Miss Priss

I always take a spin through that kitchenware place when I go to Buon Italia (the anti-Eataly), but somehow never find it satisfying. Not sure why. Maybe because it's neither as hard-core as a place like Chef Restaurant Supply nor as upscale as a place like Sur la Table - it just seems betwixt and between. Nevertheless, I dutifully wander its aisles, picking things up and putting them down, before leaving with a feeling of mild disappointment at not having been inspired to buy anything.

I think you're referring to Chef Restaurant Supply. I haven't been there in a while, but it used to be one of my favorite haunts. As I recall, they carry some high-end restaurant cookware, including Sitram Catering, along with sturdy mid-priced stuff like Winco and a nice range of things in between. I always found their prices to be very competitive, with one exception: Lodge cast iron, for which they charged quite a bit more than other vendors (though they also had some pieces not commonly seen elsewhere).

Well said, everyone. This is exactly why I gladly let my subscription lapse after a couple of years, quite some time ago. I felt I'd gotten all the useful tips I was likely to get, I realized I had no interest in their overly complicated approach to every cooking task, and I was irritated beyond measure by the smug tone and the faux expertise. If they thought they could get away with it, these folks would advise you that after weeks of diligent experimentation in their laboratory-like test kitchen, they'd determined that the "best" way to boil water involves four steps, two different heating methods, and three pieces of equipment, all manufactured by All-Clad or Le Creuset.

LIke so many others who've already posted, I use my microwave only for reheating beverages and leftovers; preparing frozen vegetables; making popocorn; and warming up ingredients for baking. Since all of these things can be done without much difficulty on the stove or in the conventional oven, I could probably get along just fine without it .. and one of these days, when I'm looking around for counter space and finding none, I may decide that the time has come!

Excellent! By the way, I usually set the bowl on the rack, as I somewhere picked up the idea (possibly incorrect) that the bottom of the bowl shouldn't rest on the bottom of the cooker.

Not sure if this would meet your needs, but I use a set of deep stainless steel bowls with straight sided, flattened bottoms, and ring handles, made by Farberware. The largest one is just under 8" in diameter and fits neatly into my 22-cm diameter Kuhn Rikon cooker. They're no longer manufactured, but you can easily find them on eBay; for example: http://www.ebay.com/itm/farberware-3pc-stainless-steel-mixing-bowls-with-lids-/231253082403?pt=Kitchen_Tools_Gadgets&hash=item35d7c20123 Updated (and more expensive) versions are also available at various stores, such as Crate & Barrel: http://www.crateandbarrel.com/3-piece-stainless-steel-nesting-mixing-bowl-set/s589261

How about this? http://www.125west.com/p-7014-demeyere-resto-water-kettle.aspx?gclid=CL_ev5zQy7oCFdKf4AodlBIAtw

From what I've seen, the MIU France is more likely a knockoff of the Magefesa Practika Plus (also sold under the brand name ELO) than of any Fagor model. I have a small Practika Plus (yes, yes, too many pressure cookers) and find it very reliable and easy to use. Hopefully the MIU will serve you equally well.

I have the Kuhn Rikon Duromatic 5.25 liter and 2-liter set, and the Fagor Elite (one pressure setting) 8-liter and 4-liter set. For what it's worth, my Fagor was purchased some time ago and was made in Spain, not China. I like them both, but I prefer the Kuhn Rikon because it's easier to tell when full pressure has been reached, easier to tell whether pressure is being maintained, and, since it doesn't release any steam, requires less liquid. The interior finish of the Kuhn Rikon is also a bit smoother than the Fagor's, making it a bit easier to clean. I suspect that the Kuhn Rikon's aluminum disc base is thicker than the Fagor's, but it's hard to tell because the Fagor's is encapsulated. The fact that the Kuhn's disc doesn't extend to the edges of the pot doesn't concern me, as I've never had any problems with scorching on that account.

I read somewhere that it's to faciiltate stacking of units with the same diameter for efficient storage.

Lindag, the Vitaquick sounds like a great cooker, but I'm not sure why you say the Vitavit is a lesser model. The Vitavit doesn't seem to be available in the US, but in countries where both models are sold, the Vitavit is the more expensive one (at least online). I find CI's reviews to be very interesting and useful, and often take them into account when buying pricey kitchen equipment, but I'm still scratching my head over their previous round of PC reviews, 7 or 8 years ago. They claimed there was no way to quick-release the pressure from a Kuhn Rikon on the stovetop, even though the instruction manual clearly described the process. They gave their highest rating to the Fagor Duo, which is a fine product but, in my opinion, not the equal of the Kuhn Rikon.

Kuhn RIkon, WMF, Fissler, and Fagor pressure cookers are all available on Amazon.uk, and they're all good stainless-steel units. If the cooker will double as your pasta pot and/or steamer, I'd suggest going with the Kuhn Rikon, WMF, or Fagor, as they're straight-sided. It seems to me that the Fissler's tapered shape would accelerate the evaporation of the pasta water, and it might also be difficult to find a steamer insert for it, especially if you wanted a deep one. As for regular lids, it's easy to find inexpensive ones that will fit any of these pots.

ATK's timing might kill the red cabbage too! Ten minutes at high pressure will practically liquify it. If the red cabbage is fresh, 4 or 5 minutes should be plenty. There's no reason you can't make green cabbage in a pressure cooker, but it cooks pretty quickly by conventional means, so there's not much incentive there.

That seems like a lot of liquid, but it makes sense if you want a lot of gravy. I'm not a gravy lover, so my approach is more like a braise. For the 3-lb breast half, I used about 1/4 cup white wine and a scant 1/4 cup water. The ingredients included a large sliced onion, which also threw off some liquid. My pressure cooker is the type that releases virtually no steam, so I ended up with quite a bit more liquid than I started with. Even though much of it came from the turkey, the meat was very moist.

I often do this with half a bone-in turkey breast, with the skin removed to reduce fat. It's a quick, tasty weeknight meal for two people. The last one I made was 3 pounds, a bit larger than usual. I cooked it for about 25 minutes on high pressure followed by about 10 minutes of natural release. I didn't check the temperature, but the results were fine. You don't say how much liquid the ATK recipe calls for, but I've found that not much is needed, as the meat releases plenty of juice. The reviews convinced me not to want this meat-centric we-invented-the-wheel tome, but also lead me to this great web site: http://www.hippressurecooking.com/ CI's/ATK's "we-invented-the-wheel" attitude even informs the title of their pressure cooker cookbook. I hope they were just oblivious to the existence of Lorna Sass's excellent "Pressure Perfect," published in 2004, and not actually looking to profit from any customer confusion. Hip Pressure Cooking is a really impressive and useful site, and its owner has contributed several posts to this thread. She has also recently authored a cookbook: http://www.amazon.com/Everything-Healthy-Pressure-Cookbook-Wine/dp/1440541868/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1364934654&sr=8-1&keywords=pazzaglia (No, I'm not her agent--or a relative--just a fan!)

In my experience, meat and poultry juices (plus the residue of marinades or seasonings) often drip down between the ridges and create a real clean-up challenge. That's largely the reason I stopped using my Lodge cast-iron grill pan, even though I'd carefully seasoned it before its first use. On the other hand, since the seasoning helped so little, maybe it really doesn't matter.

Completely agree. I love my Kuhn Rikon and feel that CI sold this model very short--as they did the the last time they reviewed stovetop pressure cookers, 6 or 7 years ago. In that review, they claimed there was no way to quickly release the pressure from a Kuhn Rikon on the stovetop, even though the manual clearly explains (with illustrations) how to do it. That mistake really reduced my confidence in their equipment reviews. I haven't found the size of the Kuhn Rikon's bottom disc to be a problem, and have never (yet) had scorching just around the rim of the disc. I've occasionally scorched the entire bottom by forgetting to turn the heat down or cooking starchy foods without enough liquid. The upside of those disasters was the discovery that these pots clean up remarkably well.

My guess would be that ATK hasn't featured pressure cookers on their shows simply because the producers, until recently, didn't think their target audience would be especially interested. Most Americans don't have pressure cookers, and many who have them don't use them. The popularity of "Modernist Cuisine," among other recent food/cooking trends, may have signaled to the ATK people that even though there are a number of good, reasonably-priced pressure-cooker cookbooks on the market, there was still room for one that would appeal particularly to those who like the ATK approach. The review of pressure cookers in ATK's sister enterprise, Cooks Illustrated, was probably timed to coordinate with the book's publication date.

Agreed. In general, the smoother the finish, the easier the cleanup.

"Pressure Cooker Perfection"? Did they want to make absolutely sure that some buyers would confuse it with Lorna Sass's well-known and highly-regarded "Pressure Perfect"?