Science of Cooking

Proper searing should result in minimal water loss, otherwise we wouldn't do it for other types of cooking.

There’s little to lose in trying a batch but I would pressure cook first and then sear. As other have mentioned searing first would get rid of the crispy/carmelized bits.

I wouldn't, pressure cookers are magical as they are and everything will taste great, extremely flavorful without the searing, which I believe is an old wive's tale anyway.

caramelized char is tasty, but a sear doesn't seal in any flavor and if you pressure cook it after you sear it, all the dry char is going to hydrate again anyway.

It depends on what you are cooking, but I usually do. Maillard and caramelization reactions will not occur in the temperatures that your pressure cooker will get to. If there's an option to add those flavors to a meal, I'm going to do it. There are cuisines, though, where that's not traditional or desired.

Think about rice, for example. Sometimes, you want more delicate fluffy plain white rice, while other times you want to do a pilaf technique where you brown it first. Neither is "better", just different.

Generally, if an ingredient is susceptible to overcooking, I'm not going to pressure cook it. Rice is easy since the grain size is consistent, but something like chicken breasts, I'm not going to pressure cook.

Adding more high temp cooking will drive out more moisture, but sometimes that's worth it. I would never eat a steak without a search, for example.