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My soup exploded! How to I prevent this? Can I still use my pot?

torolover

By torolover
in Cooking

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torolover

torolover

Posted
Posted

I put a bunch of pork trotters, fat, and water into a pressure cooker and pressured cooked it for 3 hours.  (I'm making ramen base soup)

 

I released the pressure and removed the lid.  I tried to boil the soup again (so I could emulsify the fat).

 

After a few minutes I heard a "BOOM" sound!  I think my soup exploded!  

 

How do I prevent this in the future?  

Do you think I damaged my pot?  This is important because the pot is part of the pressure cooker, and I don't want to pressure cook something if it's damaged.  Is it safe to use again?

 

Thanks for the advice!

Anna N

Anna N

Posted
Posted

 Highly unlikely that you damaged the pot since it was not even under pressure and it is designed to be under pressure. Not sure what caused the boom sound but I doubt very much it was the pot. Does the pot look damaged or deformed in anyway?

  • Like 1

Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

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rotuts

rotuts

Posted
Posted

truth be told

 

I have no vision of what happened to you.

 

the PC was open     and then you tried to use it as a regular pot to boil its contents ?

 

BOOM   but you don't tell us more than that

 

more detail might help

 

cheers

Martin Fisher

Martin Fisher

Posted
Posted
28 minutes ago, torolover said:

I put a bunch of pork trotters, fat, and water into a pressure cooker and pressured cooked it for 3 hours.  (I'm making ramen base soup)

 

I released the pressure and removed the lid.  I tried to boil the soup again (so I could emulsify the fat).

 

After a few minutes I heard a "BOOM" sound!  I think my soup exploded! 

 

As the 'water' underneath begins to boil, the steam can make a noise (popping sound or the like) when it travels through the layer of fat —  especially if there's a thick layer of fat.

My guess is that's what happened.

  • Like 3

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KennethT

KennethT

Posted
Posted (edited)

I would think that quickly releasing the pressure after pressure cooking would be enough to emulsify the soup... no further boiling required unless you want to reduce it.

Edited by KennethT (log)
torolover

torolover

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted
3 hours ago, rotuts said:

truth be told

 

I have no vision of what happened to you.

 

the PC was open     and then you tried to use it as a regular pot to boil its contents ?

 

BOOM   but you don't tell us more than that

 

more detail might help

 

cheers

To clarify,

 

I didn't do a quick release to release the pressure cooker.  I let the pressure naturally go do down by itself. (I read that stock tastes better this way in MC)

 

When I opened the lid, the stock looks clear.  So I want to boil the stock to emulsify some of the fat and the particles into the stock. This is for Ramen stock not western clear stock.  I find it tastes better if I boil the stock for 5 min to emulsify some of the fat and particles.

 

After a few minutes trying to get the stock to a boil, I hear a boom sound, like a big "pop" sound.  I'm guessing it has something to do with the pressure and different temperatures of the fat and liquid?  Anyone else have this experience?

 

The pot seems fine.

 

Is there any danger of heating up stock and fat really fast in a pressure cooker WITH the lid sealed on?  I always turn the temp. lower when it reaches 15psi.  I use a magnetic portable induction to heat the pressure cooker really fast.

 

Thanks for the tips everyone!

 

gfweb

gfweb

Posted
Posted

Still seems weird. Fat and liquid should be same temp, though liquid might be somewhat 'superheated" post pressure cooking and sl above  boiling point. I guess it could boil explosively with added heat.

 

Was there soup all over the stove?

blue_dolphin

blue_dolphin

Posted
Posted

Many pressure cooker recipes warn about stirring gently and cautiously after releasing pressure due to the possibility of superheated pockets.  I've never had anything worse than the occasional polenta burp and I'm surprised by a huge explosion after a slow, natural release as that time should let the temperature equalize.

As far as heating up stock and fat very rapidly with the lid sealed, I don't think there are any safety risks.  Depending on the volume, you might get a period of boiling before the pressure builds.  The boiling could affect clarity but it doesn't sound like that's a concern for you.  

IndyRob

IndyRob

Posted
Posted

A big pop is quite different from a boom in my mind.  My best guess is that somehow some water got trapped inside some sort of fat packet.  The fat was heated to well beyond the boiling point and then something allowed the water to be introduce to that heat quickly.

andiesenji

andiesenji

Posted
Posted (edited)

Having cooked a ton of pork trotters during my life, I can tell you that the pig foot can "pop" because often there is enough fat in enclosed pockets to vent "explosively" with sufficient heat.  

I have had this happen when dry roasting them in an oven (incredibly messy with goop sprayed all over the oven)

A "release valve"  so to speak will prevent this.  I have a big awl with a t-shaped handle that I use to punch through the hooves in a couple of places.  I do the same thing with smoked pigs feet, although it is more difficult there is a soft spot in the frog of the foot.

Edited by andiesenji (log)
  • Like 4

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