Featured Post

Wonder Oven - A Bean Bag that Cooks - Video

I attended the Hurricane Preparedness Fair at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston recently.  Last year, there were two of us at...

Monday, March 27, 2017

Wonder Oven Pork Loin and Potatoes


Church for us is from 1-4 pm, and I like to have something cooking when I leave so it will be ready when I get home.  Roast is always a good option, but today I had a small pork loin and decided to cook it in the wonder oven.  I gave my electric slow cooker to my son because I just didn't use it since I now have an electric pressure cooker, and of course, the wonder oven.

Here's how you can cook meat and potatoes in YOUR wonder oven.

1.  I started by seasoning the pork loin while it was still in the freezer bag.  


2   I placed the pork loin in a stainless steel pot that is just the right size for this pork loin.  You don't want anything too big or you'll have too much air and that won't allow the heat to conduct.  

3.   It's also important to cover the top of your container.  I don't like using aluminum foil, so I used a square of parchment paper, followed by a piece of foil.  Then I put a rubber band around it to hold it in place. This is important because you don't want the condensation to fall back into your food.








4.  Next, I cut up a few potatoes and put them inside a Mason jar.  I added some water, screwed on the lid, and placed it in my stock pot with the pork.

5.  There was still enough space in the pot that I knew the jar and pot could fall over, so I just put another Mason jar inside, but this time I filled it with water.  I could have filled it with a vegetable and had my complete meal in there, but I decided I'd wait and cook some broccoli when I got home.

In the picture, it looks like one of the jars is tilting, but once I put the lid on the pot, it was fine. Even if it had fallen over, the lid would have kept it dry.  I'm thinking next time I may just put the pork inside a wide-mouth Mason jar, too.

I hope you can see that I filled the big pot with as much water as it would handle.  Once again, you don't want any more air in there than necessary to allow it to boil.


  

6.  Once everything fit in the pot, I put the lid on it and placed it on the burner.  I turned up the heat and waited for it to boil.  Then I set the timer for 15 minutes.  It's important to let it boil for 15 minutes WITH THE LID ON so that your food gets to a safe temperature.  DO NOT TAKE THE LID OFF!



7.  Once it's boiled for 15 minutes, take the pot off the stove and nestle it in your wonder oven. This is where it's a definite advantage to have a "floppy" wonder oven instead of one that is overstuffed. Make sure your pot is settled in there, and then move the wonder oven around to make sure it's touching all sides.   Once you're happy with it, put the top, or smaller piece of the wonder oven, on top and make sure it's covering your pot.    Note:  I always cook with mine inside a plastic tub, and even though the lid to the tub won't really snap shut with it inside (maybe I need a bigger tub), I always put the lid on top just to add a little more pressure to the wonder oven.  


Note:  I do NOT show a picture of the wonder oven with the small piece on top.  Don't forget to use both pieces so that no heat escapes from the top of your pot.

Once I had dinner cooking, we left.  I was so glad I'd prepared this ahead of time because someone needed a ride home and we also stayed and visited.  That meant we got home even later than I'd planned, and I was starting to get hungry!

My daughter suggested I sear the pork loin in some butter when I took it out, just so it would look pretty.  I seared the pork and also "seared" the potatoes by throwing them in a cast iron skillet on high heat with some butter.

Here's the result.  I've got to say that it was probably the most tender pork loin I've ever cooked.  All of the juice stayed in the pot, so it didn't dry out like it would in the oven.  It was just perfect.  The potatoes were great, too.  Just the perfect texture.  They would have been fine just like they were, with a little butter, but I like them browned.



Again, some of the advantages to using the wonder oven are that:

1.  Food doesn't overcook
2.  Food doesn't dry out
3.  There is no electricity involved once you put your food in the wonder oven.  I could have been driving to Dallas and had a nice meal to eat once I got there!
4.  It saved time.  I wouldn't have eaten until 7 pm or later if I'd cooked this when I got home.

I'd give this recipe two thumbs up and will definitely be cooking it again.