PRESSURE COOKERS: Love 'em? Hate 'em? Let's go to the poll!

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joeekaitis

joeekaitis

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Location
Rialto, California, USA
A)  I've actually seen one explode!
B)  I've heard they explode and I believe it!
C)  I've heard they explode but don't believe it.
D)  I've never been near one. They scare me.
E)  I use one occasionally.
F)  I use one regularly.
G)  My pressure cooker or my spouse? Ooh, tough choice.
H)  . . . from my cold, dead, oven-mitted hand.

 

Multiple votes permitted.
 
F & H for us. We love our pressure cooker, especially this time of year!

Even though we grew up with our mother using a pressure cooker regularly my sister has adopted the attitude "I wouldn't let one of those old things within a block of my house! They can explode just sitting in the box! Didn't you know that? It's like lighting a match in a house with a gas leak!". I don't call her my crazy sister for nothing!

Where did she pick up such an attitude?

A couple of years ago we went on vacation and one of our neighbors watched our dogs. We paid her for her time AND gave her a new SS Presto pressure cooker. Like others she was frightened of it. So Karen went over there one night to guide her through the proper use of it. She now loves it and uses it quite a bit.
 
F & H. Of course, I also have a thing for steam locomotives, vacuum coffee makers and volcanos. I have cookers in different sizes. I like Kuhn Rikon and WMF cookers, but have old Presto and Mirro Matic cookers including the 8 & 16 qt pressure canners.
 
A, E & H

I had mine blow the relief valve once, what a mess.  Hot greasy liquid sprayed all over the kitchen.  However it was my own fault, I was doing a large slab of ribs and let it flop in the pot so it blocked the center stem where the rocker sits.

 

Certainly did not scare me off PCs, just more careful going forward.
 
E & H

My mother had two and used them almost everyday so grew up with them and so they hold no fear for me - used mine last weekend to cook Christmas puddings - cut over 50% off the cooking time.

Love them, almost as much as I love my slow cooker!
 
Want One!

I kinda want one of the electric ones. I think they are safer. I would be interested in seeing some recipies for pressure cooker meals. Other than chicken soup, I'm not sure what I would use it for.

Malcolm
 
E and . . .

 

(New option) I

 

I actually caused a thrift store PC (older Mirro) to blow its safety valve when I was testing it out.  I had it outside on the gas grill's side burner and had placed a couple of cups of water in it.  I didn't realize that the weight it came with was off of a Presto and that it didn't fit properly.  It made a seal and didn't allow the excess pressure to escape.  I sensed something was wrong but by the time I did, I could see molten bubbles forming around the safety valve, so I stepped away -- far away.  About half a minute later the thing blew, and it was loud!  Well I got my answer re: whether the gasket was still good, and the valve did its job.

 

Having witnessed this, and knowing it was a very old safety valve, I'm not concerned about any PC blowing its top on me. 

 

I love my PC's for certain things and am interested in using them more.  I have an 8 qt. Presto and two 4 qt. Mirros, one a 50's vintage and one a 60's.  Those two share a multi-pressure weight between them, as I gave another 50's Mirro to some friends and included the 15-lb weight off of the 60's PC in with it.

 
 
Once when I was a kid, my mother went out somewhere and told me to kill the heat under the pressure cooker in 45 minutes. Well you know how 10 year old boys are. I forgot and then when I remembered it was a few hours later. I got home before my mother did and found:

A hole in the top of the Mirro pressure cooker
The house filled with dense smoke that smelled like burnt pot roast.

That was it, no grease anywhere, no liquid anywhere, etc. I thought when my mother got home she would kill me over this. I really did, she was someone you definitely did not play around with. The Queen of the "Just wait until I get you home!" phrase.

But surprisingly she was not that upset. She told me that because I didn't turn it off, I boiled it dry. And all that was left of the roast was the bone. That's it! The next day she sent me down to the local hardware store with a note and the guy there gave me a plug that was 0.75 cents. I took it home and everything was as good as new again.

So I guess the only way to make one explode is to cook something that would make the vent hole in the top to get plugged. But then the safety pressure relief should protect you. I see the ones on newer PCs are mounted in rubber and reusable.

Moral of the story? What the hell was she thinking trusting the cooking time of a pressure cooker to a 10 year old boy who is out in the street playing ball with his friends? Plus letting the pressure cooker cook in an empty house? Jeesh!
 
I have a Fagor i use regularly, and i appreciate its speed.  In the past i had a seal fail in  a presto (my fault it really should of been replaced).   You can make vegetable soup quickly.  It was easier to brown meat with the squatty presto units shorter and large in diameter the new ones in most brands are taller and less diameter or surface area for browning.  Like many posters my mother used her's fearlessly,  after recovering from heart surgery that was that one thing she asked my dad to purchase for her,  she wanted a 4 quart.  The 6 quarts were too heavy for her to use at the time.   The newer ones like fagor cook at 15 pounds of pressure  which is more than the older ones utilized.

The ULTIMATE Pressure Cooker Cooking Time Chart

Pressure cooker time chart for vegetables, beans, chickpeas, beef, pork, fish, chicken. Use a pressure cooker to cook delicious, nutritious and healthy home cooked food in about 1/3 the time it would take without using a pressure cooker.
fastcooking.ca
 
F and H

I have three Kuhn Rikons, 5 litre, 7 litre, and 12 litre. I use them daily.

When you can cook broccoli in THREE MINUTES and it is perfectly steamed how can you not love it? Hummus in 40 minutes from un-soaked chickpeas?

One thing I have learned, is the .8 bar euro cookers (12 psi more or less) are just as effective as the 15psi US ones. But don't can in them if you live over 3000 feet. I don't know that from experience, fortunately.

Hunter
 
 

 

 

Who's making turkey stock on Thanksgiving Friday?

 

::raises hand::

 

It's a great starter recipe for a newbie because you don't need to measure anything.  Throw the aromatics (coarsely cut-up carrots, onions, celery and garlic) into the bottom of a 6- to 8-quart pressure cooker, pile in the turkey bones broken to fit along with the wings with all the meat intact (getting presentable meat off of a turkey wing is futile anyway) making sure nothing is higher than the pot's maximum fill level (2/3 full for most brands).  Add cold water to the maximum fill level, lock on the lid, install the regulator and let 'er rip on high heat.

 

Back off the heat when the cooker hits pressure and maintain a gentle hiss (or wobble for you Presto-philes) for 45 minutes (versus 3 to 4 hours of simmering in a stockpot).  Turn off the heat and let the pressure drop naturally, strain out and discard the solids (including the turkey wing meat; it's been cooked twice by now) and chill overnight to see if it gels.  If it doesn't, you've still made a richer and tastier turkey broth than you can buy.

 

Can't wait to dive into that first bowl of turkey soup with whole-wheat rotelle.

 

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B

My father-in-law had to clean up tomatoes which were sprayed all over his kitchen after his pressure cooker exploded.  My Mama had an old Mirro aluminum PC which she used until she had to quit cooking.  Never any problem.  She taught my wife how to use a PC.  My wife wanted a PC several years ago so Santa brought her a nice stainless steel PC which she uses on a regular basis.  She has been hinting for an electric PC this year.  I love stew beef and gravy prepared in a PC.  Me personally, I wouldn't touch one! 
 
A, F and H

 

WE had the rubber valve blow out doing some potatos and did it sprew all over.  We have Presto's from the 40's, 50's and 60's that we use and 2 big canners.  We got last year a 6 quart electric and it is great and silent.  Use it almost every week.

 

Beef tips is our favorite along with roast beef/pork or a whole chicken.  All done in minutes.
 
Party Time Pulled Pork under Pressure

My vote is F ... I use mine on a regular basis.
Here is a pork BBQ recipe that I use for our annual block party. I was asked to write this up for a local weekly publication Exit Zero. Of course everyone was afraid of the pressure cooker idea so I had a little fun with the recipe ... The important thing with a pressure cooker is to follow the manufacturer's instructions.
Harry
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Party Time Pulled Pork
You will need:
4 – 6 pounds of pork … I use whatever bone in chops that are on sale.
24oz bottle ketchup ( I like Hunts)
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1/8 cup molasses
6 stripes bacon
1 Large sweet onion chopped
½ bottle Bullseye Hickory BBQ sauce
1/8 cup yellow mustard

Now for the technique:
Heat up the BBQ grill if you wish as this adds great flavor. Put the pork on the grill just long enough to get color and possibly grill marks. I use the JennAir.
Cut the bacon slices into small pieces and put in … and here it comes …. The PRESSURE COOKER !!! yes, that almost forgotten cooking device that probably has a story of your great aunt destroying the kitchen associated with it and your mother putting hers in the attic never to be seen again. But so much for that.
Render the fat from the bacon and remove the bacon pieces from the PRESSURE COOKER … Yes, scary words, that PRESSURE COOKER.
Reserve the cooked bacon for later, you will be using it.
Caramelize the onion in the rendered fat and leave in the PRESSURE COOKER.
Now add the reserved bacon, ketchup, vinegar, molasses, BBQ sauce, and mustard to the Gasp!!! PRESSURE COOKER!!!
Heat all of this to a simmer with the lid off and mix all of this well. Give it a taste, you may want to tweak the flavors. You may add some freshly ground black pepper. You don’t need to add salt.
In the meantime, get the pork that you partially cooked on the BBQ and, if you have it the tray or small pan insert for the PRESSURE COOKER. Put the try or pan in the PRESSURE COOKER and then put the pork on top making sure that you coat all surfaces of the pork with your sauce mix.
Now the fun part, put the lid on the PRESSSURE COOKER following manufacturer directions and proceed to heat the PRESSURE COOKER as directed by the manufacturer. When pressure is reached, adjust the heat as directed by the PRESSURE COOKER manufacturer. Yes, there will be lots of hissing noises and steam. Once you have reached the cooking level as directed by the manufacturer of your PRESSURE COOKER, keep that level for 45 min. Then turn off and allow to cool. Cooling will take a while. Once everything is cool you can put the pork and sauce a covered bowl in the fridge for later. You can do this step a couple of days before you actually are going to serve the pulled pork. In fact, step 2 is easier of the pork is chilled.
STEP 2 The day you are going to serve.
Take the prepared pork out of the fridge and pull the pork apart and off the bones using your hands. Plastic glove are strongly suggested unless you want your hands to get a nice brownish stain and smell of sauce for a couple of days.
Again, it’s back to our friend the PRESSURE COOKER for the end of step 2. Pour the sauce that the pork was in into the PRESSURE COOKER. Shred the pork by hand and place it in the PRESSURE COOKER. You should use the pan insert for this step if you have one. You may have to add up to ½ or so cup of water if the sauce is thick.
Once you have the pork pulled and the sauce in the PRESSURE COOKER, it’s fun time again. Following the PRESSURE COOKER manufacturers instruction as mentioned above, cook for 20 min. Allow to cool and then serve. I put the pulled pork in a crock pot for serving, it keeps it warm.
This is great with a nice hard roll and, of course, the required coleslaw.

Harry
 
F G & H

I use my Breville Electronic the most because it's pretty foolproof. In the words of Ron Popiel,, just set it and forget it !!! It's great for quick stews

Other times I'll use the trust old Presto jiggler, can't go wrong with them either, cheap.. only thing is they don't have a pressure relief valve so you have to put them under running water to cool off and open. Also have a more modern TFal with a relief valve and two pressure settings..
 
A, F & H

Like Matt L, I had a pressure canner blow it's relief plug. Not exactly sure what happened, but I was canning pea soup and a jar cracked in the cooker which in turn plugged the vent which....next thing I knew I head a loud pop, the rushing sound of steam and cautiously looked into the kitchen to what looked like the set of "The Exorcist." What a freakin' mess that was. To this day, though, I could kick myself for not taking a picture!

Needless to say, I was not daunted and I still can 300-400 jars a year in my large All-American 921 and I do a lot of other cooking in my 4 qt. Mirro. What I will say is that I now always stay within ear-shot and if I don't hear the weight jiggle for over a minute I immediately check to see if the canner is at all over-pressure. So far, so good!
 
B & E here

I have always heard stories of them exploding, never witnessed it but I'm sure it is possible.

I do use one occasionally to cook chili or a roast, but most of its use if for canning pints of string beans all summer.

 

My one grandmother always used a pressure cooker for corn on the cob and roasts, and occasionally cabbage rolls, as a young child I was always scared to death when she used it, that was the one time I would stay far away from the kitchen in fear of an explosion
 

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