316578 Thu Aug 10 19:56:57 -0700 2006 24 41 Cookware 0 1800149 How many of you use a pressure cooker on a regular basis? What are your favorite recipes and what kind of cooker do you use? I have a 6 quart presto from the 40s. Cook everything from Chicken Paprikash to Stuffed Cabbage and Soups. Quickest way to get a meal done in my opinion! Thu Aug 10 19:56:57 -0700 2006 12701 davinagr 1 1800726 Did you know that almost every kitchen in India sports a pressure cooker? It is very energy efficient and for most of our food that's cooked to fall-apart-doneness, it is ideal. One of the most important items an Indian immigrant-to-be is advised to get from the home country is a pressure cooker. We use it to cook rice, lentils/pulses/beans, boil potatoes, steam dhokla and idlis (don't really need a *pressure* cooker for these) etc. almost on a daily basis. I don't cook as much Indian food as I used to, but I still use a pressure cooker for rice and certinly for bean based soups and stews. Thu Aug 10 23:34:54 -0700 2006 1800149 16109 sweetTooth 2 1800825 It's funny you should say that because the only person my age (mid twenties) who has a pressure cooker is an Indian whose mom said she couldn't let her daughter be without one. The rest of us are still wondering if it's really necessary. She's had luck making risotto in it, but I remember my Chinese mom always using it to make boba. Fri Aug 11 00:32:45 -0700 2006 1800726 11577 Pei 2 1801063 I read this somewhere. It got me interested in getting my pressure cooker out and functional again. I haven't used mine for years but it should shorten the time for cooking dals by a lot. Fri Aug 11 02:42:05 -0700 2006 1800726 12335 cheryl_h 2 1801869 I'm curious about the cooking rice thing -- what's the procedure, how long does it take to make various kinds? Brown rice takes me 45 minutes to cook; if I could pare that down to thirty I'd be ecstatic. Fri Aug 11 15:45:30 -0700 2006 1800726 10846 themis 3 1802247 I wish I had an answer for you regarding brown rice cooking times. I've only tried cooking brown rice in my cooker twice. The first time it didn't cook all the way because I guess I didn't realise it would take longer to cook. Duh! The second time I added too much water thinking for some reason that brown rice would absorb more water. It didn't. I still have that bag of brown basmati rice from Trader Joes sitting around somewhere. These days I just use the frozen box of microwavable brown rice TJs sells. I will try again though and let you know. Somebody suggested soaking the rice in water for an hour before cooking. White rice - I wash the rice in 2 changes of water, drain completely and add twice as much water by volume, for a soft texture. For a fluffier texture probably 1.75 times as much water. Once the pressure builds up, I let it hold for 3 to 4 minutes and then lower the heat to very low for about 5 minutes and then turn off the heat. While the pressure drops, I try not to disturb the cooker - this seems to be critical when cooking pulses. I dunno if it's residual heat from the gas burner even after switching it off or what. Once the pressure drops all the way, rice is ready. This is with my Indian cookers - Hawkins or Prestige brand. I haven't used any of the other brands mentioned here. Fri Aug 11 17:57:56 -0700 2006 1801869 16109 sweetTooth 2 1809534 sweetTooth, maybe you can unravel a mystery for me (Ive asked this question before). Indian recipes say to cook food for a number of "whistles". What does that mean? Ive always figured it means that the cooker has come up to pressure and steam is coming out. but Im not sure . Please, please explain. Tue Aug 15 17:24:31 -0700 2006 1800726 11130 jen kalb 3 1809736 Heh heh heh. DH always teases me about this. (usually when I am leaving him in charge of turning off the heat. In his mom's kitchen, you never let the cooker whistle.) When you use any Indian made pressure cooker, once the pressure builds up, the weight valve at the top makes a whistling sound as it lets out a blast of steam to reduce pressure. If you don't turn off the heat, after some time pressure builds up again and the cooker whistles again. Presumably this will keep happening as long as there is water in the bottom of the cooker to turn into steam, and there is a heat source. The number of whistles after which to turn heat down or off is probably used as a more accurate indicator of pressure having built up enough to cook the contents, versus how many minutes to cook which may vary by make of pressure cooker, age of the rubber gasket, BTU of burner, etc. Thus for cooking rice, I turn down heat all the way to minimum after 1 whistle and then turn off after the second. For daal, I turn heat down after 2 or 3 whistles and then turn off after the 4th. Hope this helped clarify things. :) Tue Aug 15 18:25:39 -0700 2006 1809534 16109 sweetTooth 2 5182148 hi sweet tooth, I would like to add to your comment that almost every kitchen in Venezuela sports a pressure cooker too, I am in my early 30s and use it almost daily even after moving to the US 12 yrs ago. I married an American and all his family is always amazed of me using it to make all meals including baby food, flan, beans, lentils, all veggies, use it as a steamer.... and the best to get the chicken breast frozen from the freezer and have them as a dish on the table in about 17 minutes. Sat Nov 14 17:34:52 -0800 2009 1800726 1124351 sil 1 1801126 I use mine all the time. Soups and stews mostly. I worked as a personal chef for a few years...used my pressure cooker all the time when I was doing that. Fri Aug 11 03:32:00 -0700 2006 1800149 16406 ziggylu 1 1801135 I've been using a pressure cooker for about 10 years. It took me a little while to get comfortable with the process, but I really came to love it. My first one was a Fagor, which was pretty good; I also now have a Kuhn Rikon, which is even better. Despite owning several excellent PC cookbooks (most of them by Lorna Sass), I usually don't get terribly creative with it, but rely on it for quick versions of almost anything that can be cooked with moist heat and isn't too delicate: chicken fricasee, beef stew, pot roast, pork chops, soups and stocks, risotto, carrots, winter squash, potatoes, etc. Poaches a whole 4-lb. chicken in 20 minutes or so, which is great for those of us who don't turn the oven on until after the autumn solstice. All in all, a terrific invention! Fri Aug 11 03:37:31 -0700 2006 1800149 20001 Miss Priss 1 1801991 All great posts, thanks! I didn't know how popular the pressure cooker was with Indians that's very interesting, but makes a lot of sense. As a user for the past 16 or so years, I'm still amazed at not only how quickly you can make an entire meal, but also how tasty the food actually is. Have any of you ever cooked carrots in your cooker? They come out so sweet and just incredible. Fri Aug 11 16:31:25 -0700 2006 1800149 12701 davinagr 1 1802446 I had a Fagor cooker for years before the handle fell off. Need to get a bigger one for canning. One thing I tried was a Portugese shank stew recipe. Basically, you get some pork and beef neckbones (really cheap), dredge them in seasoned flour, and brown them in batches. Put them in the cooker with some liquid (I used canned consomme, but water or stock is fine), and cook for around 30 minutes. Add a few carrots, parsnips, or potatoes, cook another 10, and serve over noodles or rice. Fri Aug 11 19:03:50 -0700 2006 1800149 12359 monkeyrotica 1 1809748 I also love my old Presto which I received as a wedding gift in 1978 and I still use it frequently. A favorite recipe lately is from Epicurious...Short Ribs with Asian Flavors, delicious even without the prunes! Jacques Pepin offers a few good recipes also in his book "Fast Food My Way." Tue Aug 15 18:30:27 -0700 2006 1800149 11983 Val 1 1815197 I was always afraid to use the--all the hissing and spitting and all. A childhood incident where one exploded doesn't help the matter either. 2 years ago I purchased a Magefesa online, and WOW. What a great piece of kitchen gear. When Alton Brown, pulled his pressure cooker out on Good Eats, I had to chuckle because my Magefesa is so superiorly designed and engineered. My wife is Brazilian and we are constantly making beans with it. We also love making stews and broth/stock. Thu Aug 17 19:11:12 -0700 2006 1800149 17880 daeglo 1 1828060 I also got mine as a wedding gift in 1978. We use it to make artichokes (mmm..tender!) and corned beef. It's great for corned beef because most of the fat is rendered out, and it's also less salty. I'd like to try it for risotto. Wed Aug 23 18:30:04 -0700 2006 1800149 28050 gardyloo 1 1832005 Love my Kuhn Rikon. I know it's still summer, but sometimes I get a hankering for wintery foods like goulash, carbonnade and such. The pressure cooker works its magic quickly, and without heating up the kitchen. Fri Aug 25 03:53:49 -0700 2006 1800149 10788 TheGloaming 1 1838460 I got introduced to my pressure cooker when I lived in France. My room mate always cooked with an SEB. Back in the states I picked up a Presto and got the variable weight attachment for it so I can cook at 7.5, 10 or 15 lbs. Lower preasures take longer but softer things like potatoes don't come out like mush Mon Aug 28 18:56:08 -0700 2006 1800149 28577 Jack_ 1 1838480 HURRAH!!! We christened the pressure cooker yesterday and made beef stock with shanks and oxtails. When we saw it this morning to skim the fat, it was like beef jello... YUMMMMMMMM --Dommy! Mon Aug 28 19:01:21 -0700 2006 1800149 10659 Dommy 1 1839282 We have a microwave pressure cooker from Nordicware.com that consistently cooks brown rice in 20 minutes with a 900 watt microwave. It also works great with beans. We've had one for about 12 years. It was starting to wear out we use it so much, it's all plastic. We just bought a replacement! Mon Aug 28 23:30:59 -0700 2006 1800149 29262 mmck 1 1839792 Hey guys, this thread is a godsend. I am looking to buy a stainless steel Presto pressure cooker in Toronto. Anyone knows where I should go? Any help is appreciated. Tue Aug 29 03:43:30 -0700 2006 1800149 13359 Fredster 1 1847361 mmck - great idea. When my dtr moves out, she is getting one of those! I rec'd a Presto in 1979 when we got married. Have used it off and on ever since. I love it. You need some chicken stock? Zap it. Need a stew? Zap the meat (all by itself) and then simmer in the rest of the veggies, etc. Need dal? Cook em up quick and season how you like. It's a wondermous thing. I think I replaced my gaskets and pressure plugs... twice? maybe? Oh, and I also ran my pressure regulator down the garbage disposal.. so it .. well, let's just say, it's a little smaller than when it came from the factory. But it works! Fri Sep 01 00:43:47 -0700 2006 1800149 16216 k_d 1 1849453 I love my pressure cooker. Most often I use it to cook potatoes, regular or sweet (at our altitude, it takes about 11-15 minutes), and artichokes (which tend to take 20-30). It's good for brown rice (once you know how much water to add!). I've even shortened my time for cooking steel-cut oatmeal in it. It is quick, reliable, and efficient. I would still want to brown meats before pressure cooking. Mine's a T-fal Sensor 2. Excellent. Fri Sep 01 22:25:28 -0700 2006 1800149 12341 vanillagrrl 1 5182241 My sister in Northern Italy found shortcuts to the local STIR-HEAVY dishes Polenta and Risotto by starting them the normal way and finishing them in a pressure cooker. A time saver for sure. Sat Nov 14 18:43:35 -0800 2009 1800149 1119140 pdxgastro 1 5182431 I have a stainless steel Presto pressure cooker. My favorite thing to cook in it is pot roast. And yes, it is cooked to fall-apart-doneness. Try it, you'll like it. Sat Nov 14 20:53:24 -0800 2009 1800149 278106 eliz553