101 ways to use a pressure cooker...

[Annpan]

My sister bought me a pressure cooker

Now, apart from using it to make the perfect clootie dumpling what is the best way to use it?

What do you use yours for and how do I get into the habit of using it. What is the best energy saving way to use it?

[ina]

Don't use it for pasta.

Friends of mine at uni had the brilliant idea they wanted to speed up the terribly long time it takes to cook pasta... They spent days scraping the stuff off the walls of their kitchen!

I used it for rice and other grains, beans and pulses (not the quick cooking red lentils!), beetroot, potatoes (but you have to watch them - you might end up with mash). Can also be used for bottling fruit etc., but I can't quite remember how I did it.

[boboff]

My job when I had a life was very much concerned with "bottling"

To use a pressure cooker for bottling just pop in your jars with lids secured and top up with water (if your jars are hot as they have just been filled then you can use boiling water, if they are cold use cold [ Glass will normally withstand a 40c temp shock with no issues]) Fill to just below the rims of the jars. Don't fill much more than half full.

Stick it on the heat, bring to the boil and simmer for 20 - 30 minutes for 8 oz, 40 - 60 minutes for 16oz.

The amount of heat you need to apply very much depends on the Ph, if you were bottling tomatoes in brine, then I would really go for a 80 minute cook, Acid Pickle you could get away with 30 minutes. If you have big lumps you need to cook for longer, is it's runny then not so long.

By using a pressure cooker you can get somewhere near a botulism cook, where as in boiling water you can only achieve an appertization cook.

When finished leave to cool, or if in a hurry you can either air cool or water cool, 50c water for 10 minutes, then tap temp for 20 minutes. The jars are sealed really well when the contents are below 40c, be careful with the cooling water, any dirt in it at this stage an be sucked into the jar as it cools ( as it cools the air in the head space shrinks, and creates a vacuum which holds the lid on, this process with give you on average the equivalent of about 10" of mercury on the old Vacuum scale.)

As has been said before a little knowledge and all that, but you should be able to use your common sense, but you do have a number of parameters to consider.

Ph is critical, the higher it is the longer the cook needs to be. If you can added lemon juice etc ad get it below 4.2, then I would always say this is preferable to having to use a Pressure Cooker to preserve.
Size of Jar
Size and consistency of contents, and the specific thermal transfer properties.
Head space, you really need a 5% head space for effective seals, if you over fill, you will not get a good seal.

You will generally be able to get at least 2 years life out of product preserved in this way.

If Jam has a sugar solid content of above 65% the it will naturally inhibit Yeasts and Moulds, so provided you have bottled and capped the jar and the contents are not when in the jar less than 70c, there is little need to heat treat at all. (even in clean, unsteralised jars)

Yawn..... sorry.

[Clara]

Pressure cooker risotto! Madhur Jaffrey has an excellent pumpkin and sage pc risotto recipe, can't post at the moment but you might be able to google it.

[Green Aura]

I'm afraid I've not got very adventurous with my pressure cooker.

My main use of it is to cook pulses - a kilo at a time - to portion up and freeze. Then we have them on hand.

I'm not organised enough to cook them when I need them but they defrost really quickly.

[Annpan]

Well, the bottling sounds a bit scary and currently I don't have enough to bottle anyway but cooking vast amount of beans and peas sounds ideal - just found the cooker in the Argos catalogue, Yikes! I best make the best of it

[Milims]

Wonderful for a speedy lentil soup or hot pot in a hurry! I use mine most Sundays to do the veg

[Millymollymandy]

I have no idea how to use one and the things sound terrifying to me. Much too scared of them exploding all over the kitchen, and anyway, I want to SEE what I am cooking as it cooks.

[Green Aura]

But they're brilliant, MMM.

They help keep more of the nutrients in what you're cooking and cut down on cooking times dramatically, saving energy.

I understand your fears, however.

OH insisted on cooking a batch of black peas (a Lancashire "delicacy" which are foul IMHO). He blew up the pressure cooker, leaving a quite beautiful flower pattern on the kitchen ceiling, and has now been banned from cooking them ever again. Every cloud eh?

Funnily enough, as it took him ages to clean them up, he's not made much protest.

[Millymollymandy]

I think it's because my mother in law has one which she uses all the time to cook her veg to a pulp, which is what I found so offputting. I just imagine them turning everything to a puree and there being no nutrients left whatsoever.

When I was in England we arrived at my bro & sister in law's just as she was going off to work. She said I've left you some goulash and some spuds to cook. When it came to cooking the spuds they were in a mini pressure cooker thingy. I asked my brother in law how it worked but he didn't have a clue, so we had to decant them into a normal saucepan!

[Annpan]

Still not used this one (uuber new and fancy stylee with dials and locks on it) but the old one my mum had was just a normal pot if you didn't put the weight on it.

The manual that comes with it isn't very detailed was hoping for something bulkier but there we go.

[Green Aura]

My aunt used to do the "veg turned to mush" thing in her pressure cooker. We all dreaded eating at her house

I don't use it for fresh veg, as I only just cook them anyway there doesn't seem much point - my three tier steamer does them a treat.

[pumpy]

Pressure cookers used on a gas hob are ideal for all-sorts of stuff, but not much use on electric hobs where you don't have that "instant control". Oh & take a tip from me, don't ever cook a milk/rice pudding in one...... unless you have a couple of hours spare to clear up the resultant mess!!

[Annpan]

Well, I just did chick peas and I got a 3 day ordeal down to about an hour and a half - 1 hour soaking, 30mins cooking so

Also, I found an American web site which talks about using the pressure cooker as a replacement to a slow cooker - apparently the pressure for a short amount of time has an equivalent result to a slow cooker over a long amount of time. So I might try some bolognese or chili in it over the next few days.


And they don't explode, but MMM had me panicking so I did a bit of research, they have various valves that let the steam escape above a certain pressure.

Can those of you who say "don't cook..." please explain how you managed to get stuff all over the kitchen... might have opened the lid while still under pressure? You can't do that with the modern designs.

[ina]

Well, I just did chick peas and I got a 3 day ordeal down to about an hour and a half - 1 hour soaking, 30mins cooking so

My way of cooking chickpeas: soak over night, cook for 15 minutes, stick into bed and wrap up warm. After 8 hours or so - perfectly cooked chickpeas, with minimum of energy input!

And they don't explode, but MMM had me panicking so I did a bit of research, they have various valves that let the steam escape above a certain pressure.

Can those of you who say "don't cook..." please explain how you managed to get stuff all over the kitchen... might have opened the lid while still under pressure? You can't do that with the modern designs.

You could with that one - the pasta disintegrated in no time at all and the mush blocked the valve. Steam can escape, but mud can't...