1 Pressure Cooker I used an Instant Pot Duo 5.7 l / 6 quart
Ingredients
1whole chickenyou can fit up to a 2.5 kg bird in the Instant Pot, that was the weight of mine this time
1lime
1lemon
1large onions or two medium onesvery thickly sliced (approx. 2 cm thick)
1carrotsliced lengthways
5garlic clovesnot peeled but whacked with the hand
1teaspoonturmeric
1tablespoonmixed herbsI make my own mix of equal parts of rosemary, marjoram, parsley and oregano
250mlvegetable stockI make my own stock paste concentrate in the Instant Pot or the Thermomix (or both), find the link in the Notes. You can add the stock cold but I added it hot, it means that the pot will reach pressure faster so it can sometimes affect cooking time
Salta good pinch
Black peppera few twists of the pepper mill
Instructions
Zest the lemon and the lime. Reserve.
Juice the lemon and the lime. Reserve.
With a sharp knife, stab what you have left of the lemon and the lime, through the skin. Insert the lemon and lime inside the chicken cavity.
Place the onion and the carrot in the pot to create a bed for the chicken.
Add the garlic cloves, the teaspoon of turmeric, the tablespoon of mixed herbs, the 250 ml of stock (hot), the salt and the black pepper.
Place the chicken on top, breast side down.
Pour the reserved lemon zest and juice on the bird. Add a pinch of salt and some freshly ground black pepper.
Pressure cook 30 minutes, high pressure, for a bigger bird. You can do 25 minutes for a smaller bird. Natural release at the end of pressure cooking.In a conventional stove-top pressure cooker bring the pressure cooker to high pressure and cook for about 25-30 minutes (the psi is higher), turn off the heat and do a natural release.
Got an Air Fryer Lid? Use it to crisp it up
After pressure cooking, reserve the juices for soups and risottos or to freeze in cubes to add flavour to stews. You don't have to do this but removing the liquid can help crisp up the skin faster. If in a hurry, don't mess about and skip to step 3
Place the chicken on a trivet if you have one (preferably with long handles and sturdy), lower the chicken into the inner pot.
Air fryer lid on, maximum temperature until the skin is crispy. Keep an eye on it as you don't want your chicken to dry out. Start with 5 minutes.
Notes
Note: There are a lot of lovely juices at the end, I blended some of it with the vegetables for a lovely smooth thick sauce but also kept some of the juices for a thinner sauce. Probably used half for each thing. Lovely moist chicken.Enjoy! And don’t forget to let me know how you get on!Vegetable Stock Paste Concentrate Recipe here.
*Terminology
Quick pressure release (QPR, also called quick release or QR) means venting the steam as soon as the pressure cooking process finishes, i.e. moving the steam release handle from Sealing to Venting.
Natural pressure release (NPR, also called natural release or NR) means letting the float valve pop back down of its own accord, so basically you don’t need to do anything at the end and can keep your feet up. If it takes over 15 minutes, you're ok to release the rest of the steam (by turning the steam release handle to Venting) that may be left in order to unlock and open the lid.
Sometimes you'll see me talk of a combination of NPR followed by a QPR. For example a recipe may have a 4 minute NPR followed by a QPR. You wait for 4 minutes at the end of the pressure cooking time and then do a QPR by moving the steam release handle from Sealing to Venting.
Keyword chicken, Instant Pot Chicken, Instant Pot Whole Chicken, lemon, lime, whole chicken, Whole pressure cooked Chicken