BBQ Pulled Chicken in the Breville Fast Slow Cooker

First I'll start with the disclaimer....I am not a BBQer, charcoal pit queen or carnivore extraordinaire.  If you are a serious BBQ connoisseur, you probably want to skip the rest of this post. If you think BBQ is akin to heaven, well this post will shock you with it's lack of authenticity....I just use bottled sauce.  

You were warned. 

My crockpot broke last year and after blowing through 3 crockpots in as many years,  I decided my next one would be an investment.  I had/have my heart set on the All-Clad 7 Qt deluxe because of the aluminum insert.  I love the idea that it's stove top friendly so you can brown and sautee in the same pan before you begin the slow cooking.  Seriously, how cool is that right?

Then one day my eyes beheld the  Breville Fast Slow Cooker and after a couple of weeks of reading the (limited) reviews and debating, I found that this little baby was quite happy to come home with me.  

What's so special about her?  Well aside from the minor detail that she's quite lovely, she also gives you the option of sautéing/searing in the metal insert pan (score 1), she's a slow cooker (score 2) steamer (score 3) AND  a pressure cooker (score 4).  

Pressure cooking is completely new to me but now that we've been introduced, I am a little obsessed.  You can make just about anything in a mere fraction of the time required to cook on the stove....imagine slow cooked beef stew in under an hour.  I made potato salad last week by adding diced potatoes and whole uncooked eggs in the shell to the steam basket and pressure cooking it for......5 minutes.  It's like magic. 

This Breville is not your mother's stove top pressure cooker.  I'd read so many horror stories about those, but this little beauty is quiet and as easy to use as a regular slow cooker.  

It hasn't been quite cold enough to make pots and pots of soup and chowder yet but can tell you this makes fantastic pulled chicken and pulled pork in almost no time at all. 

Yep, bottled sauce.  I used purchased rub as well. If you are going to use bottled sauce, I will add that I think Famous Dave's is pretty good despite the HFCS.  I love Devil's Spit but just use that as a topping sauce since others don't necessarily agree with me there.  I used the Rich and Sassy in recipe. 

A "crockpot" that sears.  It's genius...why had this not been done decades ago?

There's no recipe really.  I rubbed about 2 tbsp of a BBQ rub on 3 lbs of boneless chicken breasts.  (If you are in Denver, Savory Spice's Platte River Rib Rub is pretty yum).  Turn Breville function to sauté, add 10 minutes to the timer and press start.  Allow to preheat and then sear 3 lbs of boneless chicken breasts in batches.  Add all chicken back to the Breville, add 1/2 cup beer (or water) and 2/3 cup BBQ sauce.  Lock lid, turn function to pressure cook, add 25 mins to the timer and press start.  It's that easy...no shaking, sputtering pans or continual whistling.  There's a little bit of steam whistle  in the beginning as it comes to pressure and then a click and then relative silence.  After 25 mins, I slowly let the steam escape in batches.  Once all the steam is released, open the lid (it won't open with any steam pressure----score 5) and let cool a bit.  Shred chicken and add back to pot.   I didn't have a ton of liquid, but you may want to remove some and add back as needed if you do.   The pressure cooking keeps meat  juicy so you won't need much. 

I think pulled chicken/pork is one of those things that needs soft squishy rolls, but you can of course serve it on pretzel rolls, ciabatta or baguettes.  Top with additional sauce and let everyone think you spent all day making this.