Pressure pressure
- Thread starter washman
- Start date
Help Support :
These kinds of films were most likely shown in HS Home Economics classes back in the days when they were made. It was a good way to educate young women about different and new cooking methods and products. And they were also good advertisements for the products, like the Presto Pressure Cooker. I’ll bet they contributed to a lot of sales.
Lots of people were very fearful of pressure cookers then, and this film demonstated how safe they are with proper use.
Eddie
Lots of people were very fearful of pressure cookers then, and this film demonstated how safe they are with proper use.
Eddie
As the narrator said.........
in Home Economics (Domestic Science) classrooms.
Lawrence/Maytagbear
in Home Economics (Domestic Science) classrooms.
Lawrence/Maytagbear
Many brides back then received pressure cookers as wedding gifts. My Mom received a Wearever PC when my parents were married in 1948. It was the kind that had a flexible lid that was bent in the open position and slipped into the top of the PC, which had a rubber gasket around the lip of the pot. Then you pushed down the handle and the lid spread out into the closed position, pressing uo against the lip of the pot to seal it. Instead of one weight, with lines to indicate the lbs.of pressure like the Presto, there were three separate weights, 5, 10 and 15 lbs. The user placed the appropriate weight on the valve and when it started to jiggle, adjusted the heat to maintain the pressure.
Mom used this PC all the time for soup, stew, pot roast, tongue and beef heart (which only she and my Dad would eat, eck!) and beans. I grew up being used to PC’s and wasn’t afraid of them.
My paternal Grandma had two huge Presto pressure canners, and during the Summer she canned just about everything that Grandpa grew in the garden they had in the separate city lot next to their house in Richmond, Calif. She canned green beans, beets, carrots, corn, peas, pickles, peaches, pears, jam of every variety, even Mince Meat. And she made her own Sauerkraut too. All after working all day in her Dry Cleaning store in El Cerrito, Calif., taking in cleaning that was sent to the dry cleaning plant and doing alterations and sewing as well in the store. People in my family were very hard working, wore themselves out and were old before there time.
And she paid for everything in cash. When she bought her last new car in 1965, she went into the Plymouth dealer in Oakland, Calif. with the cash deposit bag from her store and slapped the three grand down on the desk to pay for a brand new 65’ Plymouth 4 door sedan.
It was a different world then.
Eddie
Mom used this PC all the time for soup, stew, pot roast, tongue and beef heart (which only she and my Dad would eat, eck!) and beans. I grew up being used to PC’s and wasn’t afraid of them.
My paternal Grandma had two huge Presto pressure canners, and during the Summer she canned just about everything that Grandpa grew in the garden they had in the separate city lot next to their house in Richmond, Calif. She canned green beans, beets, carrots, corn, peas, pickles, peaches, pears, jam of every variety, even Mince Meat. And she made her own Sauerkraut too. All after working all day in her Dry Cleaning store in El Cerrito, Calif., taking in cleaning that was sent to the dry cleaning plant and doing alterations and sewing as well in the store. People in my family were very hard working, wore themselves out and were old before there time.
And she paid for everything in cash. When she bought her last new car in 1965, she went into the Plymouth dealer in Oakland, Calif. with the cash deposit bag from her store and slapped the three grand down on the desk to pay for a brand new 65’ Plymouth 4 door sedan.
It was a different world then.
Eddie
I think I mentioned this before. My mother had one but I only remember her using it a few times and I don't recall what she cooked in it.
It was a large one and it made a sound like a rattlesnake when it was releasing pressure. Of course I was fascinated by that but she told me to stay away from it (and out of the kitchen altogether) so she viewed it warily herself.
I see the new electric ones are the Millennial rage but if I ever get one it will be an old-fashioned rattler.
It was a large one and it made a sound like a rattlesnake when it was releasing pressure. Of course I was fascinated by that but she told me to stay away from it (and out of the kitchen altogether) so she viewed it warily herself.
I see the new electric ones are the Millennial rage but if I ever get one it will be an old-fashioned rattler.
Jim, I think the rattling sound you described may have been coming from a Mirro-Matic pressure cooker.
My mom never used a pressure cooker. I gave her one in the late '60s after seeing one in use at a friend's house, even though I didn't know how it worked or what the advantages were. It was a gadget she didn't have, so for whatever gift-giving occasion, I got her an avocado 4-qt. Mirro-Matic. It ended up belonging to me because since she didn't use it, I took it with me when I got my own place.
I had that cooker until a few years ago when it was clear that it had warped or developed some other problem that prevented a seal. A new gasket didn't help. I found the same model in plain aluminum at a thrift store, and it sealed fine with the avocado cooker's original 1967 gasket, so the avocado one got tossed.
What I like about Mirro cookers is that their optional multi-pressure weight is a one-piece unit. Presto's multi-pressure weight is composed of three loose weights that nest. Another difference is that Mirro weights sputter and rattle periodically, whereas Presto weights deliver a constant, gentle rocking motion that's quieter.
I recently gave a friend an instant-pot cooker for his birthday because he was too afraid of a stove-top pressure cooker and didn't want to be saddled with having to keep an eye on one. The automatic nature of an instant-pot solved the problem for him, and both he and his partner have been enjoying the pot and trying all kinds of recipes in it.
I just came across a recipe that sounds really good for country style pork ribs in a PC. I have a couple of recipes for them already, but this one has a different twist that could be a hit. I'm letting a "value pack" of ribs thaw in the fridge right now and intend to give the new recipe a try tomorrow night.
I'm generally bad at pre-planning so I really enjoy the time savings a pressure cooker offers, and have no issue with keeping an eye on it for a while in the beginning. I've done an entire kalua pork shoulder wrapped in ti leaves in a PC and pretty much left the thing alone for the two hours or so of cooking time once the weight was gently and steadily rocking, both with a modern 8-qt Presto and a vintage 10-qt Guardian Service cooker/canner (made by Presto). Gas is cheaper than electricity (our oven is electric) and with a PC you're using gas for a much shorter period. There is definitely a thrift factor when you use a PC.
When we moved/downsized recently, I sadly let the old 4-qt Mirro PC go. I had found a 4-qt. Presto in stainless steel, which means it can go through the dishwasher, so the Mirro got replaced. I have all Presto/Guardian now (4, 6, 8, 12 qt.) except for the one 1960-ish Mirro 6-qt. that's short and wide with a deep lid, and is the perfect size for larger items that require a wider pan. It's my go-to for large artichokes, which it cooks perfectly in just ten minutes, and is the most frequently used of my PCs.
The only PC I own that I bought new (around 20 years ago) is the 8-qt. Presto. All others have come from thrift stores, and a couple of them didn't even need new gaskets.
My mom never used a pressure cooker. I gave her one in the late '60s after seeing one in use at a friend's house, even though I didn't know how it worked or what the advantages were. It was a gadget she didn't have, so for whatever gift-giving occasion, I got her an avocado 4-qt. Mirro-Matic. It ended up belonging to me because since she didn't use it, I took it with me when I got my own place.
I had that cooker until a few years ago when it was clear that it had warped or developed some other problem that prevented a seal. A new gasket didn't help. I found the same model in plain aluminum at a thrift store, and it sealed fine with the avocado cooker's original 1967 gasket, so the avocado one got tossed.
What I like about Mirro cookers is that their optional multi-pressure weight is a one-piece unit. Presto's multi-pressure weight is composed of three loose weights that nest. Another difference is that Mirro weights sputter and rattle periodically, whereas Presto weights deliver a constant, gentle rocking motion that's quieter.
I recently gave a friend an instant-pot cooker for his birthday because he was too afraid of a stove-top pressure cooker and didn't want to be saddled with having to keep an eye on one. The automatic nature of an instant-pot solved the problem for him, and both he and his partner have been enjoying the pot and trying all kinds of recipes in it.
I just came across a recipe that sounds really good for country style pork ribs in a PC. I have a couple of recipes for them already, but this one has a different twist that could be a hit. I'm letting a "value pack" of ribs thaw in the fridge right now and intend to give the new recipe a try tomorrow night.
I'm generally bad at pre-planning so I really enjoy the time savings a pressure cooker offers, and have no issue with keeping an eye on it for a while in the beginning. I've done an entire kalua pork shoulder wrapped in ti leaves in a PC and pretty much left the thing alone for the two hours or so of cooking time once the weight was gently and steadily rocking, both with a modern 8-qt Presto and a vintage 10-qt Guardian Service cooker/canner (made by Presto). Gas is cheaper than electricity (our oven is electric) and with a PC you're using gas for a much shorter period. There is definitely a thrift factor when you use a PC.
When we moved/downsized recently, I sadly let the old 4-qt Mirro PC go. I had found a 4-qt. Presto in stainless steel, which means it can go through the dishwasher, so the Mirro got replaced. I have all Presto/Guardian now (4, 6, 8, 12 qt.) except for the one 1960-ish Mirro 6-qt. that's short and wide with a deep lid, and is the perfect size for larger items that require a wider pan. It's my go-to for large artichokes, which it cooks perfectly in just ten minutes, and is the most frequently used of my PCs.
The only PC I own that I bought new (around 20 years ago) is the 8-qt. Presto. All others have come from thrift stores, and a couple of them didn't even need new gaskets.
twintubdexter
Well-known member
Taking a side road...
<span style="font-size: 14pt; color: #008000;">I really enjoyed this video. I like pressure cooking and especially like Spring Byington. Catch her in 1942's "The Devil And (not In) Miss Jones". A fun, happy-ending film about department store employees attempting to unionize. </span>
[this post was last edited: 9/13/2018-08:37]
<span style="font-size: 14pt; color: #008000;">I really enjoyed this video. I like pressure cooking and especially like Spring Byington. Catch her in 1942's "The Devil And (not In) Miss Jones". A fun, happy-ending film about department store employees attempting to unionize. </span>
[this post was last edited: 9/13/2018-08:37]
There's loads of these kids of vids on youtube. One of my favorites is Uncle Jims Dairy farm, which glorifies how wonderful farm life really is.
Never mind the other stuff like bad weather, market changes, the combine breaking.............nah, it was all work and rest and play.
Never mind the other stuff like bad weather, market changes, the combine breaking.............nah, it was all work and rest and play.
Spring Byington in December Bride and Pete and Gladys from the early years of television. She and Verna Felton made quite a pair.
Lily Ruskin, "Honesty is the best policy."
Hilda Crocker, "Right, now let's go cook up a good lie."
She was quite a radio actress, also. December Bride started on radio and transitioned to TV.
Lily Ruskin, "Honesty is the best policy."
Hilda Crocker, "Right, now let's go cook up a good lie."
She was quite a radio actress, also. December Bride started on radio and transitioned to TV.
In the film Something Wonderful Happens, offered in the same bunch of films as the pressure cooker film, within the first minute there is a glimpse of Hotpoint's combination thermal oven and the microwave oven above it on the left side of the kitchen.
washerboy
Well-known member
I watched
my aunt used one all the time. She always bought cheap cuts of meat and would always pressure them. My mother and grandmother were like a lot of others and were scared of them. Of course my grandmother canned everything and certainly didn't use today's "approved methods". I have 2 PC which I use several times a week. They are a god send in the summer time. As far as a blow up, I've had 3 incidents. #1. I was cooking dried pinto beans and the seal failed.. bean juice spewed across the kitchen. #2 and #3 I blew the fuse..both times I was cooking whole sweet potatoes..made a note not to do that ever again. I got an Instant Pot last year for Christmas...it's okay for the "set it/forget it" cooking but otherwise the stovetop models are much quicker.
my aunt used one all the time. She always bought cheap cuts of meat and would always pressure them. My mother and grandmother were like a lot of others and were scared of them. Of course my grandmother canned everything and certainly didn't use today's "approved methods". I have 2 PC which I use several times a week. They are a god send in the summer time. As far as a blow up, I've had 3 incidents. #1. I was cooking dried pinto beans and the seal failed.. bean juice spewed across the kitchen. #2 and #3 I blew the fuse..both times I was cooking whole sweet potatoes..made a note not to do that ever again. I got an Instant Pot last year for Christmas...it's okay for the "set it/forget it" cooking but otherwise the stovetop models are much quicker.
Never mind the meal, how about Jack? "Nice boy. If you like boys"..... LOL
I'd "work" Uncle Jim's farm any time.
Another great You Tube Video Ben, thanks! It looks like how life was during my childhood, although I didn’t grow up on a farm, I did live in the country all during my teens.
My husband, David however did grow up on a dairy ranch in West Marin Co, Calif. His great grandfather came around the Horn during the Gold Rush in 1849 from Northern Switzerland, and homesteaded the ranch that his grandpa and then his Dad inherited. They raised Guernsey’s, which were very popular for milk cows then, they gave very rich milk.
Then in the late 50’s the Marin Co.Water District bought the ranch land for a reservoir, and the family moved up to the hill property above the reservoir. David has very fond memories of being a little boy on the dairy ranch. Now there is very little agriculture left here in Sonoma and Marin Counties. Its all about wineries and tourism now, and mores the pity. We both really miss how our home counties used to be, and the much slower life, with a whole lot less people.
They paved Paradise and put in a parking lot, as the song goes.
Eddie
My husband, David however did grow up on a dairy ranch in West Marin Co, Calif. His great grandfather came around the Horn during the Gold Rush in 1849 from Northern Switzerland, and homesteaded the ranch that his grandpa and then his Dad inherited. They raised Guernsey’s, which were very popular for milk cows then, they gave very rich milk.
Then in the late 50’s the Marin Co.Water District bought the ranch land for a reservoir, and the family moved up to the hill property above the reservoir. David has very fond memories of being a little boy on the dairy ranch. Now there is very little agriculture left here in Sonoma and Marin Counties. Its all about wineries and tourism now, and mores the pity. We both really miss how our home counties used to be, and the much slower life, with a whole lot less people.
They paved Paradise and put in a parking lot, as the song goes.
Eddie
Eddie, at least they're paving paradise with grape vines instead of asphalt up your way. That will at least keep things more rural there than in many other areas.
At my end of the Bay Area, they really did pave over what used to be a paradise with some of the richest soil anywhere in the world for growing almost every fruit or vegetable imaginable.
At my end of the Bay Area, they really did pave over what used to be a paradise with some of the richest soil anywhere in the world for growing almost every fruit or vegetable imaginable.
Ralph I guess you haven’t been to Sonoma Co. for a while. Yes, the wineries are still argriculture, but its the influx of population that has been overwhelming. We used to be a rural area, and now its like San Jose North, and the traffic and congestion is terrible. We don’t have the infrastructure to support it.
And unless you have already been a property owner for a while or have a very high income you are screwed. In just the last year, since the wildfires last October the housing costs have skyrocketed. I really don’t know how working people are making ends meet, well in fact they aren’t. We have so many more homeless people, and these are people with JOBS that can’t afford a place to rent.
I’m very thankful that we have a paid for home, because if we didn’t we couldn’t afford to live here anymore. That’s what makes me sad, because now our county has become a place for the elite, not a place that everyone can reasonably call home anymore.
But all that being said, its still one of the most beautiful places in the world, and I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. Our weather is just about perfect all year long, and we are only an hour away from one of the most beautiful cities in the world, San Francisco, so there’s still much to be thankful for. I guess the older one gets, the harder it is to adjust to progress.
Eddie
And unless you have already been a property owner for a while or have a very high income you are screwed. In just the last year, since the wildfires last October the housing costs have skyrocketed. I really don’t know how working people are making ends meet, well in fact they aren’t. We have so many more homeless people, and these are people with JOBS that can’t afford a place to rent.
I’m very thankful that we have a paid for home, because if we didn’t we couldn’t afford to live here anymore. That’s what makes me sad, because now our county has become a place for the elite, not a place that everyone can reasonably call home anymore.
But all that being said, its still one of the most beautiful places in the world, and I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. Our weather is just about perfect all year long, and we are only an hour away from one of the most beautiful cities in the world, San Francisco, so there’s still much to be thankful for. I guess the older one gets, the harder it is to adjust to progress.
Eddie
