Pressure Cooker Recipes

[AzRaeL]

Some braising recipes can be adapted for Pressure Cooker, some can't.

I tried making Guinness Beef Shanks in my pressure cooker.

Dreadful! i had a thick layer of charred Something at the bottom and everything tasted... well... smoky. Ok...BURNT!

What recipes can be adapted from the usual slow cooking method to Pressure Cooker?

What is your favourite Pressure Cooker Recipe?

Why pressure cooker?

Fast fast fast!

[balmagowry]

Some braising recipes can be adapted for Pressure Cooker, some can't.

I tried making Guinness Beef Shanks in my pressure cooker.

Dreadful! i had a thick layer of charred Something at the bottom and everything tasted... well... smoky. Ok...BURNT!

What recipes can be adapted from the usual slow cooking method to Pressure Cooker?

Just about any recipe that uses liquid. I'd be inclined to challenge your initial premise - the key word in your post being adapted. Before condemning the Guinness Beef Shanks I'd want to know just how it was adapted. In pressure-cooker-ese, Burnt almost invariably means too high a time/heat-to-liquid ratio. Conversely, if a conventional braising recipe calls for relatively little liquid, you have to assume that you will need to bump up the liquid some for pressure cooker use. Not necessarily with more Guinness - depending on the original recipe it might be a question of adding a bit of water, which can always be reduced back out at the finishing stage.

Hard to give you chapter and verse without knowing the particulars of the recipe (oy, in trying to develop an eGCI course on the subject I am painfully reminded yet again how much of my own cooking is done by gut feel and how difficult it can be to communicate that gut feel to others!). I know, however, that when I make something like osso buco or pot roast in the pressure cooker I always start with more liquid than I would for conventional cooking.

[John Whiting]

Much depends on the particular pressure cooker. We use a Belgian Demeyere 8 1/2 litre cooker that's supurb -- thick well-cored bottom that never burns food unless one is stupid. It holds the steam so well that I can braise with as little as a cup of thin liquid, so that a joint or a bird on a raised tripod cooks entirely in steam under pressure -- wonderful for subduing tough cuts of meat. Intractible game birds can be browned quickly in the oven at high heat, cooked in the pressure cooker, and returned for a quick blast in the oven to crisp the skin. It's not cheap (now about £175 in Britain) but it's a fraction of the cost of a professional steam oven which to a considerable extent it's able to imitate.

The great Dutch/American food writer Roy Andries de Groot wrote a useful recipe book, Pressure Cookery Perfected. Most pressure cooker books and recipes assume an unsophisticated palate, but de Groot definitely wasn't in that category.

Lorna J. Sass, Cooking Under Pressure is more recent (1989).

Much of Jacques Manière's classic Cuisine à la Vapeur (published in English translation as The Art of Cooking with Steam) is adaptable to pressure cooking.

[AzRaeL]

i would say i added too little liquid and the stock was rather thick

[balmagowry]

Much depends on the particular pressure cooker. We use a Belgian Demeyere 8 1/2 litre cooker that's supurb -- thick well-cored bottom that never burns food unless one is stupid. It holds the steam so well that I can braise with as little as a cup of thin liquid, so that a joint or a bird on a raised tripod cooks entirely in steam under pressure -- wonderful for subduing tough cuts of meat.

True - and all those other big-ticket top-of-the-line jobs, like the Kuhn Rikon and Fagor types, are also supposed to be marvelous at this sort of thing. But I firmly believe that one can do it successfully without having to break the bank. (In fact, I need to bend some serious thought to why anyone buys the fancy expensive models when the plain old ones work so well.) I still use my circa-1975 6-quart Presto, a simple homely inexpensive utensil if ever there was one; and I don't have problems with anything burning or drying out. (I did, however, once experience the Classic Pressure Cooker Disaster, as described on this thread - entirely my own fault, I hasten to add.) I suppose I do occasionally compromise by using slightly more liquid than I would otherwise - but that hasn't yet produced an unsatisfactory result, and it's certainly a small price to pay for the benefits.

I am much intrigued, though, by one pot I looked at recently (sorry, don't have my bookmarks handy or I could tell you which one) which has a window that allows you to see what's happening inside the cooker. Now that is progress, seems to me. And in worst-case scenario, it's one more way to protect oneself from burn/scorch disasters.

The great Dutch/American food writer Roy Andries de Groot wrote a useful recipe book, Pressure Cookery Perfected. Most pressure cooker books and recipes assume an unsophisticated palate, but de Groot definitely wasn't in that category.

Oooh - that one I don't know. But again, once you know the principles and are comfortable working with them, there's virtually no limit to what you can "presh."

Lorna J. Sass, Cooking Under Pressure is more recent (1989).

Thank you! I've been racking my brains to remember this one! I love Lorna Sass's historical stuff - just got her To the Queen's Taste - a scholar after my own heart, she is.

And... where were you, sir, and your fine Belgian pot, I should like to know, when I asked people on the Pressure Cooker thread for examples? Here I am working my fingers to the bone researching the state of the art for the sake of eGCI, and do I get any cooperation or sympathy? Harumph, no I do not, some people are content to sit back and watch me fall on my face. Waaah.

(Nevertheless the Demeyere is duly noted and will be investigated and added to my list - thank you. )

[balmagowry]

i would say i added too little liquid and the stock was rather thick

At the risk of sounding cheeky, then, I would say - QED.

Try it again, and put in a good deal of extra liquid - more than your instinct suggests. If the stock comes out too thin, you can reduce it; and it will give you confidence to produce the "Goldilocks Effect" on the third try. First time, too little; second time, too much; third time... Just Right! And by then you'll be an old hand at this adaptation game.

[John Whiting]

I need to bend some serious thought to why anyone buys the fancy expensive models when the plain old ones work so well

My own excuse is (a) size matters. Mine is big enough to do a good-sized bird in and also to use as a stockpot. I like pressure-cooking stock because it's not necessary to put in extra water to allow for evaporation and because it takes a third of the time. And (b) It has such a heavy base that one can brown meat thoroughly in it without burning.

EDIT: I'd love to have my mother's old pressure cooker that she used for canning. It was big enough to hold twelve pint jars in two layers of six (five around one).

And... where were you, sir, and your fine Belgian pot, I should like to know, when I asked people on the Pressure Cooker thread for examples?

Sorry, I didn't see the thread. It must have taken place during the time when I had succeeded in quitting eGullet cold turkey [sic] . . .

EDIT: Wrong. Just checked the thread; I simply missed it. But I won't miss the course.

. . . before Richard Kilgore cruelly lured me back to participate in the Robb Walsh round table. I got hooked again.

Edited March 18, 2004 by John Whiting (log)

[balmagowry]

I need to bend some serious thought to why anyone buys the fancy expensive models when the plain old ones work so well

My own excuse is (a) size matters. Mine is big enough to do a good-sized bird in and also to use as a stockpot. I like pressure-cooking stock because it's not necessary to put in extra water to allow for evaporation and because it takes a third of the time. And (b) It has such a heavy base that one can brown meat thoroughly in it without burning.

Well, yes, that makes sense - though I still don't see that it actually justifies the expense. (Not meaning to badger or accuse you, I hasten to add, just trying to understand.) My old Presto is a little smaller than yours, but it too can brown meat without burning, and I always use it for stock unless I am making the kind of huge batch that we did on this occasion. And it wouldn't be difficult or expensive (maybe $25, $30) to procure the same pot in a size comparable to yours, if I felt the need. So I continue to wonder.

Of course, I know I'm in a minority - several minorities, come to that. For instance, I have never wanted a new car or a fancy one; though I do understand the impulse that makes other people want them. So I suppose the fact that I drive and adore my 14-year-old Honda Civic (and turn up my nose at my husband's classic Mercedes convertible) is perfectly parallel to my allegiance to the Presto. Oh, and to my original-model Cuisinart and my 1950s MixMaster. And to my 1919 Singer sewing machine. And to my grubby (but beautifully-designed!) 1969 sailboat. All simple, reliable old machines that do one thing and do it well. I certainly don't condemn those who get their jollies from having the newest and the shiniest and the best - the Rolls Royce of pressure cookers (as Kuhn Rikon calls itself) or the Rolls Royce of cars or of anything else. I think it's wonderful that people can have toys and get pleasure from them; just as I myself get a perverse pleasure from adhering to my lovely Old Reliables (and a less perverse pleasure from using good solid tools and producing excellent results!). But I don't think it gets me closer to the object of the quest, which is to understand whether there is really any difference in quality between the old and the new, the cheap and the pricey; or whether the desire for the fancy new thing, the need to spend a fortune on it, simply has to do with the status symbol effect.

Yes, the other night when I was researching this stuff on the web - oh yes, I drooled over the Kuhn Rikon and the Fagor Marine (ooh ooh, and me a sailor, after all) and so on. But why on god's green earth, even if I could easily afford it, would I spend $200-$300 on one of those when the old Presto (probably $10, 30 years ago) does everything I want it to do? That - that is the puzzlement.

The reason I'm pursuing it so doggedly is that I'm supposed to be putting together a Pressure Cooker course for eGCI, and as part of that I want to be able to describe the available equipment and perhaps even make recommendations based on needs and features and so on. But thus far I haven't found any evidence to lead away from my own hopeless bias for the simple... old-fashioned... cheap.

EDIT: I'd love to have my mother's old pressure cooker that she used for canning. It was big enough to hold twelve pint jars in two layers of six (five around one).

Those are wonderful. Hint - look on eBay, you'll see quite a few of them, going for very little. I haven't gone in for canning yet, but the temptation does arise, come September or so....

And... where were you, sir, and your fine Belgian pot, I should like to know, when I asked people on the Pressure Cooker thread for examples?

Sorry, I didn't see the thread. It must have taken place during the time when I had succeeded in quitting eGullet cold turkey [sic], before Richard Kilgore cruelly lured me back to participate in the Robb Walsh round table. I got hooked again.

QUIT eGullet? Are you quite MAD?

Please, don't ever even consider such a thing again!

Hell, you can't quit eGullet, in any case. (I suspect you've realized that by now.)

[John Whiting]

If it's any excuse, we've had our Demerere for several years, purchased back when it was rather less than half the price it is now. Having used the bobbing weight type, I'm much happier with a spring-loaded valve that elevates through three rings indicating successive pressures and doesn't hiss until it passes ideal maximum. (If you'll using a minumum of liquid, you back it off.)

Has anyone ever tried braizing in pure brandy?

I can well understand your affection for the tried-and-true. My wife's Honda Civic is 1985 vintage and will see her out -- 70,000 miles thus far -- and my VW Westfalia campervan is 1981 and will almost certainly outlast me. At the moment we're neck-and-neck.

[Mabelline]

Ah, you two, I LOVE YOU !!! The ways you descibe are entirely mine own...my favorite pressure cooker was a Mirro, and that baby rocked. Idiot EXH got it, which was so STRANGE, seeing as how his trophy WHATEVER did not understand the concept of fire. But, to change the topic, AzRael, you been knowin' me awhile(remember the wolfberries?) and I am gonna tell you that one of the best foods in a pressure cooker are either shanks or cheeks. The change from hard collegen and gelatin are indiscribable. So, you prob'ly cooked them too quickly.

[balmagowry]

If it's any excuse, we've had our Demerere for several years, purchased back when it was rather less than half the price it is now. Having used the bobbing weight type, I'm much happier with a spring-loaded valve that elevates through three rings indicating successive pressures and doesn't hiss until it passes ideal maximum. (If you'll using a minumum of liquid, you back it off.)

Aha! NOW you've told me something! Thank you! There we have both a love of the Old Reliable, lurking under a thin veneer of Fancy Goods, and ALSO a real, practical preference of one mechanism over another. Thank you! That's exactly what I'm trying to find out.

Has anyone ever tried braizing in pure brandy? 

Sheesh - I suppose someone must have done. Wonder whether he survived....

I can well understand your affection for the tried-and-true. My wife's Honda Civic is 1985 vintage and will see her out -- 70,000 miles thus far -- and my VW Westfalia campervan is 1981 and will almost certainly outlast me. At the moment we're neck-and-neck. 

Well done. Yes, my husband loves his monstrous new Chevy Avalanche (the car he uses when he needs to schlep something besides himself, and to be fair he schleps a LOT) and touts the engineering virtues of his (admittedly tried-and-true, not to mention very sexy-looking) Mercedes... but every once in a while he'll drive my 5-speed Honda and afterward he'll invariably turn to me with a big silly grin, saying, "Wow, that's fun - I keep forgetting what it's like to drive a Real Car!" (Which when you think of it is only partly the case, the Civic being not so much a car as a motorcycle dressed up in its Daddy's car-suit. But it's certainly a lot more Real than either of those other behemoths.)

[balmagowry]

Ah, you two, I LOVE YOU !!!

The sentiment is entirely mutual, I assure you.

The ways you descibe are entirely mine own...my favorite pressure cooker was a Mirro, and that baby rocked. Idiot EXH got it, which was so STRANGE, seeing as how his trophy WHATEVER did not understand the concept of fire.

Ha! I got the best of that deal, heh heh. I have my EXH's microwave, the one he received as a wedding gift for his second go-round (I was #3) in 1980. Still going strong. Another Old Reliable in its way: two mechanical knobs (How-Long and How-High) and no fancy-schmancy beeping electronic buttons to fail just when you need them.

Damn - maybe we need to start a Luddite thread! I think we've touched a nerve here.

But, to change the topic, AzRael, you been knowin' me awhile(remember the wolfberries?) and I am gonna tell you that one of the best foods in a pressure cooker are either shanks or cheeks. The change from hard collegen and gelatin are indiscribable. So, you prob'ly cooked them too quickly.

Too quick, too dry. Too quick, too dry.

And thank you for reminding me - one of my favorite things to "presh" is lamb shanks. Mmmmmm... white beans... think I'll head over to the market NOW.

[mongo_jones]

most indian homes cook goat and chicken curries in the pressure cooker--not to mention rajma (red beans) and certain intractable dals (kali-urad, channa). and while things may have perhaps changed in the last 10 years--though it doesn't seem so in my trips back home--most indian pressure cookers are technologically very basic: dump your stuff in, adjust the heat, wait for however many whistles at that heat it takes for whatever you put in to get done, wait for the pressure to dissipate, open. if too liquidy, simmer it down. while meat curries are usually cooked entirely in the pressure cooker, dals are usually begun there to cook them quickly and the tadka is added as per normal, slow cooking.

i could post recipes for indian pressure cooking but i suspect that's not what you're looking for. (plus, with my stone-age pressure cooker i don't know if the instructions would translate for those more fancily-schmancily equipped).

[balmagowry]

most indian homes cook goat and chicken curries in the pressure cooker--not to mention rajma (red beans) and certain intractable dals (kali-urad, channa). and while things may have perhaps changed in the last 10 years--though it doesn't seem so in my trips back home--most indian pressure cookers are technologically very basic: dump your stuff in, adjust the heat, wait for however many whistles at that heat it takes for whatever you put in to get done, wait for the pressure to dissipate, open. if too liquidy, simmer it down. while meat curries are usually cooked entirely in the pressure cooker, dals are usually begun there to cook them quickly and the tadka is added as per normal, slow cooking.

i could post recipes for indian pressure cooking but i suspect that's not what you're looking for. (plus, with my stone-age pressure cooker i don't know if the instructions would translate for those more fancily-schmancily equipped).

It isn't exactly the question I was asking, but that doesn't mean I'm not interested in learning about the recipes! What an education, this eGullet; I'm chagrined to say that until very recently, when I read Suvir Saran's posts on the other Pressure Cookers thread, I had no idea that Indian cooking made so much use of the pressure cooker. Of course, the moment you hear it you realize what an obvious fit it is, what with all those intractable dals, as you so elegantly put it. It simply hadn't occurred to me until now.

Also, if you've read my posts up-thread you'll know that my pressure cooker must be nearly as stone-age as yours and that I am firmly convinced that the fancy-schmancy stuff, while it may be nice and sexy to have, is by no means critical. Certainly in my fairly long experience with pressure cookers I haven't run across any recipe or technique that required more complex features than those you cite.

So in that sense, your answer is part of what I'm looking for: evidence on both sides of the debate. I realize that the debate, if such it be, is really only raging in my own head at the moment, but I am rather hoping to change that. Not (as I said to John earlier) to try to talk people out of their lovely toys if they want them and can afford them, but to come to a truer understanding of what it is that drives the desire.

For instance, I swear by my old-fashioned Magnalite pots. I know there are those to whom cast aluminum is in itself anathema, and besides that I know that lots of people like newer fancier shinier stuff for one reason or another. Fine. But this whole line of thinking has led me to consider seriously: why do I feel so strongly about my Magnalite? Answer: for a complex combination of reasons. To begin with, features of the pots themselves: I like the way they conduct heat, I like the sizes and shapes they come in, which I find useful and also pleasing to the eye; I am comfortable using them, and this comfort is born partly of their quality and partly of my long familiarity with them. Then there's sentiment: these are the pots that my mother and my grandmother and another family friend used - not only the same ones but also in most cases the self-same ones, so I have all sorts of memories attached to them; OTOH I also love the first and only one that I bought new all by myself - it was one of the last of the line (though I didn't know that at the time), and buying it was a rite of passage in a way, something that gave me a sense of accomplishment and belonging. At the other end of the purchasing spectrum, there are the yard-sale and eBay coups - finding a missing piece to add to one's collection or that of a friend, and getting it for a fraction of its perceived (by me, anyway!) worth. There's also a touch of esoteric cachet, I guess, because so many people have no idea that there is such a thing as old Magnalite, let alone that it has inspired a minor cult. This may be reverse snobbism - I'm not sure. But whatever it is, it pleases me.

And that's the crux. I don't propose to make any kind of moral or qualitative judgment about why people prefer the things they prefer; these things are highly individual and I can't think of a single reason that wouldn't be valid. All I'm after is clarity. If you buy a Fagor Marine because it matches your decor - great! It isn't what I would do - but maybe I can learn something from you, since I have no decor to speak of, at all. Buy the pot you like because you lust for it, because it haunts your dreams, because it goes with your dog's eyes - whatever. BUT... do not then turn around and try to tell yourself you bought it for its superior features... if in fact it doesn't have any.

Hmmmmm - I don't know quite how this rant [A] got to be a rant and put itself into the second person. Tricky things, rants. Obviously this one is not addressed to anyone in particular! It is, however, a challenge nevertheless; a challenge to all comers to face the truth about the pressure cookers of their souls.

Ooof! and there's melodrama for you. Time to exit stage left with a halo and a strangled sob, I do believe!

[mongo_jones]

It isn't exactly the question I was asking, but that doesn't mean I'm not interested in learning about the recipes!

the "you" i was referring to in my post wasn't you but azrael--who seemed to be more interested in adaptation of certain western classics to the pressure cooker.

i skimmed the other thread you linked to, couldn't see if suvir had in fact posted any recipes. like him, and probably 60% of other indians with pressure-cookers, i have an indian prestige cooker (i get a new one on every 2nd trip home).

here's a link to recipes for 2 dals i've posted on the india forum that involve pressure cooking:

1

2

if you'd like a chicken recipe as well, let me know.

[balmagowry]

It isn't exactly the question I was asking, but that doesn't mean I'm not interested in learning about the recipes!

the "you" i was referring to in my post wasn't you but azrael--who seemed to be more interested in adaptation of certain western classics to the pressure cooker.

Ooops! Sorry - I'm not usually quite so solipsistic. (Wait - who'm I kidding? Yes, I am. Oh well, never mind... I had fun going off and ranting in my little corner and pretending people were paying attention.)

i skimmed the other thread you linked to, couldn't see if suvir had in fact posted any recipes. like him, and probably 60% of other indians with pressure-cookers, i have an indian prestige cooker (i get a new one on every 2nd trip home).

here's a link to recipes for 2 dals i've posted on the india forum that involve pressure cooking:

Thank you - that's great! No, I don't think Suvir had posted any recipes - it wasn't that sort of thread. Hmmmm - obviously I need to go hang around the India thread for a while. I could learn a few things, I suspect...

[Abra]

You might want to check out the Magefesa. It's about half the price of the expensive jobs, and Cook's Illustrated sometime back rated it every bit as good and twice as cheap. I've had mine for a couple of years and wouldn't live without it now.

[beccaboo]

One advantage of the new expensive pressure cookers is that they get up to and maintain pressure with less water--my little Kuhn Rikon 'pressure fry pan' only needs 1/4 cup water, and my big 8l Magefesa needs 1/2 cup.

[balmagowry]

One advantage of the new expensive pressure cookers is that they get up to and maintain pressure with less water--my little Kuhn Rikon 'pressure fry pan' only needs 1/4 cup water, and my big 8l Magefesa needs 1/2 cup.

YESSSS!!!

Thank you - this is exactly the kind of info I was hoping for. Shall have an interesting time trying to figure out why.

Um - but speaking of why... just how little is your "little Kuhn Rikon"? I'm thinking that this might be another context in which Size Matters. If you think about the difference in capacity between the two, i.e. the amount of air that needs to be subjected to pressure (sorry, I haven't had coffee yet and I know the correct terminology is escaping me for the moment ), mightn't that account for the difference in liquid requirement?

Not challenging your assertion as such, of course - just trying to look at it objectively and evaluate the factors that might affect it. (And wishing the books I've ordered on the subject would arrive, already, so maybe I'd have a better basis for my speculations!) What do you think?

[Abra]

Size does matter. I recommend the 8 litre Magefesa - you can do a large cut of meat or a big pot of beans or soup in there without worrying about whether it'll fit. It has a trim profile and no protruding handle on the lid, so it's not a total space hog in terms of storage. it's not sold in stores, as far as I know, but you can see it at http://www.magefesausa.com/magefesa.htm

[uberleet]

Size does matter.  I recommend the 8 litre Magefesa - you can do a large cut of meat or a big pot of beans or soup in there without worrying about whether it'll fit.  It has a trim profile and no protruding handle on the lid, so it's not a total space hog in terms of storage.  it's not sold in stores, as far as I know, but you can see it at http://www.magefesausa.com/magefesa.htm

The 8 litre isn't sold anymore; I tried to order one about a month ago and was informed that it is no longer produced. You can get an 8 litre Magefesa from qvc, but it's not the nice one.

However, the 6 litre is pretty nice too!

[John Whiting]

A point worth emphasizing is that a modern spring-loaded pressure cooker can be used with much less water because steam is not escaping constantly from under a weight. If you can hear it hissing or whistling, you're losing steam and therefore water. With older models that can't hold their liquor , the longer they're under pressure, the larger the back-up water supply must be.

[cakes]

Force is force whether it comes from a spring or a weight. The force opposes an area and defines the pressure setting of the relief valve.

A low leakage relief valve will use less liquid but whether a weight or relief determines the pressure setting has nothing to do with it.

Cakes

[balmagowry]

Size does matter.  I recommend the 8 litre Magefesa - you can do a large cut of meat or a big pot of beans or soup in there without worrying about whether it'll fit.  It has a trim profile and no protruding handle on the lid, so it's not a total space hog in terms of storage.  it's not sold in stores, as far as I know, but you can see it at http://www.magefesausa.com/magefesa.htm

The 8 litre isn't sold anymore; I tried to order one about a month ago and was informed that it is no longer produced. You can get an 8 litre Magefesa from qvc, but it's not the nice one.

However, the 6 litre is pretty nice too!

Like everything else you could ever want... if you keep a weather eye peeled, sooner or later the old-style 8-litre Magefesa will turn up on eBay.

[balmagowry]

A point worth emphasizing is that a modern spring-loaded pressure cooker can be used with much less water because steam is not escaping constantly from under a weight. If you can hear it hissing or whistling, you're losing steam and therefore water. With older models that can't hold their liquor 

the longer they're under pressure, the larger the back-up water supply must be.

Well, sure. But when you say "larger," doesn't that still mean proportionately larger? IOW, doesn't the size of the water supply have to be considered in relation to the capacity of the pot and the quantity of solid matter being subjected to the steam/pressure? So in that sense the small Kuhn-Rikon pan mentioned up-thread could require less liquid (1/4 cup) than the 8-L Magefesa (1/2 cup), yet still be viewed as using proportionately more liquid because the pan is so much smaller. Which is why I'm still curious to know how much smaller.