Pressure Cookery

I just put a Corned Beef in my pressure cooker. (Yes I know I'm a day late) I do a mean pot roast, stew, soups of all kinds and artichokes in my wonderful pressure cooker.

What kinds of things do you cook in yours? I'm always looking for new things to do with it! Does anyone have a tried and true Rib receipe or even a dessert?

I also have a smaller flater pan that came with my larger stock pot size cooker that I'm not using to it's full capabilities. It uses the same pressure top. Does anyone here have this kind of pan? What kinds of things do you use this for?

I figure it would be great for some smaller meals for one. I'd use it to make some things that maybe my husband doesn't care for but I like.

I don't have any special recipes for my pressure cooker. I just love it for the basics. I can make a chicken soup very quickly. Cook the chicken in it. While it's going, I prep the veggies. Then take the chicken out to de-bone while the veggies are going. Put them together when the veggies are done. Also, I like making plain veggies in them because it takes such a short time.

I'd like to get a new pressure cooker but am not sure what company to go with. I think I have to see them in person to make up my mind. Nice to meet another pressure cooker cook here at DU!

a couple years ago. The brand name on it is "Innova".
I absolutely love it. It cleans up so much better than
my old Presto and Mirro brands.

It has a push button feature in the handle for quick
release of the steam/ pressure.

You might want to check this one out if you are thinking
about a new one.

The "youngest one" is about 25 yrs old..

I make all kinds of stuff in mine but the favorites are

"fall apart" roast beef ... the juices make the best gravy on earth

beef & noodles
swiss steak
chili
fixin's for home made egg rolls

I bought a pressure cooker several years ago and then never really got the hang of using it. I think, in part, it is too small for many of the soups and stews I would like to do in it.

I have read that in many cultures, pressure cookers are an essential piece of kitchen gear. They cook fast, with much less waste of fuel. Also, I think they are popular with RV'ers for the same reason.

Do you have a cook book you can recommend?

I have a pot roast in the freezer I could make for Sunday dinner. Can you outline the steps to do it in a pressure cooker? Maybe that will get me going.

I melt a little crisco in the cooker..(very hot.. Then sear the roast on all sides.. brown sliced onion...then add water (not a lot, but this is what you will use to thicken for the gravy)..and that's all there is to it.. Bring it to the fast "jiggle", then reduce heat to simmer.. Cooking time depends on the size of the roast...

I brown the roast in some olive oil until well seared. Remove the roast and cook a large sweet onion until golden. Add chopped Celery, two cloves of garlic and diced carrot. These are the foundation for your gravy. I then add two cans of beef broth (or home made if you got it). You can also add 1/2 cup of red wine and reduce quantity of the broth. Now here's the important part! Add one pack of Lipton onion soup mix. Return the roast to the pan. You can now lock the pan and bring to pressure on medium heat. When the cooker starts to hiss, turn the cooker to the lowest heat possible while still keeping up a gentle hiss.

Depending on the size of the roast I would check it in about 45 minutes. At this point I add a butter/flour mix to get the gravy to thicken. I take the roast out and give the liquid a whiz with the hand blender. Put the roast back in and add potatoes, carrots, and celery rib chunks. Bring the pot back up to pressure and cook for about 15 to 20 minutes more. Check things again--- If done remove meat and vegetables and let rest under aluminum foil. You should have a nice gravy going. You may need to adjust thickness of gravy.

It's really just trial and error.

You can cook potatoes very quickly for mashed potatoes. Most veggies will only need a few minutes. But always use the little disk that goes on the bottom of the pot to lift the contents off the bottom.

Do you know what size cooker it is and the manufacturer? You might be able to get a replacement cookbook from the manufacturer. And there are lots of pressure cookbooks at libraries. The accuracy of cooking time is important so you get the meats to the very tender stage. Knowing the size of the pot would be helpful.

The thing that's important to get the hang of is not to worry over the method. Don't fill the pot over 2/3 full and use the right amount of liquid and you'll be fine. Try making veggies to practise and you'll be delighted with the speed.

and smaller than my small stock pot. Or rather, it is the same size as my small stock pot, but you can only fill it up 1/2-2/3 full, so functionally, it is smaller. Made by T-Fal. It did not come with a trivet or steamer insert. It is probably large enough to do pot roast.

What I want to do with it is cook bean soup. And it is too small to fit an entire package of beans. Should'a bought a larger size. *Sigh*

Maybe I will bring it camping this summer. Might be good for quick meals on the camp stove. And you can't make large portions camping anyway. No place to store the leftovers so it just goes bad.

On edit: I looked at larger pressure cookers on amazon (Must. Not. Buy.) Looks like you can can with them as well as cook big stews and soups. Anyone can?

You need an easy to regulate and steady source of heat for pressure cooking, or else that pressure release valve will blow out and you'll get a geyser of partially cooked food under pressure shooting through it. I'd tend to discourage using one on anything but a kitchen stove with good hob controls.

I use mine for beans, mostly. Here at 6000 feet, beans just never get done unless they're cooked under pressure.

I've had terrible luck doing beans here at a mile high. Or did you already tell me how you do it? I know there's a beans thread here somewhere in this C&B group but I don't have a printout of it.

Yeah, I know you don't need to when you pressure cook them, but I soak and then change the water when I throw them into the cooker. I'm a little less jet propelled if I wash some of those polysaccharides down the drain instead of into my colon.

Basic black (or kidney or Anasazi) beans would be the soaked beans and enough water to cover plus one inch, filling the cooker no more than about half full, a couple of cloves of garlic, some chopped onion and a sprig of fresh epazote. I cover the cooker and bring it up to pressure. Soaked beans only take about 15-20 minutes at pressure, then I turn the heat off and let the pressure fall slowly, which finishes cooking the beans.

Epazote is a Mexican herb that is supposed to cut down on bean farts. It stinks, no other way to put it, but it adds an amazing layer of flavor to beans, especially black beans. A lot of people say the fresh herb smells like gasoline; I'm not sure, but it sure does stink. The grocery stores here carry it fresh in the produce section

Some varieties of dried legumes do foam and have been known to clog the pressure vent if the pot is too full. Split peas and lentils are the main culprits. I can generally manage to get those varieties "done" at this altitude in a crock pot, though, or I use a metal bowl inside my big pressure canner if I must cook them quickly.

Once the beans are cooked, I generally freeze some of them for later use. The rest can be eaten as is, turned into chili or casseroles, or whatever. I once got a little crazy and made kidney bean lasagna. It wasn't bad...

Their stickiness can bubble up and clog the vent. Be sure to use a recipe from a cookbook.

if I do say so myself. Much more tender than doing it in the crockpot. I am sold. From now on, pot roast is a pressure cooker thing.

See, I learn so much in this forum :)

Nothing like that tender, falling apart beef.

I got my first pressure cooker--name-PRESTO--about 48 years ago. It finally failed after 40 years and I got another PRESTO. I do quick jobs of roasts or hard veges like carrots in it. But my best pressure cooker is about 45 years old, is a giant called the American Canning and Pressure cooker.
I can tomatoes every year, about 20 quarts will last us til the next crop. In Florida we have 2 crops a year of tomatoes.
I can put 6 quart mason jars standing upright at one batch and can under 15 lbs pressure for only 10 minutes. Needless to say, this bugger is heavy to lift, but never fails me.
The average woman need only the smaller 6 or 8 quart pressure cookers for normal cooking. I could never do without mine. I would hate to have to make a choice between my Cuisinart and my Presto.

What about us guys? Do we get the bigger one cuz size matters? :)

"MORE POWER" /Tim Allen voice off

Found a recipe like Popeye's makes theirs. Wasn't too bad.

One 6 qt. by T-fal that is used on the stove top and one 4 qt electric I got from QVC that is great because you just set the timer and the type of pressure (low or high) and it does everything for you.

The favorite dish I make in mine is rice pudding that takes 8 minutes. This recipe is in Lorna Sass' book "The Pressured Cook" (that has other good recipes, too). It was designed for a 6 qt cooker so I had to adjust it for the 4 qt, but the results are yum-my!

I never thought about using my pressure cooker for that. Maybe you could share the details?

My mom always used a pressure cooker, so I was never afraid to cook with one. My favorite dinner when I was a kid was round steak.

She would pound flour into both sides, and cook it medium high in a cast iron skillet in shortening until it was well browned. She then put it in the pressure cooker, added about 2 cups of water, and cooked for 20-30 minutes. She could tell by her nose when it was done.

Make the gravy in the skillet, using the meat drippings. Add the water from the pressure cooker, or milk, or half of each, if you prefer. I like it best made with the water.

You can do the same thing with pork steak. It's really good too.

I cook it in water and a little beer. After a while I add potatoes, and carrots cook a little longer and then at the end add the cabbage for the last little bit. We like the cabbage with texture not slippery and slimy. Pressure times all depend on the size of your corned beef.

I've always done my corned beef in the pressure cooker.

If you don't have a pressure cooker a great option for corned beef or for that matter regular brisket is to cook it in two sheets of heavy duty aluminum foil in your oven. Of course you would add liquid too. (for regular brisket I add a pack of Lipton's onion soup)
Seal it up real tight and let it cook--