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This recipe for Root Beer Pulled Pork Sandwich is written for 8 hours in a slow cooker. I'm considering doing it for an hour in a pressure cooker.

I'll paraphrase the cooker ingredients at the click through:

  • 1 pork tenderloin
  • 12 oz. can of Root Beer
  • Salt and smoke flavor

Would the the carbonated liquid under pressure be a concern? I think there should be no problems. But when tinkering with pressure, a second opinion is prudent.

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  • so? how was it?
    – Nursultan Talapbekov
    May 1, 2016 at 22:25
  • As the bubbles are going to come out in the cooking, if you're really paranoid you can stir it 'til it's flat before you start cooking ... but really, it's just going to help it get up to pressure sooner.
    – Joe
    May 2, 2016 at 15:25
  • Everyone's first temptation is to think of the carbonation, but with a highly artificial foodstuff like soda, you should perhaps more importantly be thinking about how the engineered ingredients may behave at the elevated temperatures found in a pressure cooker. You would definitely not want to do this with a diet root beer, but then you probably wouldn't want to make the atmospheric pressure version with that either.
    – Chris Stratton
    Dec 27, 2017 at 20:10

2 Answers 2

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Every pressure cooker comes with a safety valve.

So even if not most of the CO2 is lost during pouring and heating, the safety valve will make sure nothing bad happens.

That you should always make sure the valve is in good condition and working is a general pressure cooker rule independent of the liquid used.

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  • Good take. It was designed not to blow up. I should use per the manual and have faith in the valve.
    – Paulb
    May 1, 2016 at 17:01
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    Foaming up a syrup (like a soft drink) in a pressure cooker could come with the risk of clogging safety valves with sugar residue. So that recipe is probably in "do it but pay close attention" territory.
    – rackandboneman
    Nov 29, 2016 at 10:01
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Think about the thickness of a soda can and the thickness of a pressure cooker. That, plus pressure release valves on the pressure cooker's lid will do exactly that: release pressure. So, no need to worry about pressure cooking soda. Though, I personally would not.

I published a recipe pressure cooking and entire chicken in beer 5 years ago - and despite it being a very popular recipe (aka cooked in many pressure cooker kinds by different people) I haven't gotten any reports or problems.

Ciao,

L

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    Stability of a large vessel at 120°C vs stability of a small vessel at room temperature, even if the vessels are made of metal - literally two different kettles. While the assumption is PROBABLY right, saying "it MUST be safe" is what leads to accidents...
    – rackandboneman
    Nov 29, 2016 at 9:58
  • In actuality, the pressure in a soda can at room temperature is on the order of twice that in a pressure cooker at operating temperature.
    – Chris Stratton
    Dec 27, 2017 at 20:13

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