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Pressure cooker accessories

Franci

By Franci
in Kitchen Consumer

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Franci

Franci

Posted
Posted

What do you use?

 

I often use a tall trivet (the ones that you can easily find in Chinese supermarkets) and and a bowl to steam (round or squared), or a terrine with lid. Although this often means I'm doing small quantities. I have a 6 L Kuhn Rikon 22 cm, so not a huge diameter.

I only pressure cooked in a jar once and found that the plastic part (inside by the rim) of the lid melted a bit. What do you use if you want to pressure cook in jars or you are dealing with bigger quantities using a pot in a pot situation? 

I already checked at Hip pressure cooking for suggestions but I'd like to know what do you like and why. Do you have more than one steaming basket? Do you use silicone baskets or bamboo?

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JoNorvelleWalker

JoNorvelleWalker

Posted
Posted (edited)

I use Bormioli Rocco jars.  Making MC pizza sauce at the moment.  I got the jar idea from Modernist Cuisine as that is what they recommend.  The jars work pretty well, but I had one break once.  What I'd like to find is, for lack of a better description, a miniature stock pot that would fit inside my Fissler, handles and all.  Anyone know of such a thing?

 

 

Edit:  for steaming I use the insert that comes with the Fissler.

Edited by JoNorvelleWalker (log)

Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

Martin Fisher

Martin Fisher

Posted
Posted

Economical Ball/Kerr canning jars work just fine, I've used them for many years.

I use several other accessories...including steamer baskets and various separators.

~Martin :)

I just don't want to look back and think "I could have eaten that."

Unsupervised, rebellious, radical agrarian experimenter, minimalist penny-pincher, and adventurous cook. Crotchety, cantankerous, terse curmudgeon, non-conformist, and contrarian who questions everything!

The best thing about a vegetable garden is all the meat you can hunt and trap out of it!

 

pazzaglia

pazzaglia

Posted
Posted

Franci, I don't have this posted on the website, but I've found a small dim-sum basket to use in the pressure cooker.  It looks-like the basic Kuhn Rikon trivet but it has extra feet to keep it taller.  It has no handles, but to lift it out the holes are perfectly suited to inserting two chopsticks at an angle and lifting.  Also, you know those silicone rectangles with shapes like flowers, hearts, ect. ?  Since they're cheap I just cut the rectangle to a round shape to fit in the pressure cooker.

 

Jo, in Italy we don't use "sauce" we use tomato puree' on pizza! As someone who pressure cooks almost anything, I don't really see the benefit to pressure cooking a canned tomatoes with a garlic clove and olive oil for 45 minutes - especially since the garlic nearly disappears and the tomatoes, well, they are already cooked.  Now that you've made it, what do you think?

 

Ciao,

 

L

hip pressure cooking - making pressure cooking hip, one recipe at a time!

JoNorvelleWalker

JoNorvelleWalker

Posted
Posted

I've used puree on pizza but it is a little watery for my taste.  Often in the summer I just go outside and pick a few tomatoes then cut them up for a pizza, skin, seeds and all.

 

I have tried different approaches using the MC recipe.  Easiest is putting raw garlic in the jar along with the puree.  I have found I prefer to sauté the garlic first, as they suggest.  Sometimes I add the sautéed garlic to the tomatoes and sometimes, like tonight, I strain the garlic first.

 

I think the idea behind MC's method is that Maillard reactions take place at pressure cooker temperatures that would not happen in an open pot.

 

Out of season the brand of tomatoes I use is Pomi:

 

http://www.pomi.us.com/StrainedTomatoes.php

 

 

I would still like to find a mini stockpot for inside the Fissler.  Do you know of one?

 

Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

haresfur

haresfur

Posted
Posted

Since my trivet disappeared (I'm not accusing anyone...), I've just been using one of those collapsible steel steamer baskets with the centre post removed.  I have used US mason jars and they work fine.

It's almost never bad to feed someone.

pazzaglia

pazzaglia

Posted
Posted (edited)

 

I would still like to find a mini stockpot for inside the Fissler.  Do you know of one?

 

Well, the Fissler is a tight fit. Measure the diameter of your Fissler above the trivet and then the height up to the edge.  

 

Go to a cheap housewares store, like IKEA, and look for stainless steel pot sets with plastic handles with very visible screws (since you'll be taking them off). For example, something like this:

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60139363/

 

Then, simply remove the handles and use inside the pressure cooker.  You might want to McGyver what is left after you remove the handles to make it easier to lift the mini pot out of the pressure cooker.

 

Remove the handle from the lid, too.  Depending on the height of the inner pot inside your pressure cooker you may only be able to fit the lid of the inner pot upside-down, anyway.  Remember: no hermetic seals inside the pressure cooker unless you plan to let it cool down COMPLETELY before opening.

 

Ciao,

 

L

Edited by pazzaglia (log)

hip pressure cooking - making pressure cooking hip, one recipe at a time!

JoNorvelleWalker

JoNorvelleWalker

Posted
Posted

Since the Fissler slopes outward toward the top, I think it should be possible to use a pot with the handles attached.  But thanks for the ideas.

Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

dcarch

dcarch

Posted
Posted (edited)

I highly recommend you try this:

 

Supposedly you can get 250F from a pressure cooker. I put some water in a pressure cooker, a small metal can with cooking oil inside raised above the water and cooked the oil for a while. Then I ran the PC under  cold water immediately to release the pressure quickly. I measured the temperature of the oil and it was much below 250F.

 

I have a few unique attachment for my PC. After finding out my PC was not giving me the temperature, I engineered a few new "jigglers" for the PC.

 

I now can get a range of temperatures from slightly above 212F all the way to 265F. 

 

At 265F, bones becomes very soft and chewable after making stock.

 

dcarch

Edited by dcarch (log)
Martin Fisher

Martin Fisher

Posted
Posted

re: 'stock pots' for inside a pressure cooker.

 

I use a stainless bain marie or inset.

  • Like 2

~Martin :)

I just don't want to look back and think "I could have eaten that."

Unsupervised, rebellious, radical agrarian experimenter, minimalist penny-pincher, and adventurous cook. Crotchety, cantankerous, terse curmudgeon, non-conformist, and contrarian who questions everything!

The best thing about a vegetable garden is all the meat you can hunt and trap out of it!

 

JoNorvelleWalker

JoNorvelleWalker

Posted
Posted

Doesn't this take place on the pizza inside a hot oven?

 

Yes, but even though MC calls it "pizza sauce" I put it on pasta.

Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

  • 2 weeks later...
Miss Priss

Miss Priss

Posted
Posted (edited)

What I'd like to find is, for lack of a better description, a miniature stock pot that would fit inside my Fissler, handles and all.  Anyone know of such a thing?

 

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

Edited by Miss Priss (log)
JoNorvelleWalker

JoNorvelleWalker

Posted
Posted

Thanks for the idea.  I actually have a set of those old Farberware bowls!

Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

Miss Priss

Miss Priss

Posted
Posted

Thanks for the idea.  I actually have a set of those old Farberware bowls!

 

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.

  • 9 months later...
haresfur

haresfur

Posted
Posted

Now if you can make a temperature probe that works inside a pressure cooker...  :raz:

It's almost never bad to feed someone.

dcarch

dcarch

Posted
Posted

Now if you can make a temperature probe that works inside a pressure cooker...  :raz:

 

Actually, that is one appliance which will never need temperature control. It is self regulating by definition, at exactly 250F, always. 

 

dcarch

  • Like 1
HowardLi

HowardLi

Posted
Posted

Yes, but if you didn't want to use a valve to control the temperature, you could instead moderate the heat input to the cooker so that the heat in = heat out at the desired temp/pressure. Therefore, temperature control by heat equilibrium rather than by pressure relief.

 

Admittedly, spring valves are fairly easy to set, but precise control of the heat would make it essentially foolproof to maintain the proper pressure.

Actually, that is one appliance which will never need temperature control. It is self regulating by definition, at exactly 250F, always. 

 

dcarch

haresfur

haresfur

Posted
Posted (edited)

Actually, that is one appliance which will never need temperature control. It is self regulating by definition, at exactly 250F, always. 

 

dcarch

 

But you could regulate the temperature rather than just choosing from a couple of pressure settings. and you could compensate for elevation change on the gauge pressure or air entrapped in the cooker, both of which affect the temperature at a given total pressure..

 

ETA: and you wouldn't blow the relief valve by not setting the stove properly.

Edited by haresfur (log)

It's almost never bad to feed someone.

Ashen

Ashen

Posted
Posted

Actually, that is one appliance which will never need temperature control. It is self regulating by definition, at exactly 250F, always. 

 

dcarch

 

 

pressure cookers only raise pressure in relation to the pressure outside  of the vessel. At higher altitudes than sea level , the temperature will be less than 250 F .     For instance in Denver Colorado it would be somewhere in the mid 240's F 

"Why is the rum always gone?"

Captain Jack Sparrow

blackp

blackp

Posted
Posted

pressure cookers only raise pressure in relation to the pressure outside  of the vessel. At higher altitudes than sea level , the temperature will be less than 250 F .     For instance in Denver Colorado it would be somewhere in the mid 240's F 

I'm not sure that I understand how this can be true.  Inside the pressure cooker the steam must build up to a level where there is enough pressure to lift the weight or move the spring depending on the type of pressure cooker.  Surely the amount of force required would be the same at high altitude as it would at sea level.  If that is true the pressure inside the pressure cooker would be the same and therefore the temperature would be the same also.

 

Have I missed something?

haresfur

haresfur

Posted
Posted

I'm not sure that I understand how this can be true.  Inside the pressure cooker the steam must build up to a level where there is enough pressure to lift the weight or move the spring depending on the type of pressure cooker.  Surely the amount of force required would be the same at high altitude as it would at sea level.  If that is true the pressure inside the pressure cooker would be the same and therefore the temperature would be the same also.

 

Have I missed something?

 

You've missed the pressure of the air pushing back down on the weight or helping the spring push down. So higher altitude means less air pressure on the other side and the absolute pressure inside is lower.

  • Like 1

It's almost never bad to feed someone.

gfweb

gfweb

Posted
Posted

Not sure that explains it all. If one had an imaginary sensor that didn't get influenced by external air pressure, just the pressure on the inside, would the answer be different?

nickrey

nickrey

Posted
Posted (edited)

At sea level air pressure is 14.7psi. At 2000ft, it's 11.54psi.

 

It also explains why the boiling point of water at the top of a mountain is less than 100C.

 

To carry this latter point to its obvious conclusion, room temperature water in my chamber vacuum sealer will boil. Were I to have a pressure cooker in this vacuum chamber with room temperature water, it would seal at room temperature, not at 250F.

 

Atmospheric pressure is likely to be whole story on this one.

Edited by nickrey (log)

Nick Reynolds, aka "nickrey"

"The Internet is full of false information." Plato
My eG Foodblog

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