Pork Loin with Sauerkraut and Apples
This is a traditional German dish often served on New Year's Day for good luck. The cooked apples, onions, and kraut are sometimes served over mashed potatoes. It might sound like a crazy combination, but the flavors meld to create a sweet and savory sauce. Try them over cauliflower mashed potatoes to soak up all that goodness.
This is a traditional German dish often served on New Year's Day for good luck. The cooked apples, onions, and kraut are sometimes served over mashed potatoes. It might sound like a crazy combination, but the flavors meld to create a sweet and savory sauce. Try them over cauliflower mashed potatoes to soak up all that goodness.
- 2 tablespoons butter (or ghee)
- 1/2 teaspoon pink himalayan salt (or celtic salt)
- 1 cup chicken bone broth
- 3 cloves garlic (chopped)
- 2-3 pound pork loin roast
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper (freshly ground)
- 2 large onions (chopped)
- 4-6 cups sauerkraut (rinsed and drained)
- 3 granny smith apples (peeled cored and chopped)
- Carbohydrate 0 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 0 g
- Fiber 0 g
- Protein 0 g
- Saturated Fat 0 g
- Serving Size 1 1 -6 serving (4g)
- Sodium 0 mg
- Sugar 0 g
- Trans Fat 0 g
- Calories 0 calories
Step-by-step
- Season roast with salt and pepper.
- Set your Instant Pot to the Sauté setting. When display reads "hot", melt the butter or ghee, and brown the roast on all sides.
- Remove the roast from the cooker and add onions, garlic, and broth. Scrape brown bits from the bottom of the pot.
- Return roast to the Instant Pot. Using the Manual setting, adjust to high pressure and set to cook for 45 minutes.
- When time is up, use the quick release method to release pressure and quickly add sauerkraut and apples to the cooker.
- Bring back to full pressure for 5 minutes and again use the quick release method.
- Slice and serve with sauce. Enjoy!
Cooking a lean cut like pork loin under high pressure requires careful timing to prevent cellular breakdown of muscle fibers from turning the meat dry. Utilizing a pressurized cooker traps moisture inside the sealed chamber, forcing steam into the protein matrix while concurrently rendering connective tissue. Acidity from fermented cabbage and tart fruit introduces a low pH environment that alters protein structures differently than alkaline solutions do. Rinsing the fermented cabbage removes excess surface brine, moderating the final dish's sodium concentration without sacrificing lactic acid content.
Ingredient Interplay and Adjustments
Granny Smith apples supply high levels of malic acid and pectin, which break down during secondary pressure cycles to thicken the surrounding liquid naturally. Substituting standard yellow onions with shallots alters the volatile sulfur compound profile, yielding a milder, less pungent allium backbone. Clarified butter or ghee functions reliably at the initial browning temperature of 350 degrees Fahrenheit without milk solids burning. Standard salted butter contains water and milk proteins that brown faster, requiring vigilant heat management during the initial searing phase.
- Browning the roast thoroughly before pressure cooking triggers Maillard reactions, developing complex savory flavor compounds that simple steaming cannot achieve.
- Deglazing the stainless steel insert with broth prevents the burn notice triggered by residual caramelized sugars sticking to the heating element.
- Releasing pressure immediately after the five-minute secondary cycle stops residual carryover cooking, protecting the tender fruit texture from dissolving into mush.
