Kuhn Rikon stove top,or Jamie oliver electric pressure cooker?

cooking-mama

which one would you buy?
does anyone have any experience of either?
I have a prestige smartplus which i love,but it only works at 12psi,so im gonna keep that one fpr veg/tatties/pasta etc,and i want to invest in a 2nd one(at the more common 15psi)....Initialy i was gonna order the kuhn rikon from Lakeland at £88,but now the elctric Tefal jamie oliver one has been reduced in price from £129 to £99(bridging the gap),so im a bit undecided.Any advice appreciated.

http://www.lakeland.co.uk/F/keyword/pressure%20cooker

angeltreats

Get the stove top one. It's so useful as a big 'normal' saucepan as well for things like soups and stocks.

mardatha

I agree, I recently got one and its magic and I use it for jam making as an open "normal" pot.

cooking-mama

Thanks guys,im not realy in need of a stock pot,and do my soup either in pressure cooker or large slow cooker....I would love to try the Jamie oliver electric pressure cooker,but i cant seem to find a PSi for it(at least as far as i know the kuhn rikon one is 15PSi)
think il try a Pros n cons list
The electric one doesnt need watching,just set it up and leave it to the timer..but i dont know how powerfull it is and it will have more "wear out parts"
The kuhn rikon one is 15psi,but will need to be monitored whilst on the stove,also 2 P.C on the hob at the same time may be a bit of a problem(4 rings,but small hob)
Mardartha,was it yourself that mentioned that the kuhn rikon uses less water than other PC's?,what is the minimum amount please?
My prestiges has a minimum of 300mls for every 15mins of cooking...this can leave some dishes quite sloppy,especialy if theres a lot of veggies in with mince etc.

mardatha

It has a wee steel insert thingy with holes, you need to just put in water up to that. It's a tiny amount and I started off putting in more just in case, but it seems to be fine so now I dont. I think its about 100mls but not sure and cant find the book. The other thing is that you just need to watch it fr minutes until it reaches the pressure, then tur the gas right down, turn the minute minder on the cooker on, then leave it.

angeltreats

Do you have a gas hob or electric? If it's gas, the other advantage is that you could still use it in the event of a power cut.

I don't know whether the electric pressure cooker would use more or less electricity than having a cooker ring lit.

Personally I would want one that had both low and high pressures (mine has 8 and 15). And I very often put mine back on the heat after it's finished cooking at pressure to reduce whatever sauce is in there, or to thicken up a rice pudding. I also start cooking on a normal heat before bringing it up to pressure, for example to sweat some onions and garlic for a sauce before adding other ingredients. This is what I have, it's perfect for me but it does hiss and I know some people don't like that.

morganlefay

it's me that keeps banging on about the Kuhn Rikon because it has completely revoutionised the way I think about PCs. The recipe book says that in the 2 litre one 150ml is the minimum amount of water, but that you can use as little as 75ml. And there are some things which the litle cookbook says you can use even less than that: mostly meat stews, and the minimum for some of them is 50ml. But for instance there's a recipe of 'Pan Fried Potatoes with Rosemary' which has NO added water. I have been too nervous to try it yet ! I did come across a youtube film (now don't know where, I'm afraid but I'm sure if you googled you'd find it) in which she cooked some lovely stuff in an electric PC and I thought that they looked really good too, so I can quite see why you're torn ! I love my KR one so much because it is very good tempered, doesn't lose pressure while it cooks, doesn't need lots of water and DOESNT HISS.
Ummmmm, I can see you have a dilemma !

zippychick

Hi Cooking Mama

once you get more replies, I'll pop this over to the I wanna board


Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere(please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="abuse@moneysavingexpert.com"]abuse@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL].

thanks
Zip

Slinky_Malinky

I love Kuhn Rikon pressure cookers and have several in various sizes. They have two pressure settings described in the book as 0.4 bar and 0.8 bar. If any parts of a Kuhn Rikon pc break you can buy spares but if the electric bit of an electric pc goes then you have to throw it away.

seraphina

Stay away from the electric PC - I've yet to see one that's got a decent review. A stovetop PC is far more flexible and reliable.

I also have a Kuhn Rikon and it has transformed my cooking - it's used several times a week. We're a predominantly vegetarian household and it makes pulses and beans so much more accessible. - 15 mins to cook chickpeas!

morganlefay

Seraphina, I'm sure youve posted your method for cooking chickpeas before but might you repeat it, please ? And do you have to soak them ? Sorry to be a nuisance.....