Buying me a pressure cooker!

Fry the onions in a bit of oil; seal the meat coated in a little seasoned flour, remove from pan. Saute any veg you're using (Celery, carrots, peppers, garlic, potatoes etc).
Put the meat back in, season, and add water (or stock if you prefer) to just over half full.
Put the lid on.. what you do with the weights depends on the type of pressure cooker you have.
If it's the old-fashioned type, heat on full (without the weight) until a steady stream of steam (loud) comes out of the top, put on the weight (it will go quieter), continue on high heat until the hissing is loud again. Reduce the heat to VERY LOW for about 40 minutes.
If it's the newer versions, make sure the circular weight is in place from the start, again high heat until the steam is steady (loud), turn the pressure button round to high weight (15lbs I think) it will go quieter again, continue on high heat until loud again.
Turn the heat to VERY LOW for about 40 minutes.
Just be careful, after the 40 minutes, DO NOT TAKE THE WEIGHT OFF OR TURN THE DIAL-WEIGHT BACK TO LOW. Turn off the heat and let the pressure reduce back on its own. It takes about 5 minutes, but your stew will still be piping hot.
You may, or may not, need to thicken the stew - probably not if you coated the meat with a bit of seasoned flour before sealing.
Everything will be cooked lovely, the meat will just melt! mmm... it's been a while (I use a slow-cooker these days).
Hope this helps

Thanks so much. My mouth is watering after reading that.

I forgot to say - you can leave the carrots and potatoes in quite big chunks; actually best if you do otherwise they could disintegrate.
If you do nothing else, PLEASE leave the weight on and let the pressure reduce slowly. Otherwise your lovely stew will burst out of the lid and all over your kitchen.
Not that it ever happened to me.
Honest. It's an absolute bugger to get off too

40 minutes? My recipe book with mine says 20 minutes, on high pressure.

I tried following the recipes in the book but after a few experiments, 40 minutes is definitely better as it really softens the meat up a treat.