If you want fall-off-the-bone tender and juicy meat no matter the cut, that doesn’t take all day, the Instant Pot™ is your tool. I make most of my meat in the Instant Pot™ because it is hands-off and turns out tender and juicy every time. I can cook meat from frozen and still have supper ready in an hour, and I never have dry or tough meat. Here’s how:
- Prepare the meat. My go-to preparation for any cut of lamb is to cover it in garlic salt. Cut slits into the larger muscle sections and insert slabs of garlic cloves into the slits. This infuses flavor and seems to tenderize the meat.
- Load the pot. Place the wire trivet in the stainless-steel liner. Put the meat on the trivet. Lay slices of onion on top of the meat. Sprinkle with seasoning of choice over the meat. We like 1 Tablespoon of either Cajun seasoning or, our favorite, Baharat seasoning. Add enough water to cover the meat or fill up to the “max” line, careful not to pour water directly on the meat to wash off the salt and seasoning.
- Start cooking. Place the lid on the pot with the vent closed. Hit the desired button and let it cook. For most cuts of meat, “pressure cook” setting for 30 minutes will do. For larger cuts like roasts 40-45 minutes. If it's rock solid frozen, toss the 2-4 garlic cloves in the pot and cook for 90 minutes.
- Prepare to Eat! Once the meat is finished cooking, let the pressure release naturally until the safety pin drops and the lid can be opened. Pull the meat out using the handles on the trivet and set it on a baking sheet or large plate. Let it rest a few minutes, and then go to work slicing or shredding however you need. You'll find the bones will pull clean out and any fat left behind will easily separate from the meat so you’ll have tender, juicy, and lean meat to enjoy.
Note: This is the ideal way to cook cuts of meat such as the neck or loins and chops with spine still attached because the bones will fall out and separate easily and these smaller muscle pieces tend to dry out easily in the oven but stay juicy and tender in the Instant Pot™. For rump roasts, I prefer to roast in the oven for a little more flavor development.
Strain the leftover liquid through a milk filter or paper towel resting in a screen colander into mason jars. Let cool so all fat solidifies and can be scraped off. Then can or freeze this broth for a delicious broth to be used for gravy base, soups, or warm drink. The fat can be rendered further and used like tallow but do note that sheep fat has a different texture to it that might not be appealing to you. We prefer to feed it to the chickens.
You may be wondering about using the slow cooker setting. It will work. I find, however, that pressure cooking meat instead is fail-proof. I need fail-proof in my life. In fact, I just tried to make a neck bone from a recipe for lamb and rice in the crock pot from my father in-law the other day and ended up needing my Instant Pot to save the meal. After 6 hours of cooking, the meat came out tough. I didn't have 2-4 more hours to see if it would cook down more, so I figured I had nothing to lose by trying to re-cook it in the Instant Pot and see how it turned out. It came out falling apart, infused with flavor, and my family ate the whole thing. Nothing left but a plate of vertebrae and myelin sheath. That's how we like our lamb.
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