Pressure cookers

[Resurgam]

I have been using a pressure cooker recently - as it really cuts down on energy use, and it has really helped to reduce cooking times. I can see a drop in the advancing of numbers on the meters, having started to check them regularly.
I had stopped cooking things such as swede, as it takes so long, but I have found that in the pressure cooker it is done in minutes, and also I can put potato for my husband into a perforated basket and cook it at the same time and then I put the peas into the hot water and they are ready to sieve out and serve up by the time the rest of the meal is on the plates.
It seems strange to be using all these little tricks to reduce energy consumption but it means that I can keep to my normal menu AND keep the bills down as much as possible.
My mum used to cook hens in the pressure cooker, and I never knew that they were supposed to be tough - an hour at full pressure and they were falling apart.

 

[LittleGreyCat]

Old style pressure cookers (Prestige?) used to turn potatoes strange.
I think it is because they cook at a higher temperature than boiling water.

 

[MrsA2]

I used to be scared by my mum's pressure cooker. It was a hissy violent dangerous monster.
Has time and technology improved them at all?

 

[jape]

I used to be scared by my mum's pressure cooker. It was a hissy violent dangerous monster.
Has time and technology improved them at all?

Absolutely! The instantpot works like a dream! Even I can operate it.....

 

[Goonergal]

I very rarely use my gas oven at all these days. The air fryer and instant pot (pressure cooker or slow cooker) can do everything I need. The IP is particularly good on days I’m out as it keeps food warm, so I can plonk the meat in early on and arrive home to a delicious meal.

 

[Outlier]

used to be scared by my mum's pressure cooker. It was a hissy violent dangerous monster.
Has time and technology improved them at all?

They scared the life out of me, too.

 

[Rachox]

I used to be scared by my mum's pressure cooker. It was a hissy violent dangerous monster.
Has time and technology improved them at all?

They scared the life out of me, too.

Me too! I wouldn’t go in the kitchen when it was hissing!

 

[AndBreathe]

Pressure cookers have been in MrB's (the main cook in this hacienda) life for decades - particularly when sailing. I hated all that hissing and fear the same as everyone else. However, the electric pressure cookers around these days changed everything for me.

We now have 2 Instant Pots, at least one of which is used near daily. As, @Goonergal says, one huge bonus is being able to cook well ahead and eat when we want to. This is really useful on the days MrB plays golf. He is often ravenous when he gets home and to be able to dish up promptly just hits the spot.

IP yoghurt and clotted cream are also things of great deliciousness.

Such was MrB's bond with his old-stylee Prestige on our boat that we have a brand new, unopened version in our loft. Our local Co_op was closing forever and the sale price was a complete steal. It's a smaller one - not the great vats of the originals.

I really must put that on one of our local giveaway pages and hopefully someone can make friends with it.

 

[Resurgam]

There was a clamp to hold a pressure cooker on the stove in many of the yachts I went aboard, with one for the kettle alongside it.
My sister was afraid of the noise my mother's pressure cooker made.
I cook potatoes and swede submerged rather than in the steam and they seem to come out normal in texture - that could be the way to do it. I was told that the potatoes cooked on the gas ring were still hard inside, even though they were falling apart on the outside - the pressure cooker seems to have solved that, and the swede also seems to have cooked evenly too, and it is much easier to mash, and in such a short cooking time too. I use the lower pressure option.
Swede could take almost an hour sometimes, now it is under 10 minutes. To make maximum use of the heat I allow the pressure to drop gradually after turning off the gas rather than opening the valve.

 

[Larissima]

I have an old pressure cooker which I use a lot, but it has been going wonky (sometimes letting all the steam escape). I've been looking at Instant Pots but there seems to be so much variety, from £90-£250. Are there any particular models or features that are recommended on here, please?

 

[Deleted member 543160]

I used to be scared by my mum's pressure cooker. It was a hissy violent dangerous monster.

I was scared of mine too - I thought it might explode! I always half expected the steam pressure would whoosh off the little weight thingy that sat on the lid and shoot it through the ceiling! But it was one of my learn-to-cook gadgets when was I first married in the early 1970s, and I eventually got the better of it.

 

[zari212]

I have been using a pressure cooker recently - as it really cuts down on energy use, and it has really helped to reduce cooking times. I can see a drop in the advancing of numbers on the meters, having started to check them regularly.
I had stopped cooking things such as swede, as it takes so long, but I have found that in the pressure cooker it is done in minutes, and also I can put potato for my husband into a perforated basket and cook it at the same time and then I put the peas into the hot water and they are ready to sieve out and serve up by the time the rest of the meal is on the plates.
It seems strange to be using all these little tricks to reduce energy consumption but it means that I can keep to my normal menu AND keep the bills down as much as possible.
My mum used to cook hens in the pressure cooker, and I never knew that they were supposed to be tough - an hour at full pressure and they were falling apart.

Do you have any pressure cooker suggestions for me? I'm researching right now, I'm so confused.

 

[MrsA2]

I have an air fryer (and 2 normal ovens) and a slow cooker.
Would a pressure cooker or an instant pot add anything to my life.?
BTW I'm not time pressured now I no longer work

 

[sleepster]

I have an old-style pressure cooker that hisses and generally makes a lot of noise, I tend to use it to make stock and casseroles, though have used it to cook swede too. I'm also interested in any recommendations for a new one

 

[Resurgam]

I have an old pressure cooker which I use a lot, but it has been going wonky (sometimes letting all the steam escape). I've been looking at Instant Pots but there seems to be so much variety, from £90-£250. Are there any particular models or features that are recommended on here, please?

When was the last time you put in a new seal and valve?
Stove top pressure cookers are almost immortal, but the seal and surrounding of the valve ages and needs to be renewed.
The one which was my mums is probably over 70 years old and still going strong, but it is on the 4th renewal of seal etc that I have bought.

 

[AndBreathe]

There was a clamp to hold a pressure cooker on the stove in many of the yachts I went aboard, with one for the kettle alongside it.
My sister was afraid of the noise my mother's pressure cooker made.
I cook potatoes and swede submerged rather than in the steam and they seem to come out normal in texture - that could be the way to do it. I was told that the potatoes cooked on the gas ring were still hard inside, even though they were falling apart on the outside - the pressure cooker seems to have solved that, and the swede also seems to have cooked evenly too, and it is much easier to mash, and in such a short cooking time too. I use the lower pressure option.
Swede could take almost an hour sometimes, now it is under 10 minutes. To make maximum use of the heat I allow the pressure to drop gradually after turning off the gas rather than opening the valve.

If you are going to do any cooking on the move, the cooker should have fiddle rails.

I have an air fryer (and 2 normal ovens) and a slow cooker.
Would a pressure cooker or an instant pot add anything to my life.?
BTW I'm not time pressured now I no longer work

I have had instant Pots for several years now. I would recommend them, or a Ninja Foodie. Both are quality and robust tools.

Some of the convenience of modern pressure cooking is not about relieving time pressures, but convenience.

Whilst structured work is not a part of our lives any more, we do still have some busy days, or days when we're never too sure when we can sit down to ear. With the Keep Warm functionality I can make at breakfast or lunch time - or whenever - and eat whenever we like.

It is also marvellous for batch cooking. We can also reheat soups/casseroles/curries directly from frozen

You can cook more than one dish in the same pressure cooker by utilising a trivet. So, cooking rice with (but not in) curry, or boiling potatoes with a casserole, if you or other family members need the spuds.

 

[Hotpepper20000]

I have a instapot and use it to make bone broth from chicken bones or beef bones. Couple of hours and it’s done.

 

[Resurgam]

If you are going to do any cooking on the move, the cooker should have fiddle rails.

You can cook more than one dish in the same pressure cooker by utilising a trivet. So, cooking rice with (but not in) curry, or boiling potatoes with a casserole, if you or other family members need the spuds.

Fiddle rails would not do on a yacht - the clamps held the handle of the pressure cooker against a couple of bars so it could neither twist nor tip. The kettle was held so that the spout pointed to the bows and the lid was clamped down firmly and the whole stove was on gimbals so it stayed more horizontal than the vessel itself.
One of my aunts decided to cook a rice pudding in her wedding present pressure cooker on her first day in her brand new prefab in Fulford, York.
Many years later she heard a young woman talking about the prefeb she'd just moved into and how the ceiling they were cleaning off to repaint was Artexed. 'I never knew they had Artex back then'.
She smiled and slipped away remembering how the expanding rice had shot out through the central 'chimney' as she had turned around wondering where to take it, and that it had then been spread everywhere as she tried to remove it with a wet cloth.

 

[Larissima]

When was the last time you put in a new seal and valve?
Stove top pressure cookers are almost immortal, but the seal and surrounding of the valve ages and needs to be renewed.
The one which was my mums is probably over 70 years old and still going strong, but it is on the 4th renewal of seal etc that I have bought.

I replaced the seal twice, but I never even knew you could replace the valve. I'll look it up on eBay, thanks!

 

[AndBreathe]

I replaced the seal twice, but I never even knew you could replace the valve. I'll look it up on eBay, thanks!

In reality, anything that can be removed can usually be replaced, whether that is seals, valves, lids or whatever.

One of the benefits of an electric pressure cooker is not having the heat of the cooker in the kitchen.