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Pressure Cookers


Monica Bhide

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I'm curious if it's something in the meat or in the veg that causes the "cloud," so I'm going to give it a try with some vegetarian pho stock later this week. If it clouds, it's not like Mr. lperry will send it back. :)

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this thread made me go out and buy a pressure cooker a couple months ago, and the reawakening of this thread made me finally use it--red beans and rice in an hour and twenty minutes (I did soak the red beans for 4 hours first)

because I had little confidence in the experiment, I did not spring for the best ingredients--simple Kroger kidney beans instead of mail-order Camellia brand, a poor Johnsonville take on andouille which was the downfall of the dish--but what I learned was, this really works. But about 20 minutes of dicing the trinity etc, 55 minutes in the pressure cooker, then add the separately heated and sliced sausage, and all textures were exactly right.

I was taught this dish 25 years ago by a girlfriend from Uptown (Joseph & Prytania) who was a stickler, so my standards are pretty high. Her version took at least 8 hours and often 10. I am a convert

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My crockpot version of stock takes 8-12 hrs, but that gives me time to be lazy, & not think about it. At the end, I remove the solids, put it up in plastic soup containers (after a day, I spoon off the fat, & freeze). Usually, it's smoked ribtips, but yesterday, it was leftover Su Pollo chicken carcasses....

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I made Rajma (North Indian Kidney Bean Masala stew) in the pressure cooker the other night and really enjoyed it - great flavors and texture, and very quick to put together (of course). The recipe would definitely work with chickpeas or other medium-sized beans.  Looking forward to getting the cooker back in regular use as the cooler weather settles in.

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I'm a fan of my Kuhn-Rikon too. I have the more wide/shallow model so I can fit a full-size springform pan in...which is nice. Mmm...cheesecake.

I'm going to make a confession that may get me banned from the site.  I've never really cared for cheesecake.  (Ducks.)  (Considers running.)

I do, however, like flan, and I have a large-ish flan pan that does not fit in my current cooker.  Is this one your model?

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I'm going to make a confession that may get me banned from the site.  I've never really cared for cheesecake.  (Ducks.)  (Considers running.)

I do, however, like flan, and I have a large-ish flan pan that does not fit in my current cooker.  Is this one your model?

Actually, it's bigger than that. I think it's roughly the 8-qt family cooker here or here. The one I bought has the older valve style and was styled as a "Hotel" cooker. I think this model is the "not as tall" 5-qt version of mine.

I got mine as an NIB model from eBay, probably old-stock so I didn't pay nearly as much as newer, fancier versions.

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Santa, who has figured out that bringing me kitchen equipment is to his culinary benefit, gifted me this Fissler pressure cooker for Christmas.  Meanwhile, one of our dinner guests fiddled with my old cooker that I thought was a goner and managed to fix it. <_<

Anyone who would like my old one, it is a six quart Innova brand with a weighted-vent top, it is in fine working order, and I even have the instruction booklet.  Send me a PM if you are interested.

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My personal Santa has given me a Fissler, too. I'm still waiting for it to arrive. My 35 year-old 6 quart weight-vent Austrian Email brand (yes, named long before electronic mail existed), which still works well, will be retired. It is heavy enameled steel, with a stainless lid, but the enamel is chipped in numerous places and the handle-locking mechanism works but is missing a big chunk of plastic. Too beat up to hand down.

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Thumbs up on the Fissler cooker which is working like a champ.  The only difference I am finding is that it vents significantly less steam than my old one, so I have more water remaining in the cooker after the dish is done.  It's not a problem, it's just something to take into account when adjusting things. 

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I used my Fissler yesterday to parcook a lamb tagine whose recipe called for 4 hours on low heat in a stovetop tagine. I had 1 1/2 pounds of lamb shoulder cubes with finely grated onion, ginger, cinnamon stick and a small amount of saffron water and plain water. My concern was that there was insufficient liquid content to create the steam needed inside the pressure cooker, so I added a bit more water. When I opened the cooker after 20 minutes, the lamb was quite tender and there was a lot of broth. I left it open on medium heat to reduce some of the liquid, and then transferred the contents to an enameled cast iron pot, where it continued to simmer for about an hour on lowest heat. Later on, I added the other ingredients (poached quince and chick peas that I had pressure cooked with aromatics for 30 minutes after soaking for a couple of hours in hot water and baking soda), and the lamb was wonderfully tender. I'm still getting a feel for how long things take in the Fissler, but it is so quiet and understated compared to my old hissing pressure pot.

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Here is an old article about cooking stocks in pressure cookers vs. the conventional method. To summerize, in a blind taste test between the methods, the pressure cooker lost. However, the pressure cooker used was the type with the old steam valve regulator. In a re-test with a newer pressure cooker (in this case a Kuhn Rikon) that uses the new fancy spring valve regulator, the pressure cooker won. The newer spring valve regulator pressure cookers don't allow virtually any steam to escape, resulting in almost no reduction in cooking liquid, but also a superior finished product.

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Pho (insert squiggles on the "o") stock in the pressure cooker for dinner tonight.  It is very odd to have something so fragrant cooking, and there is zero aroma other than the residual scent of charred onion, ginger and toasted spices.  I really hope it turns out, because I made the pot full. :)

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Yesterday afternoon, I noticed in the booklet that came with my Fissler, that veal shank was on the list of time/pressure setting provided for a variety of foods. As it happened, I came home from Costco earlier in the day with a package of veal shank pieces, so decided to try making osso buco in the pressure cooker. It took a half-hour to prep and saute the vegetable base and brown the meat in a separate frying pan. Then twenty minutes under level 2 pressure. So with the time it took to come up to pressure, an hour. While it cooked under pressure, I made the gremolata and tidied up the kitchen. I let it continue to simmer and reduce, after the time under pressure, while I made the risotto Milanese and the haricots, about another half hour. Typically, when I make osso buco, it simmers in a 250 degree oven for between three and four hours. So in half the time, dinner was ready. It was very tasty, but not the best osso buco I have ever made. J loves osso buco, and he liked it a lot, but thought it had slightly less depth of flavor than a slow cooked version. I enjoyed the flavor, but found the texture of the meat a little bit stringy. An interesting experiment, but I think I will stick with slow cooking osso buco in the future.

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I made pressure cooker risotto last night, which turned out great. I figure if it's good enough for the Italian lady who runs the site where I got the recipe, it's definitely good enough for me. Chopped up and threw in some oven-dried, oil packed tomatoes a friend had given me before cooking, and some steamed (from frozen) peas afterward.  A satisfying and quick meal, perfect for a cold night after a long day.

Zora, you could've made your risotto Milanese in your old cooker :)

I recently replaced the gasket in my Kuhn-Rikon PC. It had what started out as a slight tear that had turned into a small chunk missing from the edge. I'm amazed at the difference it's made. I guess between age/use and the hole, the seal wasn't nearly as good as it is with a new gasket. Pretty much no steam/liquid lost now, and I can tell things were taking longer to cook before.

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Zora, you could've made your risotto Milanese in your old cooker :)

True, the old pressure cooker hasn't made it out to the trashcan yet. But being somewhat of a stickler for accuracy in language, I wouldn't be able to call it risotto, because the cooking method, even in a pressure cooker, makes it a pilaf, albeit one made with arborio rice.

I have been having a bit of a problem getting my new Fissler to seal and come up to pressure. It will release steam and not pressurize, and I'll have to open the lid, and close it again, often adjusting the gasket to make sure it is properly in place. Last night, while making a batch of kidney beans and then another with beef chili, I had to open and re-shut the lid five or six times to get the pot to come up to pressure.

Anybody have thoughts about what might be happening? The manual suggests that the silicone ring under the steam valve could be dirty or out of place or the gasket damaged, but this pot is brand new, and eventually I do get the lid locked and the pressure raised. It's just become an annoyance. Wondering if I need to send it back to the place I got it.

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True, the old pressure cooker hasn't made it out to the trashcan yet. But being somewhat of a stickler for accuracy in language, I wouldn't be able to call it risotto, because the cooking method, even in a pressure cooker, makes it a pilaf, albeit one made with arborio rice.

If you check out the Italian WIkipedia page, you will find that the appropriate argument to have about risotto is whether or not all the ingredients are cooked with the rice for the exact amount of time as the rice.  Who knew?  If you still have a language issue, well, make an arborio pilaf.  Go nuts.  ;)

I have been having a bit of a problem getting my new Fissler to seal and come up to pressure. It will release steam and not pressurize, and I'll have to open the lid, and close it again, often adjusting the gasket to make sure it is properly in place. Last night, while making a batch of kidney beans and then another with beef chili, I had to open and re-shut the lid five or six times to get the pot to come up to pressure.

Anybody have thoughts about what might be happening? The manual suggests that the silicone ring under the steam valve could be dirty or out of place or the gasket damaged, but this pot is brand new, and eventually I do get the lid locked and the pressure raised. It's just become an annoyance. Wondering if I need to send it back to the place I got it.

Send it back.  Mine works like a dream and I haven't fiddled with it one bit.

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The purists might consider this blasphemy, but I made some darn good pulled pork in the pressure cooker. All it took was a little bit of prep, some dry seasoning on pieces of Boston butt, and a few wet ingredients whisked together in the cooker. 45 minutes under pressure and I had flavorful, tender pork, and a tasty sauce (once reduced).

I used this recipe as a guideline, which was adapted from an America's Test Kitchen cookbook.

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I am so impressed that you could do pork in your pressure cooker (although I'm not surprised, because pork is very forgiving). I really need to experiment more w/ my pressure cooker- I still do stocks w/ leftover meats in my slow cooker, & my puppies appreciate it, because the stock gets poured over their food.

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