Just bought a pressure cooker, now what?

El_Dangeroso

Picked up a 6L pressure cooker in Aldi today on a whim.

I hear it's good for cooking really tender meat in short times, but I understand that you need to adapt a normal recipe for it to come out right.

Looking around the web is either uninspiring or very Americanised (wtf is liquid smoke?) so do any of the people on here use a pressure cooker? If so what are your favourite recipes?

Really don't want to consign this thing to the already bulging shelf of ill-thought out kitchen purchases.

Red Cortina

Don't have any recipes/advice for you! Just my mother has one at home which never sees the light of day any more, think they were all the rage in the '80s:) My mam used to do the spuds in it in a super quick time

Sapsorrow

I use one all the time They are so handy when you're busy, tired or in a rush and really economical, I can't afford to let things stew on the gas for 2 and a half hours! I don't use any special recipes myself, generally you can get meat nicely tender in an hour, even cheaper stewing beef only takes an hour and a half to get lovely and melty. I just chuck everything in, pop the lid on and leave it to it for an hour or so. If I'm adding greens like spinach I let the meat and root veg cook first, then take the lid off and add the greens and cook it open on the hob for the last five or ten minutes. I find if you add something acidic like tinned tomatos it speeds up the cooking of the meat. I'd say keep and eye out in bargain or retail outlet book shops for a pressure cooker cook book. There's also bound to be dedicated websites and blogs full of recipes.

rubadub

I can never understand why they are not more popular, probably they myths & legends of explosions, the modern ones have all sorts of safety devices.

I would highly recommend this one http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/8610351/Trail/searchtext%3EPRESSURE+PRESTIGE.htm I know a fair bit about them as it is part of my job, and it gets great reviews online and from me!, they have a supposedly higher spec presitge which gets bad reviews.

I do curries, chilli rice, soup, potatoes in mine. They are far more popular in the US, where they call them pressure canners, or just canners, so use those terms to find recipes. They are big into sterilizing/canning/jarring foods in the US, I have done this myself with great success. You can quickly steam the likes of chicken legs prior to the BBQ.

Dr Nic

Temple_Grandin wrote: »

Just bought a pressure cooker, now what?

Throw it out - food tastes awful from it.
My only bad memory of xmas as a kid was the Turkey and Ham the days after xmas -cooked with one of these.
Truly disgusting

Maybe they've improved?

El_Dangeroso

Dr Nic wrote: »

Throw it out - food tastes awful from it.
My only bad memory of xmas as a kid was the Turkey and Ham the days after xmas -cooked with one of these.
Truly disgusting

Maybe they've improved?

Beef goulash is hissing away in it as I type.. I'll let you know how it goes.

El_Dangeroso

OK, beef goulash done.. had a taste.. not bad, not bad at all.

The meat is completely tender in 30 minutes of cooking which I'm really impressed with!

One thing I will say is that the spices don't mature like they do in a regular pot over time. You need to have the taste there before you cook, but I think this will become a regular thing, great when you fancy a stew just after work..

rubadub

Dr Nic wrote: »

Maybe they've improved?

They have improved safety wise (not that they were particularly dangerous before) but the theory of how they work is the exact same, it is not like cookers with fancy fans or anything, or better more even microwaves that came about. Steam under pressure is the same and the food from one now would be the same as one from 100 years ago. On US sites I have read people still using antique ones from 80+ years back.

I would not cook turkey in one, just like I would not steam a turkey. A pressure cooker is essentially just really fast steaming/boiling. The one I linked goes to 15psi, most these days only go to 12psi, I have altered mine and have ran it at 25psi to make sterilising even faster (don't try this at home kids! the manufacturers do say it can operate at 28psi and I'm fully qualified to do it with lots of experience with pressure boilers). At 15psi the steam/water inside is at 121C and as it is under pressure it can penetrate food faster, great for brown rice or pulses.

If any chefs are reading or people who want to do proper canning/jarring then the best brand hands down is the "all american" brand, I doubt you will find one in a shop here though. I was thinking of importing one but they are far too big for my kitchen. They will literally last a lifetime, or more, no seals to fail either, its a metal on metal seal.

What I like about them is if I get the pressure up high and I can just turn the cooker off and know the pressure is going down slowly and I feel confident enough to just leave it there unwatched to very slowly cool down and still be stewing away the food.

Michael G

Temple_Grandin wrote: »

Picked up a 6L pressure cooker in Aldi today on a whim.

I hear it's good for cooking really tender meat in short times, but I understand that you need to adapt a normal recipe for it to come out right.

Looking around the web is either uninspiring or very Americanised (wtf is liquid smoke?)

"Liquid smoke" is just steam. This is a great machine but, as someone has said, don't expect the subtle flavours from slow cooking. I use mine (handed over from my mother) for jobs like:

• making simple stews, because you use so little liquid that what remains needs just thickening and seasoning to make a good sauce
• making stock
• cooking potatoes
• cooking beans without the need to soak them overnight (but you need to give them plenty of liquid and an hour to cook).

rubadub

Michael G wrote: »

"Liquid smoke" is just steam

It is some sort of smoke flavouring. I remember a few years ago there was some ban or limit on smoking food and there was talk of smoked cod etc becoming rare.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_smoke

El_Dangeroso

Michael G wrote: »

making stock

We have a winner. I never thought about the quick stock making potential!

No more minding a pot of beef stock for 24 hours!