draft1 5-quart pressure-cooker batch

Bean-Free Pressure Cooker Beef Cholent

Large beef medallions with potatoes, carrots, and a rich broth, browned in cast iron and finished in a pressure cooker. One batch for a 5-quart pressure cooker. Serve the beef and vegetables with plenty of broth and rustic bread alongside.

Instructions

Pat 1000 g beef leg muscle (8 large medallions) completely dry. Season all over with 18 g fine salt. Refrigerate uncovered for a few hours before cooking.
Prepare 5 medium potatoes by peeling or scrubbing and halving them. Cut 3 large carrots into 5–7 cm pieces, slice 2 large onions, and smash 5 garlic cloves.
If convenient, remove the dry-brined beef from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before cooking. Pat the surfaces dry again if needed.
Heat the 14-inch cast-iron skillet until very hot. Add 2 tbsp neutral oil or beef tallow. Sear the 8 beef medallions in batches for about 3–4 minutes per side, until deeply browned. Transfer the seared beef to the pressure cooker.
Lower the skillet heat slightly. Add 2 sliced large onions and cook for about 10–15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until deeply golden.
Add 5 smashed garlic cloves and 2 tbsp tomato paste to the onions. Cook for about 2 minutes.
Pour 150 ml dry white wine into the skillet. Scrape up the browned fond and reduce the wine for about 2–3 minutes.
Transfer the onion-wine mixture to the pressure cooker with the beef. Add 5 halved medium potatoes, 3 large carrots cut into 5–7 cm pieces, 2 bay leaves, 3–4 sprigs fresh thyme (or 1 tsp dried), 2 tsp sweet paprika, 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper, and 1 tsp vegetable stock powder.
Add a little more than 700 g water.
Bring the pressure cooker fully up to pressure, then cook at high pressure for 90 minutes. Allow the pressure to release naturally.
After opening, taste the broth and adjust salt only if needed because the beef was already dry-brined with 18 g salt. If a thicker broth is desired, simmer uncovered for 10–15 minutes.

Success cues

Beef is deeply browned before pressure cooking.
Onions are deep golden before deglazing.
After pressure cooking, the beef should be very soft and approaching spoon-tender/fall-apart texture.
Broth should be rich and gelatinous from the beef leg muscle.

Scaling notes

Keep the beef in large medallions and sear in batches. Preserve the thyme range and its dried-thyme alternative. Water needs judgment: the source supplies only an approximate quantity, so there is no exact water amount to multiply. Check cooker capacity before increasing the batch; pressure-cooking time does not scale arithmetically.

Substitutions

Dry white wine replaces the originally proposed red wine.
Use 1 tsp dried thyme in place of 3–4 fresh sprigs.
Neutral oil or beef tallow can be used for searing.

Development notes

The recorded cook used white wine, a little more than 700 g water, and a 90-minute timer started at full pressure. Beans were omitted because dry beans had not been soaked in advance.
Large medallions and the long pressure cook aim for the very soft texture previously enjoyed with the same cut in birria.
This remains draft without post-cook feedback. Next time, measure the water and record beef tenderness, broth richness, final salt, and whether reduction is needed.