Instant Pot. Multi-function cooker (Part 5)

[Shelby]

43 minutes ago, Kim Shook said:

HELP, please!  I'm doing some @rancho_gordo yellow eye beans in the IP (best by 5/23).  I have cooked them for 16 minutes with a 15 minute natural release.  They were still too hard.  So I've done them now an additional 7/7 (pressure cook/natural release), a second 7/7 and am starting on my third 7/7 because they were still too hard after the second 7/7.  They have plenty of liquid - 5 cups to 1 pound of beans.  The yellow eyes are slightly larger than black eyed peas, so I'm not surprised that they would take a little longer - but 1 1/2 times as long (assuming that they are done after this round).  And I do seem to have some busted jackets, too.  Can anyone tell if I'm doing something wrong?  Should I not have done RG beans in the IP?  Store bought bags of beans work fine for me.

Thanks, everyone!

I always do my RG beans in the IP.  Every time it seems a bit different though.  I don't think you are doing anything wrong....just keep going until they are to your liking.  My BEP's I usually do for about 35 mins to start.  Sometimes they are done enough...sometimes not.

[Kim Shook]

50 minutes ago, Shelby said:

I always do my RG beans in the IP.  Every time it seems a bit different though.  I don't think you are doing anything wrong....just keep going until they are to your liking.  My BEP's I usually do for about 35 mins to start.  Sometimes they are done enough...sometimes not.

Thank you, ma'am!  They were ok after the last (3rd!!) 7/7 round.  They taste great.  

[Kim Shook]

AND my tried and true method for 5 minute hard cooked eggs has failed.  I have a dozen ice cold soft cooked eggs.  😡 I seem to have lost my mojo.  I guess when you don't cook for a couple of months, it is to be expected.  

[Shelby]

7 minutes ago, Kim Shook said:

AND my tried and true method for 5 minute hard cooked eggs has failed.  I have a dozen ice cold soft cooked eggs.  😡 I seem to have lost my mojo.  I guess when you don't cook for a couple of months, it is to be expected.  

It happens to all of us......

 

The eggs would be great soaked in soy sauce with your pancit  

[DesertTinker]

48 minutes ago, Kim Shook said:

AND my tried and true method for 5 minute hard cooked eggs has failed.  I have a dozen ice cold soft cooked eggs.  😡 I seem to have lost my mojo.  I guess when you don't cook for a couple of months, it is to be expected.  

Also, eggs are weird, sometimes they just don’t do what they’re supposed to do. After tons of 5 minute hard cooked eggs that just about peeled themselves, I got a batch that ended up cratered like the moon after my peeling attempts, they just wouldn’t give up their shells. Chucked the remains into the fridge for egg salad, did a second batch from the same carton and they came out perfect! Go figure…

Edited December 31, 2021 by DesertTinker
Punctuation (log)

[JAZ]

17 hours ago, DesertTinker said:

Also, eggs are weird, sometimes they just don’t do what they’re supposed to do. After tons of 5 minute hard cooked eggs that just about peeled themselves, I got a batch that ended up cratered like the moon after my peeling attempts, they just wouldn’t give up their shells. Chucked the remains into the fridge for egg salad, did a second batch from the same carton and they came out perfect! Go figure…

 

Absolutely. Eggs in a pressure cooker are wildly unpredictable -- I've cooked many for my books, since my editors always want egg recipes. But aside from recipe testing, I never do hard- or soft-cooked eggs in the IP. I have the most consistent results and best peeling when I steam them (not under pressure).

[weinoo]

20 hours ago, JAZ said:

I have the most consistent results and best peeling when I steam them (not under pressure).

This is the only way I'll do them (hard and soft boiled) too.

[lemniscate]

22 hours ago, JAZ said:

I never do hard- or soft-cooked eggs in the IP. I have the most consistent results and best peeling when I steam them (not under pressure).

 

Hello @JAZ  Does this mean you don't use the IP at all for eggs?  I was under the impression that even the steam button on my IP is pressurized.  Am I incorrect?   How do you steam without pressure in an IP?  

[Tropicalsenior]

1 hour ago, lemniscate said:

How do you steam without pressure in an IP?  

You don't. When you steam eggs you just steam them stove top. Any type steamer will work. I always do mine with pressure in the IP because I've never had a failure but if you don't do it that way steaming is much better than boiling them.

[rotuts]

I personally use low pressure iP.

 

the eggs come right out of the refrigerator into the

 

iP basket over tap water 

 

I chill the eggs rapidly after iP

 

dry  when cold

 

and re=refrigerate.

 

no peeling issues

 

generic supermarket eggs

 

i wonder if the rapid chilling 

 

contributes to easier peeling.

Edited January 2, 2022 by rotuts (log)

[lemniscate]

8 minutes ago, Tropicalsenior said:

You don't. When you steam eggs you just steam them stove top. Any type steamer will work. I always do mine with pressure in the IP because I've never had a failure but if you don't do it that way steaming is much better than boiling them.

 

Thanks, that's what I thought.  I do eggs for 3 min QR for soft, and 7 min QR for hard and have always been good with the results.  I did notice if during the cooking process one of the egg shells touched the side of the IP, it would crack.  I switched to using  a  silicone cooking mesh bag (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) with a silicone trivet (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) I rarely get cracks.  Those eggs were probably cracked already in the container.  So I'm pretty happy with the IP pressure way.  I will say sometimes I get an egg or two in a batch that refuses to peel easily.  I just chock it up to egg tolerances, not the cooking.  

 

I'm so used to how easy the IP eggs peel that when one is difficult, I remember how boiling was awful and inaccurate.  I used to have a little plastic egg thingy that would sit in the water and change color for egg doneness.  It never worked well.  And before IP, there were so many old wives tales on the internet and youtube "guaranteed easy peel" eggs versions that it was mind boggling.

 

[Tropicalsenior]

13 minutes ago, rotuts said:

wonder if the rapid chilling 

 

contributes to easier peeling

Most definitely! That is the main factor that makes it easier to peel. There is a whole scientific explanation which I am not qualified to expound but one of the factors is the membrane inside the egg. When you boil it it tends to stick to the egg when you steam it it tends to stick to the Shell and when you cool them, the egg tends to shrink away from the shell and make it easier to peel. When they are thoroughly cool in the water, I crack each end thoroughly and then with a rolling motion toward each end I crack the rest of the shell. Usually the shell just falls away from the egg.

[MaryIsobel]

On 12/30/2021 at 6:08 PM, DesertTinker said:

I did a half recipe (2 lbs of potatoes, everything else halved), and they are very good. I might cut back on the garlic powder a bit, but it wasn’t overwhelming, just a bit more forward than I expected.

Oh, sorry. I neglected to say I left out the garlic powder all together. Just didn't think it would be a good fit with turkey. Beef maybe.

[JAZ]

4 hours ago, lemniscate said:

 

Hello @JAZ  Does this mean you don't use the IP at all for eggs?  I was under the impression that even the steam button on my IP is pressurized.  Am I incorrect?   How do you steam without pressure in an IP?  

 

Well, you can steam in an IP without pressure -- just use a glass lid and keep the water at a boil. But I have a dedicated stove-top steamer, so that's what I use.

[Kim Shook]

I've been cooking my eggs in the IP without one single problem since March of 2020 - pretty much one dozen every 10 days.  I really like the method as opposed to digging out a Dutch oven and finding the cover.  I'll give it another try.  I'm wondering if there wasn't something in the weather or air pressure  that was affecting the IP.  My beans took a total of 37 minutes and my collards took 11 minutes instead of the usual 7.  

 

My beans:

[Orbit]

I posted about this in Cookbooks, but maybe this is a better place for it. I have "Indian Instant Pot Cookbook", and it calls for a quarter cup of liquid for the recipes. I thought you needed at least a cup of liquid to reach pressure. Will I ruin my IP if I try to follow these recipes? The cookbook assures me that the other ingredients (yogurt, tomatoes) will provide the liquid, but I don't know if I trust that. Anyone have experience with this cookbook, or with low-liquid IP recipes?

[Tropicalsenior]

5 minutes ago, Orbit said:

I posted about this in Cookbooks, but maybe this is a better place for it. I have "Indian Instant Pot Cookbook", and it calls for a quarter cup of liquid for the recipes. I thought you needed at least a cup of liquid to reach pressure. Will I ruin my IP if I try to follow these recipes? The cookbook assures me that the other ingredients (yogurt, tomatoes) will provide the liquid, but I don't know if I trust that. Anyone have experience with this cookbook, or with low-liquid IP recipes?

As long as the total liquid in the recipe equals a cup or a cup and a half I think that you should be just fine.

I always go for the safe side and figure at least a cup and a half.

Edited January 3, 2022 by Tropicalsenior (log)

[JAZ]

17 hours ago, Orbit said:

I posted about this in Cookbooks, but maybe this is a better place for it. I have "Indian Instant Pot Cookbook", and it calls for a quarter cup of liquid for the recipes. I thought you needed at least a cup of liquid to reach pressure. Will I ruin my IP if I try to follow these recipes? The cookbook assures me that the other ingredients (yogurt, tomatoes) will provide the liquid, but I don't know if I trust that. Anyone have experience with this cookbook, or with low-liquid IP recipes?

 

That will be fine. I know that most electric pressure cookers say you need a cup of liquid, but in most cases that isn't necessary. I use very little added liquid in many of my recipes with no ill effects. All meat and most vegetables release quite a bit of liquid pretty quickly as they cook, so you'll end up with enough liquid to come to pressure. For instance, in my latest book, I have a recipe for hoisin beef and broccoli that uses 1 pound of beef mock tenders, 1/3 cup of hoisin sauce, and just 3 tablespoons of water, and the dish ends up with plenty of sauce for the beef and broccoli. (Also, if your book is by Urvashi Pitre, her recipes are very reliable.)

 

Edit to add: The recipes where you have to be careful to add enough water are those with ingredients like rice or pasta that absorb water, or those in which you're steaming food on the trivet.

[Vapre]

Some IP models seems to be more prone to ‘burn’ errors - it’s what stopped me from getting a Duo Evo Plus. I liked the flat bottom inner pot (with handles!) but a lot of users said they were getting that error.

[TdeV]

Maybe this belongs in Absurdly Stupid Questions but

 

I have a couple frozen ham hocks which I would like to cook in the Instant Pot with stock, then shred for a bean soup (beans to be added later). Do I need to thaw the hocks first? If not, for how long should I cook them under pressure?

[Alex]

3 hours ago, TdeV said:

Maybe this belongs in Absurdly Stupid Questions but

 

I have a couple frozen ham hocks which I would like to cook in the Instant Pot with stock, then shred for a bean soup (beans to be added later). Do I need to thaw the hocks first? If not, for how long should I cook them under pressure?

 

As long as it takes to listen to this ten times. (Actually, I have no idea.)

 

 

[FauxPas]

4 hours ago, TdeV said:

Maybe this belongs in Absurdly Stupid Questions but

 

I have a couple frozen ham hocks which I would like to cook in the Instant Pot with stock, then shred for a bean soup (beans to be added later). Do I need to thaw the hocks first? If not, for how long should I cook them under pressure?

 

I've never cooked them, but I found a couple of suggestions that said you can cook the frozen ones. Set the IP for about 45 to 50 mins and give it another 10 to 20 mins before releasing. 

 

https://www.ehow.com/how_5016098_cook-ham-hocks-pressure-cooker.html

 

And on reddit, one user asked and another replied:

Quote

 

Has anyone got suggestions to thaw & cook smoked ham hocks? Nothing came up in a google search.

Typically I make a broth, one quart water to each hock and it takes 4 hours. I'd like as much water as possible and usually add more water to come up to two quarts for the two hocks I need to cook. Going to use the broth for cooking collards. I figure to had hocks to IP and at least cover or go to maximum fill line. So if that is a good start point, what about pressure cooker time, keeping in mind the hocks need to be fall apart tender.

 

Quote

I just used some ham hocks to make stock for split pea soup. I put 2 frozen hocks in 6 cups of water and cooked on high pressure for 50 minutes with about 15-20 min for natural release. There was still some pressure at that point so I just released the steam. The meat was fall apart tender and a lot of the marrow had cooked out of the bones.

 

[TdeV]

@FauxPas, these hocks are actually fresh (unsmoked). Wonder how much time to add?

[FauxPas]

1 minute ago, TdeV said:

@FauxPas, these hocks are actually fresh (unsmoked). Wonder how much time to add?

 

Sorry, I'm really not sure. As I said, I've never done them. Do you think the time would need to change much between fresh and smoked? Maybe someone else can give better guidance on that.  🙂

 

[Kim Shook]

Jessica has requested my Onion-Garlic Soup (actually, I'm pretty sure it was a Bon Appetit recipe from the early 80s), which I'm making tomorrow.  I don't have any beef stock in the freezer, but I got lucky and found some beef shanks at Publix.  This morning I put them with some veg and seasoning and tomato paste in the oven for an hour.  Before:

 

And after:

 

It's all in the IP now - 2 hours instead of an all day simmer!