Recommend me a pressure cooker

Pink.

Hi cooking mama,

Mine is an older pressure cooker so I can't advise you about the newer ones, but these threads may help:

Recommend me a pressure cooker

Pressure cooker recipes

I'll add your thread to the first link later to keep the suggestions together.

Pink

cooking-mama

Thanks pink-winged,I went and bought the Prestige smartplus from Argos(and got a free £5 gift voucher)...im just about ready to cook tomorrows bolognese in it,so far ive just "cooked water"...I just wanted to test how noisy (or not)it was,and im pleasantly surprised with only a low hiss,and a quick and easy steam release...apparantly my bolognese will be ready in 15mins...

mardatha

Not sure where to post this but as pressure cookers are very OS I thought here as more people will see and maybe answer me..
I've always been terrified of pressure cookers since my mothers spectacularly exploded when I was 10. But I want to cut down on my gas usage to make the cylinders last longer. Can you tell me about pressure cookers ? How you use them, what for, where you buy them, what kinds are best?

savingforoz

I got mine from Lakeland. I went for stainless steel rather than aluminium, as steel ones seem to be sturdier. It cost just over £40 and I think it's call "Quick and Easy".

I use mine to cook pulses and it makes them so quick and easy, just like the name. I've also used it to cook soup. Now I know there's loads more you can do with them, but that's all I've done so far.

It's easy to use - just place the ingredients in, put the lid on and switch on the power. When the cooker has reached the right pressure, a little red knob pops up, at which stage you turn down the heat and let it cook. When it's cooked for the right amount of time, either use the quick release valve to release the pressure or else just let it cool.

I've been very pleased and wouldn't be without one. Hopefully someone who cooks meals in theirs will be along soon to give some pointers for you for that.

Heather25

I do soups and stews in mine. Soups made in 5 minutes. Cheap cuts of meat in a stew taste beautiful done in a pressure cooker and takes 15 munutes. The modern ones are pretty failsafe.

Pink.

Hi mardatha,

These threads should give you an idea of what to look for in a pressure cooker and what others cook in them:

Recommend me a pressure cooker

Pressure cooker recipes

I'll add your thread to the first link later to keep the suggestions together.

Pink

seraphina

If you can stretch to it, the Kuhn Rikon 5 litre that Lakeland sell is worth every single penny and more. I got it at Christmas and it's used several times a week.

If you can't stretch to that, the important thing to look for is the standard pressures - you want to be able to cook at 10lbs and 15lbs of pressure, as pretty much all recipes will use one of these two pressures. Some cheaper ones will only cook at 8lbs and 12lbs, which means stuff takes longer which defeats the purpose!

The latest generation of pressure cookers don't have weights to turn into projectile missiles so don't worry about that!

angeltreats

I use mine for soups, stews, curries, getting veg and spuds done quickly, sometimes a cheap joint of meat that's not really suitable for roasting, stock if I need it in a hurry (although I prefer to do this the traditional way and simmer it very slowly for hours), rice pudding, going to make some jam this week or next when I can get to the pick your own for fruit, pulses (especially chickpeas which I use a lot)... all sorts of stuff really. Mine only cooks at one pressure and I have no idea what that is, I don't really use specific pressure cooker recipes, I've just got used to it and know how long things need to be in there for.

Mine is a cheap Tower aluminium one (it has a weight and hisses and everything!) and I think it's 5.5 litres, which is a nice size, but I really want a stainless steel one so am on the lookout for a bargain. I LOVE mine, everyone should have one.

Primrose

These days we mainly use our pressure cooker for making stock for soups, since we get free chicken carcasses from our butcher. It will make a lovely chicken stock in about 30 minutes instead of simmering for several hours and steaming up the kitchen. If you don't have a large household a small cooker should be adequate. Our Skyline model is now over 40 years old as it was a wedding present so it's certainly stood the test of time. I'm not sure if spare valves still available so I bought an identical one for £2 in a car boot sale so that I can cannibalise the valved lid if I ever need to.

They're perfectly safe to use although at first the hissing terrified me too. The only thing to remember is to let the pressure drop off naturally once the cooking time has finished. As a new bride I didn't realise this. I flipped the pressure valve with a fork to open it up and try and speed up the loss of pressure. I was cooking lentil soup at the time and a huge spout of boiling liquid spurted out, spraying the kitchen walls and ceiling until the pressure cooker had completely emptied itself. I was very lucky not to have been badly scalded. The lentil mixture dried like sandpaper and we had to redecorate the kitchen. I've never tried that particular trick again !

mardatha

OK, thanks. I just got the Kuhn Rikon one because it sounds less scarey