tell me about using pressure cookers

[TootsNYC]

I don't think I really want to buy one, bcs I won't use it often enough, but I've thought about making riced potatoes by cooking russets in the pressure cooker (so I can do them on the stovetop).

How hard is it, really? My mom did it all the time, and I'm not normally a chicken.

But tell me about your experience learning to use one. And what you use it for.

[rashea]

It's amazing for making soups. Really, anything that cooks slowly can be sped up.

I guess since I did pressure canning first, the cooker wasn't that scary. I think you need to read the directions carefully, but they are much tougher than they used to be.

[wheeitsme]

My DH had us sign up for one for our wedding.  I was a bit dismissive. 

...Until I put in a frozen pot roast and it was falling apart in a little over an hour.


Frozen chicken breasts and a little flavoring liquid - poached chicken in half an hour.

Frozen thick cut boneless pork chops with applesauce, onions and a little liquid - 45 minutes.


Yes.  I love it.

[Sophia]

Julia Child did a comparison of cooking methods for hard-boiled eggs.  Pressure cooker won. 

[Moonie]

I have a digital pressure cooker. It also is a steamer, warmer, and slow cooker. It also browns. When I got it for Christmas from my mother, I thought, "What the heck am I going to do with THIS?"  It has come in very handy...especially for those nights where I forgot to take anything out of the freezer for dinner.

[sparksals]

Yep. The modern ones are very safe and easy to use.   I bought one that is too small.  I should have bought the 6 or 8 Sweet monkey fritters! but got the 4 to try it out.  Works very well.  It has a slight learning curve at first. 

[Bluenomi]

I have a digital pressure cooker. It also is a steamer, warmer, and slow cooker. It also browns. When I got it for Christmas from my mother, I thought, "What the heck am I going to do with THIS?"  It has come in very handy...especially for those nights where I forgot to take anything out of the freezer for dinner.

I want one of those, the thought of rissotto in 7 minutes is just too tempting!

[Zilla]

I don't think I really want to buy one, bcs I won't use it often enough, but I've thought about making riced potatoes by cooking russets in the pressure cooker (so I can do them on the stovetop).

How hard is it, really? My mom did it all the time, and I'm not normally a chicken.

But tell me about your experience learning to use one. And what you use it for.

I boil whole potatoes till fork tender.  Then I use a clean waffle cloth or cheese cloth and peel them.  Then they are perfect for ricing.  The skin and leaving them whole helps them not absorb so much water.  You can also peel them first and then boil them whole if you rather do it that way.  Just an option if you opt not to buy them.

[Hmmmmm]

I love my pressure cooker.  It's a manual Presto cooker.  I really like it for soups, stew, making stocks, pinto beans and risotto. I've been considering upgrading to an electronic one that slow cooks, and steams. 

I like to use it because it really seals in flavor.

[katycoo]

If you want to cook potatoes on the stovetop but don't want to invest in a pressure cooker, why not just boil them in a regular saucepan?  It doesn't take THAT long.

[Hmmmmm]

Oh, and the manuals are very safe if you follow the simple rule of making sure the pressure release hole is not clogged before cooking. 

[cicero]

thanks for this thread.

My late mother had a pressure cooker but was afraid of it (i think it had exploded once) - i think she used it very rarely to make split pea soup. I am 52, and I am afraid of them, even though so many people rave about them. I do have a slow cooker which i love and which i make my split pea soup in, but that of course takes hours... I have to re-think this.

[TootsNYC]

I have a digital pressure cooker. It also is a steamer, warmer, and slow cooker. It also browns. When I got it for Christmas from my mother, I thought, "What the heck am I going to do with THIS?"  It has come in very handy...especially for those nights where I forgot to take anything out of the freezer for dinner.

THAT might be worth the storage space!

Link please?

If you want to cook potatoes on the stovetop but don't want to invest in a pressure cooker, why not just boil them in a regular saucepan?  It doesn't take THAT long.

Because boiling adds water. And because you can do russets/Idaho (for mashed potatoed or gnocchi), which don't boil well. The waxier potatoes boil well, but they don't do mashed or gnocchi (or riced--yum!) well.

My mom was never afraid of hers. She just said, nonchalantly, "Oh, you just have to use them right. It's not that hard, just watch the little valve. You can run a car into a tree too, after all."

[katycoo]

If you want to cook potatoes on the stovetop but don't want to invest in a pressure cooker, why not just boil them in a regular saucepan?  It doesn't take THAT long.

Because boiling adds water. And because you can do russets/Idaho (for mashed potatoed or gnocchi), which don't boil well.

That's not a problem I've ever had provided you drain well.  You're adding liquid to mash them anyway.  But ok.

[Zilla]

If you want to cook potatoes on the stovetop but don't want to invest in a pressure cooker, why not just boil them in a regular saucepan?  It doesn't take THAT long.

Because boiling adds water. And because you can do russets/Idaho (for mashed potatoed or gnocchi), which don't boil well.

That's not a problem I've ever had provided you drain well.  You're adding liquid to mash them anyway.  But ok.

And if you boil them whole, not an issue either.