21 hours ago, Anna N said:
As I said to each their own.
Our own @pazzaglia does not recommend using the cold water method link. And my stovetop manual has a number of warnings about this method too.
It is very rarely relevant. But if it matters to you then by all means stick with the stovetop pressure cooker.
It would be such a boring world if we were all the same.
As most of you know by now, I don't own an instant pot. I own a Chinese knockoff that came with directions that were indecipherable gobbledygook. While I was searching for some direction on the internet that would help me decide whether to even keep it, I came across eGullet. To begin with, I thought I had just purchased an electric pressure cooker. After reading everything that was written here, I realized that I had gotten a treasure. Everyone here has encouraged me, inspired me, and just, generally, put me in awe of all of the wonderful things that you were doing with them. No one, here, is ever going to convince me to go back to a regular electric pressure cooker much less a stovetop pressure cooker. First, I'm scared to death of them and second, I'm much too old to be carting around a heavy time bomb.
One thing that I have learned is the importance of pressure release. Now that I know the different effect that it has on the type of food being cooked I try to always use the method recommended for that food. To do this, I have done quite a bit of research. The link that Anna N gives is probably the most thorough and succinct of all the information that I have come across. It is well worth reading, both for safety information and how to achieve the very best results for whatever food you are cooking.
One interesting bit of information that I came across was what happens inside the stove top pressure cooker when you pour water on the lid. Due to the general physics of the whole thing, it boils. Read the fifth comment down by RebelWithoutAClue.
