Help- Christmas pudding disaster - pressure cooker dried out!

jap200

Help - can I salvage this pudding?

I obviously didn't put enough water in my pressure cooker (haven't used it for years) and after 1 and a half hours of steaming the hissing noise stopped so I ran it under the tap to cool quickly and I discovered that the plastic basin has melted at the bottom and welded itself to the trivet! Also some of the pudding has come out where it has melted.

Is there any way that this pudding can be salvaged or will it be spoiled now? It seems such a waste of all those lovely ingredients!

valk_scot

Well, I suppose you could lift off the top layer and resteam it, but.....won't it taste of melted plastic? I personally wouldn't bother. Plus, I'd be more worried about the pressure cooker and cleaning it than the pudding, tbh.

charliee_3

i'd probably be more worried about the pressure cooker too... and then id scrape off the top bit of the pudding that didnt have melted plastic in and eat it for dinner tonight.. and then mutter under my breath as i made another one.. are you sure you used the right pressure/ temperature for time.. recipes vary a lot.. i found one that is 50 mins on 15lb another that is 2.5 hours on 5lb...

jap200

Fortunately it looks like it wasn't on the heat for too long without water. The bottom of the basin was melted onto the trivet, but I have managed to separate them. I have cleaned up the pressure cooker and it is just fine.

I tipped the half-cooked pudding out onto a plate and it is only the bottom inch that has suffered. I have cut that bit off and am planning to buy an new basin tomorrow to stuff it back in and steam for a bit longer - I think I will play safe and use a normal saucepan this time!

It doesn't taste of plastic (although it does taste undercooked at the mo) and it was a large 2 pint size pudding which cost quite a lot to buy the ingredients for, so I don't want to give up on it just yet!

I think that I went wrong by not checking the water level after the 1/2 hour boiling bit at the beginning before I put the weights on top. Perhaps I should have cooled it and checked it after the first hour too.

Oh well, live and learn!

greenbee

It might also be worth using a glass or ceramic pudding basin so it won't melt.

jap200

greenbee wrote: »

It might also be worth using a glass or ceramic pudding basin so it won't melt.

Yes true, but it probably would have cracked from the heat instead. At least I wouldn't be worried about chemicals from the melted plastic in the pudding though!

greenbee

jap200 wrote: »

Yes true, but it probably would have cracked from the heat instead. At least I wouldn't be worried about chemicals from the melted plastic in the pudding though!

That was my thought too...