Pressure Cooker?? ideas? thumbs up or down?

My wife got me a pressure cooker for Christmas. I am a pita to shop for for Christmas and birthday…I know that.

If you use a pressure cooker, what is the upside and the downside? Also, what is your favorite recipes or dishes to cook with this contraption?

Thanks.

We like it for cooking up dried beans/chickpeas etc–much faster than doing it on the stove.

Also good for things like pulled pork using country ribs. Any of those stringy/stew-type meats cook nicely in the pressure cooker.

I do think there’s some sacrifice of depth of flavor vs a low slow cook on the stove or in the oven. But for beans, or pulled pork/taco meat that involves a relatively zesty sauce, I don’t mind.

Pressure cooker is an important tool in my kitchen, especially at 7000 feet above sea level, where the boiling point of water is about 197F - beans can take forever to cook.

I use it very often for chicken stock:

Throw chicken parts (I like whole thighs), carrots, celery, onions, etc. into pressure cooker, cover with water, bring to a boil, and place on lid. After it comes to up the desired pressure, cook for 10-15 minutes and remove from heat. At this point the chicken meat should be just cooked. Allow meat to cool. Remove meat from bones and reserve for tacos, enchiladas, chicken salad, etc. Return bones to pot and cook under pressure for 15-30 more minutes. Strain, cool in fridge, remove excess fat (reserve fat for mashed potatoes!). Reduce stock down before using if desired. Season.

This is a great site for many things: https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/pressure-cookers

Never had a pressure cooker myself.

After talking to a friend (with parents from Italy and lots of extended family still there) about how a pressure cooker makes great risotto fast, I’m am beginning to think I need one.

Thought about that as well but I’m so attached to watching the starches coagulate at just that perfect moment. I suppose with some experimenting you could nail the timing. But question for you, could you still incorporate ingredients the way you want? For example, I would worry about the mushroom risotto in particular, messing up the texture.

I use pretty much what bill does for PC stock but tend to use only wings tips, backs from whole chickens and the. the leftover bones etc from cooked chickens. I do not remove any meat but after a 30
min cook I add add carrots celery and onions for an extra 15 min cook

Thanks guys.

Two thumbs up!!! I use my pressure cooker a lot. Chili, soups, stews, just about any tougher cut of meat will come out soft and very tender in a pressure cooker. One dish meals, quick veges, desserts, you name it I use my pressure cooker. I have a regular - one non-electric. And I also use it to can small jars when using the big daddy is impractical and over the top.

Below is a site that has several pressure cooker *.pdf recipe booklets. Enjoy! [cheers.gif]

I don’t know enough about it yet. It came up in a chat at a holiday party. In her brief description, it sounded like she just puts everything at once. We’re heading out of town and I planned to get the details from her when we got back.

Check out Modernist Cuisine… they have a lot of “new fangled” uses for for the “old” pressure cooker.

I use it all the time for risotto. Now I can make risotto part of the meal, rather than the focus of the meal. Same prep as usual, up through adding and reducing the wine. Then add all the stock, lid on, up to pressure, 6 minutes at pressure, quick cool, finish with about 6 minutes of open stirring on heat and whatever additions.

Works great for stock making, but the stock won’t be clear. I usually put bones, and vegetables in up front, up to pressure for about an hour and a half, and then throw away anything solid, as anything not in the stock at that point isn’t worth saving.

+1 on Modernist Cuisine as a source for ideas. The caramelized carrot soup cooked in the pressure cooker:

is one of the most delicious soups I have ever made.

Pressure cooker = game-changer.
Once you get used to it, you’ll use it all the time. Lots of books, sites, etc.
Makes “braising” cuts (chuck, short ribs) into weeknight possibilities. Collards tender in <10 minutes. Mac and cheese faster than you can set the table. The list is endless.
Stocks are great, much more intense flavors.
You still have to pay some attention to it (don’t let it overpressurize), but for the results you get, it’s pretty awesome.

Never made the carrot soup, but I’ve eaten it, and it’s amazing.

I like this carnitas recipe,doing it again tomorrow

Needed a gluten free starch for Christmas as a side to our goose, did a red wine/escarole/mushroom risotto (just used dried porcinis). Probably 35 minutes, of which 30 minutes I was socializing and pouring wine. I’d never do traditional risotto for a big group, since I’d be locked in kitchen for 40 minutes.

is yours a manual stovetop model, or a countertop electric one?
I have a countertop electric one, and it is even more versatile than a standard one, with some caveats.

I love making stocks, broths, and soups, in mine. What used to take 3+ hours, can now take 1 hour.

brown rice in 12 min under pressure, mashed potatoes in 6 min pressure

Mine is manual.

Go to hippressurecooking.com for tons of good info.

Any recommendations on pressure cooker cookbooks?

Wall Street Journal. neener

We love ours and have been using it more than ever with a toddler there just is not enough time to do the slow and low as much. Recently did the st patty’s brisket, beans/soups, short ribs, risotto.