Modern Pressure Cookery

[Lavender]

Here's hoping Flounder and me aren't the only ones interested in swapping Pressure Cooker success stories and recipes. I've been using a pressure cooker since I learned to cook, (can't count that far back) and just retired my Mom's ol' faithful pre-70's "Mirro-Matic". It works great but I wanted something with more modern safety features.

I replaced it with a unit made in Spain by FAGOR called the "Rapida" basically because it was on sale at the local housewares department store. Considering the lack of research I am very pleased with my purchase. The unit comes with one heavy duty locking lid that fits both a 4 Qt. pot and a wopping 7 Qt. pot. It also comes with the appropriate safety features, an extra clear glass lid (to use with the pots for non-pressure cooking) and other accessories.

It's instruction and recipe booklets were slightly daunting because the features on my unit are different then the features they reference, but with a little studying I had no trouble estimating cooking times. I am sure there are many different types of pressure cookers manufactured domestically that work just as well. I'd like to hear about the equipment available that others have tried, successful or otherwise!

Does anyone have one of those "and then it was on the ceiling" PC stories? My version has red prickly pear cactus berries in it - or should I say ON IT!

[Lavender]

Here is a quick easy Pot Roast recipe for PC'ing:

1/2 Cup Flour

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

3 Lb. Boneless Chuck Roast

3 T. Olive Oil

1 Lg. Onion - Cubed

1 Lg. Carrot - Cubed

2 Stalks Celery - Cubed

3 Cups Beef Stock

3 Lg. Carrots - Peeled and Cut in Half

3 Medium Potatos - Peeled and Cut in Half

12 Small Boiling Onions - Peeled

2 Cloves Garlic - Minced or Crushed

1 Bay Leaf

Creamed Horseradish Sauce

Place the flour, garlic powder and salt and pepper in a gallon size baggie and mix well. Add the beef roast and toss to throughly coat with flour mixture. Heat the oil in the Cooker until it is very hot. Add the pot roast and brown well on all sides. Transfer to the Cooker basket and set aside. Add the cubed Onion, Carrot and Celery to the hot Cooker and saute until wilted - adding more oil if necessary to keep from sticking. Return the Pot Roast to the Cooker and stir in the Beef Stock, the Garlic and the Bay Leaf. Close the lid and bring to pressure for 30-45 minutes, depending on your Cooker. Release pressure and add the Carrot and Potato halves and the Small Boiling Onions. Taste and adjust seasoning, then close the lid and bring the Cooker back to pressure to complete the cooking - about 4-5 minutes. Release pressure, set the roast and vegetables aside to "rest" for a few minutes, and strain the cooking juices or use an immersion blender to blend in the cubed vegies. Adjust the gravy seasoning again and serve with the sliced Pot Roast, vegetables and Creamed Horseradish on the side.

[Toliver]

Wow, that sounds great. Thanks for posting it.

I discovered that the Swiss Steak recipe from my mom that I was going to post wasn't a recipe at all but a "throw this together with that" kind of recipe. This is a similar recipe (with actual measurements) that I found doing a web search. The only difference is that my mom never added celery to her recipe. Then when it was done, she would thicken the sauce into a gravy with a slurry. It was great on mashed potatoes.

I did discover that while there are 5 or so groups on Yahoo for pressure cookers, only one of them seemed to have a consistent number of posts: Click Here for the group (you have to be a member to receive the posts).

[Carolyn Tillie]

I'm very intrigued -- I was given a very expensive, upscale pressure cooker about eight years ago and I'VE NEVER USED IT...

Maybe it is time for some experiments -- any advice for a newbie?

[tejon]

I'm also learning about pressure cooking - just got a cooker from my grandmother and can't wait to try it. That pot roast recipe looks delicious!

[newsbabe]

My sister is hot on this right now -- and she is a fabulous cook. Aren't there a few new cookbooks on this subject? I know today's pressure cooker ain't the ones our mothers had.

[howard88]

Last nite I used twelve chicken thighs brined for 24 hours for broasted style chicken. I used a thin seasoned flour batter, with a good amount of black pepper, garlic powder, and celery salt. Coated each thigh in the batter and then dredged in flour. Into the pressure cooker for three minutes of frying in one and a half inches of canola oil. Then closed the lid and let it rock for 13 to 14 minutes. Put directly into a cold water bath, removed the chicken to rest on a grate and started over again. Kept the chicken already done in a 200 degree oven. It was tender juicy and flavorful. Time intensive when you are cooking a large quantity but not too much of a hassle if u only cook a "normal" amount.

[BettyK]

Last nite I used twelve chicken thighs brined for 24 hours  for broasted style chicken.  I used a thin seasoned flour batter, with a good amount of black pepper, garlic powder, and celery salt.  Coated each thigh in the batter and then dredged in flour.  Into the pressure cooker for three minutes of frying in one and a half inches of canola oil.  Then closed the lid and let it rock for 13 to 14 minutes.  Put directly into a cold water bath, removed the chicken to rest on a grate and started over again.  Kept the chicken already done in a 200 degree oven.  It was tender juicy and flavorful.  Time intensive when you are cooking a large quantity but not too much of a hassle if u only cook a "normal" amount.

Fried chicken in the pressure cooker? I want to know more about this, please. What kind of pc do you have, Howard?

[howard88]

BettyK: I have a regular inexpensive (Macy's) old style pressure cooker which I have used periodically over the past three years (4 or 5 Quarts I think). I really love this fried chicken from a place called "Golden Skillet" in Hackettstown, NJ, which I suspect is "broasted". They are very secretilve and do not tell their recipe or manner of cooking. So I experiment with what I think may approach their product. After doing some internet research, which is not very comprehensive, I thought I would give it a try. I had my fire extinguisher at the ready. No problem whatsoever. I did brine the chicken before I PC'd it. Got Damn good chicken.

[BettyK]

Thanks Howard. I think I'll be six feet under the ground before the chicken is done.

Either a heart attack or a loud explosion - take your pick.

[Lavender]

Hello All! I am so pleased that this topic has proven interesting. I am a "Newbie" to e-Gullet, and have been checking out the site to take a break from boring computer work. A couple of things:

My apologies to both Flounder and Toliver for mixing them up. Operator error, sorry!

Newbie question - Is there a protocol to posting recipes? I prefer the "free form" method like I did with the Pot Roast, but wasn't sure if it was "frowned upon" on these discussion boards, as some of the more seasoned veterans of the boards post a "link" to favorite recipes.

Regarding my Pot Roast recipe - you can omit the chopped onion, celery and carrot at the beginning if you want an easier version. I tend to complicate easy recipes with extra steps because the Italian tradition of beginning every dish with a Soffritto is engrained in my psyche. It is the beginning building block to most every Italian recipe know and I apply it universially and without discrimination.

Regarding the 24 Chicken Thigh recipe, that most certainly sounds "Broasted" to me. I can't wait to try it. When I was a kid, there weren't any KFC's but there were a bunch of "Broasted Chicken" places. It was the best chicken ever. I had no idea you could do it in the PC.

For the gal who's Grandmom just gave her a PC and was anxious to get started if you like Lentil or Split Pea soup (the discussion of it on another post started this board), here is my super quick college student version:

Super Quick Lentil/Split Pea Soup

For every 1 Part of Lentils of Split Peas you will need:

1/4 Cup Chopped Carrots

1/4 Cup Chopped Celery

1/4 Cup Chopped Onion

1 Tablespoon Butter

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

4 Parts Water, Vegetable, Beef or Chicken broth/stock

Small Bay Leaf

Fresh Cracked Pepper

On Medium High heat, saute the chopped vegetables, Butter and Olive Oil in the PC until the onions are translucent. Add the water or broth, a bay leaf and Pepper. Seal the PC and maintain medium high steam for about 8 minutes, or check your PC instruction manual for cooking time for lentils.

Release steam according to PC instructions, salt to taste and serve!

Try serving the soup with a squeeze of lemon and a dash of cayenne. Makes a great vegetarian meal when teamed with fresh arugula or watercress and feta cheese in pita pockets. I lived on this in college!

[Lavender]

I 've been using a Presto 6 qt. cooker for the past 10 or so years. While it certainly isn't upscale...it has been dependable.I've never had an explosion.I only recently had to replace the gasket and pressure lock gizmo.Most often I use it for cooking dried beans...makes them almost "fast food". Corn on the cob only takes 2-3 minutes in a PC and I make a great tasting chicken w/veggie gravy in 10 minutes.I'd like to read of other peoples experiences pro or con too.

Peanutgirl, I've found the Ace Hardware franchises a goldmine for pressure cooker parts. What they don't stock, they seem to be able to order or direct you to a website. Goodluck!

[Nancy Berry]

I've had success with recipes from books by Lorna Sass -- Cooking under Pressure and The Pressured Cook.

Edited October 25, 2003 by Nancy Berry (log)

[Lavender]

I've had success with recipes from books by Lorna Sass -- Cooking under Pressure and The Pressured Cook.

Thanks for the link Nancy, I just ordered both books you recommended off Amazon. Thanks!

[MGLloyd]

Fried chicken in the pressure cooker? I want to know more about this, please. What kind of pc do you have, Howard?

I have owned a FAGOR pressure cooker for many years, have several pressure cooker cookbooks and have bookmarked a variety of pressure cooker websites. All of these resources say the same thing: do not deep fry chicken (or anything else) in a pressure cooker not specifically designed for pressure frying. This presents serious safety hazards, most of which involve boiling oil exploding over the kitchen, the cook and any bystanders. Some words of wisdom can be found here:

http://missvickie.com/howto/fry/frying.html

You can only safely deep fry in a pressure cooker specifically designed as a pressure fryer. These models can usually be distinguished by having a bracket over the lid that clamps the lid down into place. This is different than the conventional pressure cooker with a lid that rotates and locks or clamps on one side.

Danger, Will Robinson, danger! Do not try this at home!

[Lavender]

Here in Arizona, instead of Mimosa's and cheese blintzes, Sunday Brunch can often mean a version of Huervos Ranchero. Yesterday I started soaking the red beans, and went down to south Phoenix for the good tortillas, and to visit the Mexican farmers market for fresh cilantro, jalapenos and and fresh roasted chilies. I changed the soaking water on the beans several times and early this morning went to work on them with the Pressure Cooker. They were so good I had to write down the recipe before I forget! So I thought I would share since they were so easy.

Some portion guidelines - A ONE lb. bag of red beans or pinto beans will make enough Ranch Beans to line the Love Boat. Figure that after soaking for a minimum of 20 hours a one lb. bag of beans will be about 12 cups of uncooked beans. Usually 1/2 a bag is more than enough for a couple of nice meals for 4 people.

For every one cup of soaked beans add two cups of water, filling the PC no more than 2/3'rds of the way full. Pierce a peeled onion or two with some good whole cloves (find the ones with the heads still attached), maybe 8 cloves to each onion, add one or two bay laurel leaves (I have a big bush outside my kitchen door - hee hee!) and IMPORTANT - Add ONE TABLESPOON vegetable oil for every cup of water - to keep the FOAM DOWN.

Seal, bring to high heat and start your timing when the hard sizzle begins. Cook for 12 minutes, release steam.

Add the following:

For 1/2 bag of beans (before soaking), add 1 teaspoon oregano, 1/4 cup chopped cilantro, 1 - 2 Tablespoons good chili powder, 4-5 cloves fresh pressed or crushed garlic, 2 teaspoons sugar or molasses, 2 teaspoons cumin, fresh ground pepper. Green chilies and jalapeno's are optional - I leave them out because not everyone in the house likes HOT, but they can be added at the table or a hot batch of ranch beans can be made on the side.

Don't ever add salt to the beans while they are cooking or they will become tough. Keep the lid off, the flame on medium high so the beans simmer and the moisture cooks off. STIR OFTEN!

Cook the beans with the lid off until the liquid reduces and the beans begin to get a little creamy - about 2 hours. Don't worry about the cloves or onion, they will cook down into the beans. Towards the end of the cooking time, you can use a potato masher to make the beans creamier.

While the beans cooked under close supervision, we made some salsa fresca, and slowly grilled some tri-tip beef on the BBQ outside (first lightly seasoned with salt, pepper and a little soy sauce - pierce with a sharp fork to tenderize). Warm tortillas and some cooked to order eggs (I like over easy, but scrambled is good too) and you have Huervos Rancheros Tri Tip Style! Yum!

[Lavender]

Fried chicken in the pressure cooker? I want to know more about this, please. What kind of pc do you have, Howard?

I have owned a FAGOR pressure cooker for many years, have several pressure cooker cookbooks and have bookmarked a variety of pressure cooker websites. All of these resources say the same thing: do not deep fry chicken (or anything else) in a pressure cooker not specifically designed for pressure frying. This presents serious safety hazards, most of which involve boiling oil exploding over the kitchen, the cook and any bystanders. Some words of wisdom can be found here:

http://missvickie.com/howto/fry/frying.html

You can only safely deep fry in a pressure cooker specifically designed as a pressure fryer. These models can usually be distinguished by having a bracket over the lid that clamps the lid down into place. This is different than the conventional pressure cooker with a lid that rotates and locks or clamps on one side.

Danger, Will Robinson, danger! Do not try this at home!

Wow, thanks for the great link - I had no idea how dangerous that could be. Glad I didn't try it yet!

[howard88]

MGLloyd:

I have done the process with one and a half inches of oil in my simple old style pressure cooker many times. Never had a problem. The chicken has always been cooked perfectly and is succulent. What am I doing wrong?

[MGLloyd]

Click on the link on my earlier post, or do a Google using the terms 'pressure cooker deep frying'. I have also read about the dangers of this in my five or six pressure cooker cookbooks.

In a nutshell, the boiling oil is at a higher temperature and pressure than the water for which pressure cookers are designed. This has a nasty tendency to either make the pressure release valve explosively fail, the lid gasket to melt and release pressure or the lid to blow off. Any of these events are usually accompanied by copious amounts of boiling oil under pressure being released.

I have heard of people successfully deep frying with a pressure cooker (not a pressure fryer), but then again I have heard of people successfully playing Russian roulette as well. I am also biased by my youthful experience as a firefighter during which I responded to a couple fires caused by this.

So for me, the risk is simply not worth it, given that if I want pressure-fried chicken, there is a KFC, an Albertson's and a Safeway all offering this within a few miles of my house.

I am, even as I type this, am making a pot roast in the pressure cooker. Reading these posts inspired me to get it out of the garage and use it tonight.

Edited November 3, 2003 by MGLloyd (log)

[ronnie_suburban]

I'm very intrigued -- I was given a very expensive, upscale pressure cooker about eight years ago and I'VE NEVER USED IT...

Maybe it is time for some experiments -- any advice for a newbie?

Yeah, great thread. I am in nearly the exact same boat. I'm sure the unit we were given is a very nice one but I've never gathered the nerve to give it a whirl.

=R=

[lovebenton0]

Quote MGLloyd A Nov 2 2003 11:09AM

have several pressure cooker cookbooks and have bookmarked a variety of pressure cooker websites. All of these resources say the same thing: do not deep fry chicken (or anything else) in a pressure cooker not specifically designed for pressure frying. This presents serious safety hazards, most of which involve boiling oil exploding over the kitchen, the cook and any bystanders. Some words of wisdom can be found here:

http://missvickie.com/howto/fry/frying.html

œ

I have Mirro 6 qt PC, and love it. 10lb pressure is the only setting, but that is good for most meals you want to cook, anyway. I'm not big on fried foods, but, occassionally do want to indulge in fried chicken, or most especially, fried chicken livers.

The recommended process is to brown the coated chicken pieces (2 1/2 -3 lbs per chicken, 2 chickens for the 6 qt, or 1 chicken for the 4 qt) in 1/4 cup oil in your PC. It takes about 1/4 cup oil per chicken to brown nicely. Remove chicken, then place rack on the bottom. Add 2 small onions (1 if 4 qt size); I like to quarter the onions and saute them for a minute before adding the water and rack. Use 1 1/4 cups water (1 cup if 4 qt size). Return chicken to PC and lock it down. Cook 12 to 15 minutes minutes after jiggle. (If I have 5 to 6 lbs of chicken in there I cook it for the total 15 minutes.) Cool off the heat for 5 minutes, (this also allows the meat to finish cooking "slowly") then put PC under water until pressure is reduced. Place the chicken under oven broiler for a few minutes, depending on how crispy you want it, while you deglaze and make your gravy with the wonderful chicken/onion broth in pan.

It sounds odd, but the chicken is tender and delicious, and with very little grease from the frying stage. If you do chicken livers, brown quickly, then they only need to cook for the 4 to 5 minutes it takes for the quartered onions to be done, and you can do a mess of them so quickly!

If you're doing the whole fried chicken and mashed taters bit, you can cook your potatoes in the PC on the rack, cut in half, in about 8 minutes, before you start the chicken. Just transfer them to a sauce pan, keep on low, then while your chicken is locked in the PC you can do the mashing. Or I like to do garlic new potatoes sometimes and those take even less time, about 6 minutes and the garlic is cooked into the potatoes with butter and whatever other herbs/spices you like. Then they can stay warm in a pot or casserole until the chicken is done. You can put your other vegs in there at the same time; corn on the cob will do in about 6 minutes, but the 8 won't hurt it.

I hope you newbies enjoy your PCs; they are time and labor saving friends. And lots of fun once you get a feel for all the things you can do in them. Chicken, roasts, soups, sauces, chili, beans and more beans, about any veg you can think of, two and three things at once, together, or in their own individual containers. You can stop the PC to add more ingredients to the pot, if some would take much less time than others, just be sure to do the right procedure to reduce pressure before you open it. Never attempt to rush it; your PC will open easily once the pressure has been reduced. For all meats or combo meals let it cool for 5 minutes off the heat before putting under faucet or in sink of cold water. For all vegs you can go straight for the cold water. It only takes a couple minutes to reduce pressure once the PC is in the cold water. Don't worry-your food will still be plenty hot!

Just words of advice here: you can use almost any liquid in them instead of water, such as broths, or juices, but DO NOT USE MILK IN THE THE PRESSURE STAGE. If you have a cream based sauce/gravy or broth, add the milk product after the initial cooking. If you want to cook with a bit of wine or other alcohol in the sauce, be sure you still add the amount of water/broth/juice you would without the addition of the alcohol.

I'll post some of my own tried and loved recipes shortly. Pork chops with sauerkraut coming soon.

[Forest]

I've used my pressure cooker for stews and veggies, and decided to try a pot roast the other day - and it came out really tough and over cooked....what did I do wrong?!

I went to the butcher and explained what I wanted to do and he gave me a topside for 5 people (I don't know exactly how much it weighed - but it was big enough to feed five people...sorry i know that's probably a critical piece of information!)

I browned the meat first in hot oil.

I added some broth, wine, bone from the butcher and seasonings.

I brought it up to high pressure (my pressure cooker is old, so it doesn't have settings - the little nob bobbles when it's really steaming) and then once it seemed like it was really going, turned the heat down low and cooked it for about 35 minutes.

The juice/sauce was great, but the meat was really tough, overcooked and kind of dry. I had looked online for pressure cooker pot roast recipes before trying and several mentioned 30 to 40 minutes cooking time, so I thought 30 would be good. (I actually forgot, and thus it went for about 35)

But, I kind of thought, that even if it cooked to well-done, it would be pretty moist having been in the pressure cooker...and it wasn't!

Any suggestions for weight/time to get it medium rare? Also, is it possible that I didn't brown it long or well enough?

[infernooo]

Hi Forest,

I can't give you a definite answer, but from my experiences with pressure cookers, if you overcook meat, it will NOT be tough, it will be even more tender (TOO tender) and pretty much disintegrate when stirred. I would have put the lid back on, brought it up to pressure and let it go another 20-30 mins.

Anyways, they are just my observations!

[qrn]

[like it was really going, turned the heat down low and cooked it for about 35 minutes.

A One hour minimum, depending what pressure your unit comes up with...If its tuff , needs to cook much longer...Make sure when you turn it "down low" its still at max pressure

Bud

[Forest]

Thanks for the input!

Hi Forest,

I can't give you a definite answer, but from my experiences with pressure cookers, if you overcook meat, it will NOT be tough, it will be even more tender (TOO tender) and pretty much disintegrate when stirred. I would have put the lid back on, brought it up to pressure and let it go another 20-30 mins.

Anyways, they are just my observations!

←

That's exactly what I thought...that it should get more tender! The problem with continuing to cook it, is I want it medium to medium rare in the center.

[like it was really going, turned the heat down low and cooked it for about 35 minutes.

A One hour minimum, depending what pressure your unit comes up with...If its tuff , needs to cook much longer...Make sure when you turn it "down low" its still at max pressure

Bud

←

okay...yes, I asked the butcher about it last night and he said 1.5 hours. But, there's no way it could stay in there that long and still be pink on the inside. So, i ignored the butcher's advice and brought it up to full pressure and cooked for 25 minutes with the reduced heat.

It was medium-rare in the center and done on the outside. However, it was still not all that tender. So, I think the answer may just be for me to stop trying to make roasts in the pressure cooker! (they just seem like just an easy way to do a dinner in the evenings after work when you just don't have a lot of time to prep.) And, i think you are both right about the continuing to cook...I think maybe the answer actually is to stop trying to make medium rare roasts in the thing.