Thinking about a pressure cooker

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Thanks.
This one has a relief lever on the handle. I think one of the vids said it takes two minutes to get safe enough to open.
I'm gonna get it. Will let everyone know my experience with it. And hey, it comes with 50 recipes already . The chicken one they cooked in the vid looked tempting.
 
pressure cooking

After reading and posting on this thread this afternoon, I got out my pressure cooker , stirred up the Boston brown bread put it in 4 soup cans, steamed it for 15 min. and pressured it for 30 min. at 15#. We're getting ready to break into one of the four loaves.
Boston brown bread is so easy and so nutritious too.
1 c each of rye flour, ww.flour and yellow cornmeal
1 1/2 t. soda,
1 t. salt
3/4 c. molasses
2 c. buttermilk
1 c. raisins
stir it up and put it in your greased cans (3/4 filled) and steam it as above. Wait, I'll try a slice----mmmmmmm, so good and moist.
 
I can't comment on fried chicken specifically, or that electric pressure cooker, but as far as I know, and I am something of an expert, you need liquid to truly make a pressure cooker work. It's based on steam and that's what builds pressure.

I do know that the Swiss manufacturer makes something, or did, called a pressure fryer but I don't cook chicken that way so don't know if it really did/does that.

I have made incredible garlic mashed potatoes in just minutes with great results in my pressure cooker. And the few times that I have cooked meat, such as pot roast, it's turned out tender and delicious.

I am not sure that the electric version is better than the stove top. Good luck.
 
My Fagor pressure cooker can pressure-fry chicken parts and cut-up potatoes quite well,
though I've only done that once or twice.
 
Do you have to add any liquid at all? Can you please post the procedure to do that. I am not so interested in the chicken but the potatoes intrigue me. What makes it come to pressure? So curious, now.
 
Probably the moisture, as like microwaves, PC's need it also to function properly.

For pressure frying, it is used like a deep fryer and with oil.
 
I like my pressure cooker. I've had it for a few years when my sister bought one for us and told me that I was going to learn to use it. Before then, I hadn't used one since high school when I had a Home Ec study hall and taught myself how to cook by picking my own recipes and learning about food. I didn't take cooking classes during high school. One of my recipes was for a pressure cooker and I was leary about using it. My teacher told me that I shouldn't be scared to use one as long as I learned to use it right. She gave me the instruction book to read and I made my stew. My mom's deaf in her right ear and wears a hearing aid in her left one. She's always been scared to use one 'cause she said she can't hear the hissing sound well enough and she's told me stories about people who had their pressure cookers blow up on them. My oldest sister uses one for canning but not for cooking. She helped me understand the pressure cooker a bit better.

I have a Manttra pressure cooker & pressure pan and there's one lid that fits both. The pan is for smaller amounts of food. I use my pressure cooker/pan whenever I want to cook something fast which isn't too often. I use the 'quick release' on my pressure cooker faster by putting a spoon up under the regulator to release the steam. It sure beats waiting however-long for it to cool down.

I make beef soup with mine or pressurize the beef stew meat for beef stroganoff. Whenever I make beef soup, I brown the meat first and then I pressurize it for 3/4 of the way. Once the 'quick-release' is done, I put in the veggies and pressurize for a few min. longer. I pressurize beef with beef broth with minced garlic. After the veggies have been cooked with it, I add more beef broth with water and season to taste. YUMMY! When I cook beef stew meat for stroganoff, I brown the meat and pressurize with beef broth & minced garlic. After it's done cooking, I add cream of mushroom & sour cream and season to taste. YUMMY! Serve over noodles or rice.

I also have a crockpot & a small roaster. I prefer to slow-cook food. I've had my crockpot for several years and it's got a removable crock. I like to cook a small batch of mixed beans or lentils in it or, a small roast. I put a slow-cooker bag in it for easy clean-up. I just got my small roaster about a year or so ago. I call it mine but it's actually my sil's 'cause she had 2 and gave this one to my mom &/or me to use. I like cooking roasts in it and on occasion, I add veggies to it for the last 2 - 3 hrs. I like cooking meat in the crockpot or roaster all night. I stay up late and so, I put the meat in around Midnight or 1 a.m. I've also cooked pork chops in both of them. My sister & I like meat that falls apart. I also make bigger batches of mixed beans, lentils, or soup in it. We wake up to the smell of beef in the house. Our 3 small dogs get hungry since they sleep in the blocked-off utilityroom next-door to the kitchen.

Darlene
 
Lots of info in your post darlenemt08.
So which do you like better, your slowcooker or your pressure cooker?
 
pacanis said:
Lots of info in your post darlenemt08.
So which do you like better, your slowcooker or your pressure cooker?
Click to expand...

I prefer the slow cooker most of the time. I don't have to watch it as much as I do the pressure cooker. It's great to put something in before I go to bed late and the next morning, the meat is done in time for lunch. I just started using my crockpot more within the past 3 yrs. but since I've gotten the roaster, I use it so much more and just enjoy using it.

I also use my roaster to raise bread. It works well to raise bread with the roaster heating water on its lowest setting. So, my roaster is getting a lot more use out of it than just cooking.

Darlene
 
It came in today!
Any ideas on what to make in it first?

Things I am thinking about is something I have, such as chuck roast, short ribs, country style pork "ribs", pork chops..... I have this stuff frozen. I would also like something that really utilizes the PC and makes me say, "wow, this is good and was really fast".
As most of you know, I like to keep what I'm cooking as basic as I can... no fresh herbs or ingredients that aren't readily available in small town grocery stores, but if I have to leave the house to pick something up I just have to have, I will.

I hope it was OK to ask for ideas here....

Let's get pressure cookin'!
 
I vote for the chuck roast!!! Beef broth and water, onions, celery to start.

I like my roasts falling apart. Therefore, I tend to cook longer than directions state. If your recipe says your roast is done after 1 hour I may cook for 30 or even 60 more minutes. The roast does NOT dry out, it just falls apart, which is what I want. You can add potatoes and carrots at this point if you want. I really do like mine really soft when it comes to roasts. If you don't like yours as soft just add them about 45 minutes before your roast is done. You can always check and adjust cooking time.

So.....having said that I add the onions and celery at first (bay leaf, peppercorns, smashed cloves of garlic if you want but it's really not necessary) and cook. Use the quick release method and test for doneness. If your roast isn't falling apart cook for another 20 minutes or so. Always start timing when the cooker comes back up to heat.

It's just going to turn out wonderful!!! From frozen state to totally done I would guesstimate 2 hours.
 
Sounds great.
Help me out with a couple things if you would...
Since I am starting with a frozen chuck roast, I add the veggies about halfway through the cooking time? Did I read that right? I like my veggies soft and don't want to have to use a knife on the roast.
When doing a thawed roast in the crock pot I always season and sear the meat first. My PC has a browning setting. Is there a way to season and sear a frozen piece of meat, or should I skip this step?

I guess I'll pretty much adapt things the way I do when using a slow cooker, but how much liquid should I add? We all know how much liquid is generated in a slow cooker, does a PC do the same thing?

Man, I can't wait! I didn't have anything taken out for tonight yet either!
 
Then just put your veggies on top of the roast in the beginning. I like my veggies soft too!

I wouldn't bother with browning in this instance. Normally, I would though. I just brown my roast (seasoned and floured) then top with the veggies.

I'll tell you up front that I am always sorry when I do my potatoes in the pressure cooker instead of making mashed potatoes with my roast - all that gravy and no mashed potatoes is SOOOOOOOOOOOO sad! :LOL:

As far as liquid - remember that in a pressure cooker there's a certain amount of steam that escapes. It's just a bit different than a crockpot in that you can put a little bit of liquid in the bottom of the crockpot and be ok. A pressure cooker takes more liquid. There should be something in your instructions about how much liquid is required for safety reasons. I think I usually add enough liquid to come up half way to 3/4's of the way up the roast.
 
VegQueen said:
I can't comment on fried chicken specifically, or that electric pressure cooker, but as far as I know, and I am something of an expert, you need liquid to truly make a pressure cooker work. It's based on steam and that's what builds pressure.

I do know that the Swiss manufacturer makes something, or did, called a pressure fryer but I don't cook chicken that way so don't know if it really did/does that.

I have made incredible garlic mashed potatoes in just minutes with great results in my pressure cooker. And the few times that I have cooked meat, such as pot roast, it's turned out tender and delicious.

I am not sure that the electric version is better than the stove top. Good luck.
Click to expand...

I believe that Swiss "pressure fryer" to which you refer is a 5-quart pressure cooker by Kuhn-Rikon. I have that as well as their 8-quart pressure cooker. But let me say emphatically that it is not for pressure frying. It is simply a braiser-shaped pressure cooker with a waffle interior that supposedly allows for fat-free sauteeing. In fact, they've dropped the word "fry" or "fryer" altogether.

It is a wonderful and versatile cooker, as are all their PCs -- top quality. I bought it after seeing it recommended in one of Madjur Jaffrey's (sp?) cookbooks for all sorts of chicken and lamb dishes that involve browning.
 
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