Conference turris::cooks

    Dont use the pressure cooker much in summer except for when I bone
    chicken breasts....then I use the bones to make a batch of stock..
    which I render down, put in cups and freeze.
    
    But in the winter, one of the things we occasionally do is the
    following:
    
    Get a pot roast....the meat tied with string....its usually cheap
    but gets tremendous flavor cooked in the PC.....
    
    Put the heat on high, add some olive oil, about a tbs or two, then
    sear the meat on all sides.
    
    When seared, add water to about 1/2 the thickness of the meat....
    also add about a tblsp of gravy master
    
    Cover, put on high heat, and when pressure builds, lower heat it until
    the top is gently rocking then cook for about 15 minutes...
    
    After 15 minutes, put pot under cold water until pressure escapes....
    open and add halved potatoes, whole onions and whole carrots...
    
    Cover and bring back to the top gently rocking stage and cook for
    another 10 minutes....
    
    Put under cold water to let pressure escape open, and serve.....real
    tasty...
    
    Rick

    Well, there are only a few "meals" we cook in the old Presto..
    
    Pot Roast
    
    Put some olive oil (two tbs or so) in bottom...put heat on high..
    Get a cheap roast
    put it in and sear it on all sides til browned....a lot of oil spits
    out but thats the price you pay....
    
    When seared, put enough water in the pot to half cover the roast
    
    Cook for 30 minutes
    
    Depressurize by putting under cold water.....
    
    Open and add potatoes cut in half, carrots and onions.....also about
    a tbs of gravy master
    
    Put back on heat for 15 minutes or so......
    
    
    The other one we do like that is with corned beef...
    
    Soak the corned beef in cold water overnight...
    
    Put in pressure cooker with "some" water, along with cut up turnip,
    carrots, a cabbage cut into 4 sections, and potatoes.
    
    Cook about 20 minutes...
    
    Those are the only things we use the pressure cooker for, other
    than a good size pot (like for steaming clams)
    
    Rick

    I use my pressure cooker for all sorts of things that are supposed
    to cook a long time.  It works great for stroganoff (where the recipe
    tells you to simmer the beef in seasoned broth for 1-1/2 to 2 hours,
    just pressure it for 15 minutes instead), country-style steak --
    well, really any tough cut of meat will tenderize quickly and easily
    in the pressure cooker.

    							Pat

    Pressure cooking is, and has been, very popular all over Europe and is
    used almost everyday.  You can cook anything.  I make deliciious
    chicken soup (with a very tasty, concentrated stock) in 30 minutes. 
    You can cook the cheapest cuts of meat in gravy, can make the best
    Irish stew, cook beans, etc, etc, and takes just about half the time or
    less than conventional cooking.  I'll be cooking stuffed archichokes in
    it for supper tonight... (found archichokes on sale, 6 per $1:00!)
    Recipe follows:
    Stuffing - l cup bread crumbs, fresh
    		couple green onions, minced
    		1 spring fresh mint
    		Jimmy Dean sausage, or cooked, crumbled bacon or chourico
    		(portuguese sausage) that is at cook's choice
    		salt, pepper
    		1/2 cup white wine
    Mix all together, clean and cut rough ends of archichokes and
    immediately, rub all over with 1/2 a lemon to avoid color fading...
    stuff them in the center (press your fingers to make a "well" at the
    center) with stuffing, and place in a pan upright, (make sure they fit
    snuggly so they won't fall onto their sides), cover with water almost
    to top of vegies, add 1/3 cup oil, a dash of soy sauce, a bit of wine
    and cook till tender, 45 minutes or so in normal temp or 25 min in
    pressure cooker, but keep in mind that you need less liquid for
    pressure cooker than for conventional cooking.
    Hope these tips will help you...
    Ana

    A real easy way to cook pork chops.
    
    Put oil in a pan, brown pork chops on both sides.  Place in a pressure
    cooker.  I then add chopped potatoes, cyotee and white squash, onion,
    and a can of cream or chicken soup or chicken and rice soup. 
    
    Cook for 15 minutes
    
    
    
    

    I'm not looking for recipes, I'm looking for pressure cookers!
    
    I understand that there is a rather large one, used for canning veggies
    and such.  Ideally, it would hold four to six standard one quart canning 
    jars.  All leads appreciated.
    
    Thanks...Gary
    
    P.S. Used is fine, given it's in the proper condition.

                           Try Chicken Marengo!
    
    3 lbs of cut up chicken - recipe calls for breast; I use thigh... it's
                              cheaper and less dry
    
    Roll the chicken pieces in white flour and pepper.
    
    Heat pressure cooker.
    
    Add 1 tablespoon of oil and clove of fresh garlic.  Add chicken and
    brown.
    
    Remove chicken when brown.  Then remove the close of garlic and throw
    out [the recipe calls for this-- but I leave it in... in fact, I put
    more garlic in than it calls for].
    
    Now add a can whole tomatos - 16 oz I believe, WITH liquid.
    Add one can of mushroom pieces.
    Add one cup of white cooking wine.
    Replace the pieces of chicken.
    
    Put cover on pressure cooker.  Bring pressure up gradually on medium
    heat.  Once the pressure cooking is "rocking" - continue to cook for 10
    minutes.  
    
    Allow cooker to cool naturally [again the recipe says that; I cool
    quickly under cold water].
    
    Serve on top of brown {TEXMATI!} rice.  
    
    This is an awesome & quick recipe!!!  Everybody loves it.  The
    leftovers are great, too.
    
    Does anybody else have a favorite pressure cooker recipe - main dish or
    soup - that they could share?  I love this type of cooking with our
    schedule.
    
    I recently bought a new book called "Cooking Under Pressure."  Didn't
    care for it though... it was more of less "Neauveau" cooking - which
    was really not my style.
    
    rgds,
    marcia

    It is an awesome and quick recipe [right out of Presto's recipe book]. 
    FYI - I like the base a little thicker, so if the chicken hasn't coated
    real heavily with flour, I will thicken up the red sauce after pressure
    cooking, with a little more flour.
    
    Rgds,
    marcia

    Well OK, since you didn't...
    
    Service Merchandise in Nashua, NH has a Presto 22 Quart Pressure 
    Cooker and Canner - ideal for what I want.  It holds seven one 
    quart Mason jars, or up to 20 � pint Mason jars.  Cost is $79.97 
    today.
    
    Cheers...Gary

    I just inherited a pressure cooker from my Mom, one of the old types
    that weighs about 10 pounds. :-) It has a tray that goes in the bottom
    - a steamer tray maybe?  Anyway, what can I do with it.  There are a
    few recipes in this note, but can someone give me the basics? 
    Especiall for cooking veggies that take a long time, like beets,
    potatos and carrots.
    
    What about beans and rice?  I heard you weren't supposed to cook beans
    in old pressure cookers because they would clog the vent - is this
    true?
    
    D!

    My mother said that she did that.  (I.e., got beans plugged in her
    pressure valve.
    
    ed

	Rep .11, .12

	I do beans in mine all the time and have no problems. I think the
	problem might have been the heat was too high or the pot to full
	which caused the blockage.

	One of my favorite recipes for a PC <pressure cooker> is daube,

	1 lb lean stew beef cut into 1" pieces
	2 carrots sliced
	1 medium onion chopped
	4 or more cloves garlic crushed
	1-2 ribs of celery sliced
	2 bay leaves
	1 Tbsp mixed herbs <I use herbs de provence>
	Salt and pepper to taste <I skip the salt>

	Place all of the above in a bowl and pour in enough red wine to
	cover. <Remember the old advice about cooking with wine if you
	wouldn't drink it don't cook with it!!> Marinate over night or like
	me just throw it together in the morning before leaving. Place
	everything into the PC and after it comes up to pressure cook for
	25 mins. Thicken the cooking liquid with a little cornstarch and
	water. Serve with pasta or rice and a glass of red wine of course.
	Some recipes call for you to discard the cooking veggies and use
	fresh ones but my family enjoys the ones from the pot.

	-mike

    Hi,
    
      I just got back from vacation and my mother gave me a pressure
    cooker, brand new, still in the box unopened.   I would like to use
    this, but am concerned about any safety issues around the pressure
    cooker.  How safe is the pressure cooker.  How do I know if something
    is done when cooking in the pressure cooker.  Can someone give me some
    more in-depth instructions on how to use the pressure cooker so that it
    isn't a safety hazard?   Any info would be appreciated. 
    
    
    Thanks,
    Sarah

Usually, if you open the box, you get all the instructions you just asked for
included with the pressure cooker.  Perhaps you should read the manual first.
Then if you still have questions...

    My one safety hint would be to never/never try to open the pressure
    cooker while the pressure is still up (don't laugh, I've heard of it
    happening).  The other suggestion is never to fill the pressure cooker
    too high.  As previously suggested, this should all be clearly outlined
    in the manual.
    
    My Presto also came with a recipe booklet, which is wonderful.  It
    gives you suggested cook times for vegetables, etc., instructions for
    canning, too.
    
    My pressure cooker is right up there on my list of favorite cooking
    "toys."  Enjoy!

    There's a common misconception that a pressure cooker can explode. 
    This is impossible.  Here's why.  In the middle of the cover you will
    find the central steam release vent, which is where you put the metal
    weight.  As it cooks, the steam makes the weight rock.  If the pressure
    went up high, it would rock violently, as more steam is released.  You
    would hear and see this, and turn down the heat.  (Don't go where you
    can't hear it while it is cooking.)
    
    Just in case the central release is inadequate, there is a hole plugged
    with a rubber gasket.  This can also blow out.  You would have quite a
    mess, but the pot itself would never explode. (As long as you are
    cooking food and not TNT!)
    
    By the way, don't let all the water boil out.  If it gets too dry in
    there, it can blow the rubber release gasket.  This happened to me
    once, with a pot full of soy beans.  It was all over the stove and even
    erupted onto the ceiling.  Yuch!
    
    As previously stated, read the instructions, follow them closely, and
    you will do fine.  
    
    If you do start using it frequently, after awhile you will have to
    order a new rubber seal ring.  If you don't, the old one will stick and
    it will be very difficult to get the cover off.
    
    By the way, they now sell pressure cookers for the microwave, made of
    plastic.  They are supposed to work well.  I no longer use my pressure
    cooker; even in a plain bowl with 2 layers of plastic wrap on top, I
    can get the same results as the pressure cooker.  I find it easier to
    clean the bowls and much easier to check progress.
    
    L
    

Pressure cookers can and have exploded if these safety systems
(the main steam release and the solder-filled [it's not rubber-filled]
release hole) get blocked up.  Gas stoves can explode, too, and
electric stoves can deliver fatal shocks if reliable parts break down
in obscure ways.  Your house can fall down on your head, too, and
it's possible to be struck by lightning.  Life is full of very low
probability hazards.

--PSW

My pressure cooker has a rubber plug not solder.

    Pressure cookers were the  micro wave of the '40's and '50's.  I used
    mine until we got a micro wave.  The flavors are better in a pressure 
    cooker too.  
    
    One day I did beans and didn't follow the directions, we moved from
    that house soon after.
    
    I love my pressure cooker but I now use it for corn chowder and popcorn 
    when I am out of the micro wave stuff.
    
    They really are safe, as stated before, just listen to the jiggles, 3
    or so a minute are all you really want to hear.
                  

I have an electric Presto Pressure Cooker which I puchased 32 years ago.
It makes the best pot roast I've ever had, and I also use it for soups,
stews, vegetables, etc.  I have found it to be easier to use and more
accurate than the standard pressure cooker.  I still get the same performance
from it as I did when I first bought it.

I would like to buy one for my daughter-in-law, but haven't been able
to find one.  Has anyone seen an electric pressure cooker anywhere, or
if anyone has one they would like to sell, please contact me at 344-7202.

My next step will be to write Presto to see if they still manufacture 
them, but thought I would try this notes file first.


Marian

    
    Back when I was assistant Scoutmaster the Scoutmaster of the troop
    bought his Mom a Pressure Cooker. He wasn't sure it was safe so he
    decided to try it out himself before he gave it to her. 
    
    He said he followed the recipie until the meal was finished. Then he
    decided to open the pressure cooker at the stove. He said it took a lot
    of effort to open the top. When he succeeded the whole meal came out
    with great force. Luckily the hot liquid forced the lid back toward his
    face and bounced off the lid on its way toward the wall and ceiling
    leaving him untouched by the scalding contents. He did receive a good
    wack on the head from the lid.
    
    He decided the thing was much to dangerous for his Mom and put it away
    for quite a while. Then he decided to read the instructions and try
    again. Now he likes it.
    
     /doug

    
    	It's like everything else in life,
    
    	people don't like to read instructions...
    
    	When everything else fails,
    
    	read the directions !!.
    
    

    I use the traditional pressure cooker for alot-- there's nothing like
    it!  Thanks to Mirro for including the little booklet, with
    instructions and recipes!
    
    We received the micro pressure cooker as an X-Mas gift one year and I
    use that also. 
    
    Either way, pressure cookers lock in the vitamins and other nutrients
    that escape with other methods of cooking.
    
    Rgds,
    marcia

    My wife is realy paranoid about useing a pressure cooker and will not
    use it until I put a new pressure gauge on the top. This is a screw in
    dial type - I think it was inherited from my grand mother. We don't have
    any of the directions and I'm not sure of the manufacture, I'll have
    to see if I can get any off the pans. 
    
    Any suggestions?  

    re -.1
    
    If it's anything like my pressure cooker/canner, it's just a common
    run of the mill pressure guage.  I've seen the same kind at Spag's
    in the plumbing department.  You might try taking it to your local 
    "real" hardware store and see if they can match it.  Or try a plumbing
    supply house.  
    
    Ken

    aaaa, I was in Spag's houseware section last night looking for the
    guage - never thought of the plumbing department. Thanks for the great
    suggestion, Ken.
    
    Steve