pressure cooker vs low n' slow

[dcarch]

An immersion heater is the most efficient. 100% of the energy is converted into heat.

An induction cook top needs energy to drive the electronics and a fan to cool the electronics. 

 

dcarch

 

[boilsover]

4 hours ago, chromedome said:

I've "hacked" mine and my daughter's through the simple expedient of cutting a wire coathanger and shaping it to fit the inside of the slow cooker. The "crock" sits on top, and it cools down the cooking temperature to something a bit more reasonable. 

 

Nice hack.  Have you measured how much it lowers the temp in the insert?

[JoNorvelleWalker]

7 hours ago, BeatriceB said:

I really don't like to be a contrarian, especially in this knowledgeable company, but I like my slow cooker (though I've never tried cannabutter ). Mine has an anodized aluminum insert, rather than ceramic, so you can brown meat and so forth on the stove first. I think the key (for me) is that I use it as a kind of time-shifter, rather than a time-saver. I brown the meat, cook the mirepoix, deglaze the pot, etc. just as I would for an oven braise. It is useful when I can't be available for those 3 hours or so that an oven braise needs. I put the slow cooker on low and walk away for 6-8 hours. When it is done, I remove the solids, strain the liquid, and then reduce it on the stove, as the slow cooker doesn't evaporate liquids the way an oven braise does. This results in a stew, ropa vieja, whatever floats your boat, that seems to me just as good as the braised item. It doesn't cut down on labor, but it does allow you to adapt it to your schedule.

 

Unless I'm missing something, why don't you just start the aforementioned oven braise and come back 6-8 hours later?

 

[chromedome]

59 minutes ago, boilsover said:

 

Nice hack.  Have you measured how much it lowers the temp in the insert?

I haven't, no. It's just...lower. My daughter's cheapie Walmart branded slow cooker used to do a full rolling boil at Low, now it simmers. In my case it's more complicated because mine has 2-, 4- and 6-quart inserts, and it bumps the heat up a wee bit for each of them. I typically fudge that by using the 4-quart setting for the 6 and the 2-quart setting for the 4, and not using the 2-quart insert much at all.

 

2 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

Unless I'm missing something, why don't you just start the aforementioned oven braise and come back 6-8 hours later?

 

 

Energy usage? Unwanted heat in the kitchen? Not my question to answer, but those are the two factors for me. 

[BeatriceB]

I don't like to leave braising meat in the oven that long because it ends up overcooked, and I find that unless I stir it, add liquid, etc., it tends to scorch. Also my oven is an ancient gas oven, and it makes me nervous to leave it on when I'm not home for any appreciable length of time.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

21 minutes ago, BeatriceB said:

I don't like to leave braising meat in the oven that long because it ends up overcooked, and I find that unless I stir it, add liquid, etc., it tends to scorch. Also my oven is an ancient gas oven, and it makes me nervous to leave it on when I'm not home for any appreciable length of time.

 

Quite reasonable.

 

[ratgirlny]

Lots of discussion here... Yes, I always reduce the liquid after if I use a slow cooker or the pressure cooker. And I always brown the meat and the aromatics first.  

I used to own a multicooker that let you brown everything and then turn to slow cook. It cooked at a lower temp than a traditional crockpot, which prevented the overcooking that some complain about. I loved that thing, and although I like oven braises the best, I never felt safe leaving my oven on all day while I am at work, plus 8 hours in the oven is just too much for many dishes. 

My multicooker broke (it was my fault, I caught the cord in something and yanked it out), and people convinced me to replace it with an Instant Pot. So I did. And while there are many things that work really well in it, especially beans, I do not like it for some of the dishes that I used to do in the slow cooker, especially things like chili where there is a lot of complex spice flavor. In the pressure cooker, the spices still taste slightly raw and unmixed by the time the meat is done. So that led me to try to understand what a pressure cooker does, exactly. It still sounds like hotter and faster to me.

 

I read the Serious Eats article back when I was considering a pressure cooker, but it is more about taste tests than explanation.  I agree with him that oven braises are best, but I think there are some dishes that just don't come out as well in a pressure cooker.  I just want to know WHY so I can figure out what to cook in the pressure cooker and what to avoid, without wasting food in the process

[Martin Fisher]

@ratgirlny What exactly was the "multicooker?"

[Martin Fisher]

FWIW,

Source: On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen By Harold McGee, p. 163

[kayb]

After having an instant pot for two years, I've come to the conclusion it definitely has a place in my kitchen. I love it for dry beans, which I cook a lot. I've learned how to do a lot of the braises that initially I much preferred stovetop at a slow simmer, or in the oven; I get that same development of flavor with a long saute of the aromatics and wine or beer before the lid goes and pressure cooking starts, and perhaps more sauteeing after the pressure cooking is completed. I like it for rice (I had only an el cheapo rice cooker previously), and I like doing the pot-in-pot dishes with a meat and sauce in one pan, rice in the other. Its greatest attraction to me is certainly convenience.

 

Well, and it's the only way I've ever made yogurt, to which I'm now addicted, and I appreciate the way hard-boiled eggs peel so easily.

 

I will make cheesecake in the IP, mostly because cheesecake ties up the oven for so long. Other bread-ish, cake-ish things, no. Have not yet tried the lasagna. Prefer sous vide for ribs. 

 

IP also does a fine job cooking apples for applesauce or apple butter, as I will be doing in a couple of weeks.

 

[ratgirlny]

It was this multicooker

https://www.target.com/p/cuisinart-174-7-qt-electric-multi-cooker-stainless-steel-msc-800/-/A-51222521

 

No pressure cooker function - mainly a really good slow cooker. Its shape is far more amenable to browning than the canister shape of the Instant Pot. In fact, I don't even try to brown in the IP because it is hopeless, and if you get any scorch, its stupid program prevents it from going to pressure. Anyway, the Cuisinart slow cooked at a slightly lower temp than your standard crockpot - I tested with a thermometer a few times - preventing that overcooked problem. 

 

And to add to this - i tested the IP's slow cooker yesterday because I miss my slow cooker so much. And I can tell you: It is definitely the worst slow cooker ever. After three hours, on the highest setting, my chili was only at 155 degrees. I ended up tossing because I was concerned about food safety.

 

 

[Martin Fisher]

45 minutes ago, ratgirlny said:

It was this multicooker

 

Wow! 

Edited October 18, 2017 by DiggingDogFarm (log)