Hi Tammy,

So sorry, that's really disappointing. What type of beef roast did you use? I use a pressure cooker a lot and have the best results with chuck roasts. Did a sirloin roast awhile back and had the same problem you encountered.

Thank you for answering, I'm not sure what kind but I will pay attention next time.

Here's my (so far) infallible recipe for pot roast. Note: do NOT vent the pressure cooker once time has elapsed. That can make beef sort of stringy. Let it go down by itself, even though that might take 15 minutes.

Pressure-Cooked Chuck Pot Roast

Chuck roast, 3 to 4 pounds
2 cups onions, 1 cup carrots and 1 cup celery, all finely chopped
1 cup chicken broth (if you have some good quality beef broth, use it, but most commercial beef broth isnâÂÂt very good)
1 large can of mushroom stems & pieces (optional)
Black pepper
1 or 2 bay leaves (optional)

In the pressure cooker, mix the broth, mushrooms, carrots, celery and onions, then scoop about half the veggies back out. Trim excess fat off the outside of the chuck roast, but donâÂÂt be too aggressive--you want to leave some for flavor. If you want to, sear the chuck roast on high heat in a frying pan (thatâÂÂs optional--itâÂÂll still taste good if you donâÂÂt do that).

Give a generous grinding of black pepper to what remains in the cooker, and maybe throw in a bay leaf or two. Put in the pot roast. ItâÂÂs okay if it comes up the side of the cooker a little bit. Grind some more black pepper on the top of the roast, then put in the rest of the vegetable mixture on top of the roast. Attach the pressure lid and bring the cooker up to pressure on high heat. Once it gets to pressure, cut back the heat to where itâÂÂs just keeping the pressure on high.

Now, donâÂÂt do anything for a while. After some time (roughly 45 minutes for a 3 pound chuck roast, 50 or 55 minutes for a 4 pounder), turn off the heat. DonâÂÂt vent the pressure, but rather allow the pressure to come down by itself. ItâÂÂll probably take at least 15 minutes to do so. During this time, you might want to make a batch of rice or couscous or noodles to catch the juices.

Once the pressure is down, remove the lid. Remove the roast to a platter. The juices in the pot will be delicious with no other treatment, but if you wanted to get fancy and strain them you could. Slice the pot roast and serve with rice and the pot juices.

If you want to be bold, throw in a half can of anchovies, chopped, into the vegetable mix before you cook the roast. Don't worry, it won't taste fishy, and they'll all dissolve into the sauce.

The only bad results I have encountered in pressure cooker pot roasts have occurred when the pressure cooker lost its ability to maintain high pressure (which is why I am down on the Kuhn-Rikon). Otherwise, I use a method quite similar to Arley's and it's always just fine. I do brown the meat on all sides in a cast iron pan first-- really more for looks than anything.

I'm going to guess you had a tough and lean cut, like a "london broil" or similar. Next time, use a chuck roast, the fattiest one you see.

I always use chuck roast for pot roast and much shorter cooking time--no where near your initial 75 minutes. Miss Vickie suggests 35-45 minutes for a 3-4# beef roast. Or 20-25 minutes for a 2'' thick chuck roast (chucks being a thinner cut of meat & don't require much time in the PC.)

I'm spoiled to using chuck roasts. IMO, they have the best flavor, reliably. In fact, I don't think that I've ever had a bad chuck roast as far as flavor is concerned. Not so with other cuts of roast where I have abysmal luck with getting a good one. I'll even grill a thinner cut of chuck...yeh, it's chewy but it's tasty. :)

With any other roast, I'll only buy it if it's drastically reduced and then it gets whacked up for things like Beef & Broccoli stir fry, beef stew, etc.

Here is a link that might be useful: Miss Vickie Pressure Cooking Meat

I used to use a pressure cooker but when the seal failed I decided to put it away.

I have a pot-roast recipe that a friend gave me that is quite excellent and really rather fool proof. It is roasted in the oven for 3 hours. Mouthwateringly tender and makes wonderful gravy (or de-fat liquid and use as an au jus).

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
3 lb. pot roast
1 medium onion sliced
1 cup sliced mushrooms (optional)
2 T white vinegar
2 t garlic powder
Several cloves of fresh garlic sliced lengthwise
1 1/2 cup strong coffee
1/2-1 cup red wine
2 T beef soup base (I use McCormick's from Sam's Club)
1 T tomato paste
Pepper to taste.

Cut deep slices in both ides of roast and insert garlic slices. Sprinkle 1 T vinegar on one side of roast, rubbing over entire surface. Sprinkle 1 t garlic powder over same surface. Turn roast over and repeat with vinegar and garlic powder. Combine coffee, wine, beef base and tomato paste - using a whisk to combine well. Pour into pan. Place roast in pan. Add sliced onion to top of roast and along the sides in the liquid. Add pepper. Cover roasting pan with tinfoil.
Roast for 1 1/2 hours - turn roast over - roast for remaining 1 1/2 hours. Remove from pan and cover with tinfoil while you make the gravy.

I de-fat my gravy using a large gravy separator (got at Bed-Bath-and Beyond; it's white).

Smells so good while roasting.

[Original recipe called for a package of Lipton Dry Onion Soup Mix - added to liquids. But I often don't have that on hand so I don't use it any more and instead do what I have written above. I don't add extra salt because of the beef soup base is salty. Please add any other spices you find tasty - it's quite a wide open palette.)

Here is a link that might be useful: Gravy Separator