Pressure Cookers - Love or Hate Them?

[whirlpolf]

LOVE them!

Used to use a huge 6 liters AMC pressure pot, the best I've ever seen in my life!
When my roommate moved out, he took it with him (so would I have...)
Now I refrain to some basic Silit 4 liter cooker that I have got from my Dad.
It's got two inserts to be stacked inside, one has small holes in the bottom, the other one is just flat.
Even in this one, stampot is done so easily (a Dutch recipe I fell in in love with, could devour it anytime again)
Baked beans, cabbage stew, stampot, cauliflour, anything goes in it.
Juicing apples for long time bottling, asparagus soup, Prussian mushroom soup, Irish stew, Finnish meat dish, just anything. Couldn't do without a PC, nor without a blender.

All in (perhaps layered into these inserts), wait for the red thing to pop up, turn off heat, go away. After the indicator has sunken down, depressurize and enjoy!
One of the most useful kitchen things I have. Kudos!

 

[intuitive]

Pressure cooking...

I grew up with Mum & Gran using these hissing temperamental things every week... we had a wooden floor in the family kitchen, my brother & I would dare each other to see how could jump on the floor closest to the stove to make the pressure knob explode with a loud HISSS and steam everywhere!!!
Mum had a episode where she tried to make jam of somekind in the cooker, she went to answer the phone & came back to a kitchen COVERED in oozing goo, the pressure release went off spraying jam EVERYWHERE!.

I still use my pressure cooker every week, curries, stews, vegies etc come out brilliantly. I now have a large Tefal model and it is stainless with aluminimum sandwiched into the base. I has a Sambonnet (Italian) model before that BUT had to give it awau as i couldnt get a new rubber seal :-(

http://www.tefal.com.au/All+Products/Cookware/Pressure+cookers/Products/clipso-easy/clipso-easy.htm

 

[sudsmaster]

Mom used to make a delicious lamb stew in her pressure cooker back in the 50's and 60's. She served it over rice and called it chop suey, but of course it wasn't anything near being actual chinese cuisine. Still, we loved it, and nobody has been able to pry the recipe out of her. "Oh, it was a lot of work" was the most I could elicit.

I had heard that once she exploded the pressure cooker onto the ceiling. I think that was spaghetti sauce. She said it took a while to clean up. She must have done a good job cleaning it, since I never saw any stain on the ceiling.

 

[whitekingd]

A GREAT tool in the kitchen!

I love my Presto cookers. I have a 4 quart model 60, and a 6 quart "Meat - Master" 606. My stepfather teases my, saying "Who would want to build a bomb on their stove?" But as long as you replace the over pressure safety device, make sure the seal is in good condition, and DON'T leave it unattended they are very safe to use.

 

[whirlcool]

I grew up with Mum & Gran using these hissing temperamental things every week.

I got quite the laugh out of that line.

I think people who are afraid of pressure cookers have one of these in mind...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?VISuperSize&item=310259791476

 

[mattl]

I had mine "explode" once, it was my own fault. I always precook my ribs in the pressure cooker, and this one time I did not position them correctly, and they blocked the center pressure regulator. I was out of the room and heard this "WOOSH!" and the safety valve blew out and a steam of hot, greasy water and steam sprayed out. I was a bit of cleaning but not too bad.

Now I just make sure that the ribs will not in any way block the valve and I'm good.

 

[austinado16]

You guys got me fired up...

So I went to the Presto website and purchased a new seal and air vent valve. They come as a kit for $7. For $3 more, I ordered their cook book. I'm gonna start using this thing more often!

 

[westingman123]

da cookbook

Hey, man, you'll love some of those recipes! I have the book that came with my Mama's (avacado green) Presto. MMMM MMMM

 

[launderess]

Thanks Everyone For Your Suggestions, Comments & Tips.

With your assistance, and research/reading one has done so far, my head is nearly exploding! *LOL*

Did find out a few things: First it is best to decide what one wants to cook in a PC, then find one that suits, rather than the other way round.

For instance many older and some pressure cookers require one or more cups of water/fluid in order to reach the proper pressure. While this may be good for say corn on the cob, it can often mean certain other foods like meats may come out like "baby food", that is, mush.

Stainless steel isn't always better than aluminum, as many vintage SS units and some cheap modern ones do not have a "sandwich" core base, but are totally made of stainless. This can lead to hot spots and burning/sticking. Spoke to Presto earlier today (great telephone customer service by the way, and they are based in the USA!), and was told the early SS Presto models actually required a bit more water than their aluminum peers or modern units. This is to counter the fact they cook hotter and helps prevent scorching/burning of some foods.

OTHO, the Kuhn units, considered the TOL of pressure cookers aren't without some issues as well. While they do use less water any most other units out there (about 2 tablespoons), which is great for pressure cooking say beans, and have them emerge done, but still firm,and not like mush, the unit goes from "off" to "high" pressure. Instead of lowering the heat to create a lower pressure, one has to wait until the unit reaches it's high pressure, then "push" that temp down. Again depending upon what one cooking this may not cause any problems.

To be fair, the nice lady one spoke with at Presto stated the company has made changes in it's PCs to reflect modern tastes. Presto PCs today use less water than their older cousins, and the recipes have been changed to provide better results. Presto now recommends some foods such as rice be cooked in a bowl or some other insert.

As for jiggle weights versus spring loaded, everyone seems to have their own opinion. If you want safe "set it and forget it", PC cooking with no or little interaction, the modern quiet spring weighted models are fine. Others kind of like the noise and hissing of "first generation" cookers. For one thing it reminds them the thing is on and what it is doing.

 

[toggleswitch]

My Splendid model by Fagor is a 6 quart /litre stainless steel model.

It does not always seal properly to build pressure. I have become accustomed to letting the water boil first, THEN affixing the lid. Then I can tell relatively quickly if I need to re-seat the lid and play with the control valve.

This one has a sandwich disc bottom of various metals.

 

[toggleswitch]

Damned those pesky Long Island water water- stains!

I have this steamer insert that I use to keep the food off the bottom which avoids scorching when a high heat is used and one can not stir due to the lid being affixed.

It is upside down here one can see its three little "legs."

 

[toggleswitch]

Here is is inserted and in-place.

 

[toggleswitch]

Here it is with the optional glass lid. (Purchased separately)

It sure does make the bottom more versatile.

 

[whirlcool]

I just could not fanthom the time when you don't hear the jiggle hiss, jiggle hiss , jiggle hiss of a Presto or Mirro pressure cooker! They just go together!

 

[whirlcool]

And Remember...

to get the best taste/appearance out of pressure cooked foods brown/sear well before cooking. It really does matter!

 

[sudsmaster]

Probably not a good idea to brown beans and artichokes.

 

[kqkenmore]

I have 4 of them 1 electric and 3 that are stovetop ones. Love them. I use them all of the time.

 

[whirlcool]

Do you like the stovetop PC's better?

 

[launderess]

Pressure Fried Chicken

While many swear by vintage Wearever and Presto "chicken bucket" pressure "fry" cookers for broasting chicken, they are considered unsafe by many, including the so called "Queen of Pressure Cooking", Miss. Vickie.

IIRC, some European pressure cookers are made for pressure frying, but not sure of the names.

Have had my mother's Wearever "Chicken Bucket" for ages, and did use it often, but haven't in awhile. For one thing the bottom of the pot is becoming warped (common to some aluminum pots and many pressure cookers made of that metal with time), and a member of the group here was adament about them being unsafe. All this being said the units go for serious money on eBay, especially NIB electric ones.

You can sauté mean with a little oil, and then pressure cook with some European cookers that come with smaller pans for that purpose, but it is not the same as deep frying under pressure. European pressure cookers can get away with this, FWIU because their design requires far less liquid to reach pressure than many American models. EU models can hit pressure with 1/2 cup of liquid versus the nearly two cups for some American models, especially vintage ones with "jiggle" weights.

 

[norgeway]

Colonel Sanders!

Pressure fried chicken for years in Prestos,a good friend of mine was a store manager for KFC in the early 60s and 70s,he taught me the method, it works with no problems, use a large pressure cooker,fill 1/2 full of peanut oil,heat to 350 on a deep fry thermometer,put in breaded chicken,put on lid, when 15 lbs is reached, time it 12 minutes, remove from heat,put a heavy dish towell over weight, remove slowly so the steam does not burn you, when the pressure is down, remove lid and take out chicken, the last stovetop models KFC used were Mirro Matics, 16 quart, Ray said you could do 4 chickens at a time.