PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING

Hello Forumites! However well-intentioned, for the safety of other users we ask that you refrain from seeking or offering medical advice. This includes recommendations for medicines, procedures or over-the-counter remedies. Posts or threads found to be in breach of this rule will be removed.
We'd like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum. This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are - or become - political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.
We're aware that dates on the Forum are not currently showing correctly. Please bear with us while we get this fixed, and see Site feedback for updates.

Ooops, made a mistake with pressure cooker, help a newbie with one learn how to use it!

Wasted some beef a while back and now a ham roast because I assumed you needed to cover the meat with water and ended up with meat that fell to pieces and fatty water around it.

At least it was yellow label meat so only lost about £2 worth of meat up to now but interested to know what to do for future so I don't make this mistake again.

It was also because I wondered about adding extras to the meat when cooking i.e like veg to make a big meal I assumed water was needed as if it was on a hob

So if say I wanted to cook a gammon joint and add things like veg to it, what would be best way? I know I can boil them on hob but i'd assume adding the veg at same time would add flavour.

Comments

  • I cook the joint in pressure for the specified time as the OP has said, then reduce the stock and add the veggies to it at the same time, cooking it uncovered.
    I use mine for a lot of beans too!
  • bouicca21
    bouicca21 Posts: 6,644 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 26 June 2021 pm30 7:06PM
    I no longer have a pressure cooker. When I did have one I reserved it for tough meat needing long cooking - the sort of thing I now put in my slow cooker.

    I think a pressure cooker for gammon is a bit OTT.  I work out the cooking time, simmer for half that and then put it in the oven for the remaining time (covered with foil until the last 10-15 ninutes whenthe rind is removed and some sort of glaze added).  Cooking water then gets turned into lentil soup.
  • Pollycat
    Pollycat Posts: 35,363 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Savvy Shopper!
    I used to do a whole dinner - stewing steak, potatoes, veg - in mine years ago but for the life of me I can't remember how I used to do it. But I do remember I didn't cover the food with water.

    Dekaspace - do you have a slow cooker? Lots of recipes for gammon.

    How about looking in your local library for a recipe book or in charity shops?


  • goldfinches
    goldfinches Posts: 2,326 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Pollycat said:
    I used to do a whole dinner - stewing steak, potatoes, veg - in mine years ago but for the life of me I can't remember how I used to do it. But I do remember I didn't cover the food with water.

    Dekaspace - do you have a slow cooker? Lots of recipes for gammon.

    How about looking in your local library for a recipe book or in charity shops?


    I can confirm that either of these two places would almost certainly be able to help you. I always look at the cookbooks section in charity shops and often see pressure cooker specific tomes and have also spotted them when browsing at the library.
    The other place you could look is on the e-book site that you prefer and see if there are any going free. There seem to be quite a lot on "earth's biggest selection" for £0.00 when I typed 'pressure cooking recipes' into the search bar this morning and don't forget that Instant Pots are also a kind of pressure cooker too so you could look at recipes for those as well.

    "Only the most pleasant characters in this book are portraits of living people and the events here recorded unfortunately never took place"

    The Tiger In The Smoke
    by
    Margery Allingham
  • dekaspace1
    dekaspace1 Posts: 442 Forumite
    Fourth Anniversary 100 Posts Name Dropper
    Pollycat said:
    I used to do a whole dinner - stewing steak, potatoes, veg - in mine years ago but for the life of me I can't remember how I used to do it. But I do remember I didn't cover the food with water.

    Dekaspace - do you have a slow cooker? Lots of recipes for gammon.

    How about looking in your local library for a recipe book or in charity shops?



    I got rid of slow cooker when I got this as never used it, sorry for late response tired due to going ons with the world.

    as for things like gammon, the whole reason for me getting this was not necessarily to cut down on cooking time (though thast a bonus) but when I cooked something in oven it often dried out too much and I thought I could do a whole meal together.
  • thriftwizard
    thriftwizard Posts: 4,827 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Well, you can cook a whole main course in it, and quickly, too. I'll generally do gammon in the slow cooker, but in the pressure cooker if I'm short of time or have both my vegetarian daughters at home; one dislikes the smell of meat cooking, and in the slow cooker that goes on all day. I cover the ham with water, bring to the boil & discard the water, which I've been led to believe gets rid of the worst of the nitrates. Then add more water; about a third of the way up the joint, because I'll be using excess stock to make soup. I'll chop in an onion, carrots & some celery, throw in a good pinch of mixed herbs, some paprika, bay leaves, whole cloves & juniper berries & a teaspoon of honey; adjust flavourings to suit your taste. A few well-scrubbed spuds, of a waxy variety rather than a floury variety - they'd just disintegrate - bring up to full pressure & cook for half an hour. You can release the pressure fast, if you like. Skim out the cloves, juniper berries & bay leaves, & make a little gravy from the stock if you want. The potatoes may fall apart, but that's ok, they still taste good.

    For beef, I'd make a stew rather than a "roast" - you can cut a joint into cubes - probably the same veg, with maybe a parsnip too, herbs, herbs, pepper (add salt after cooking, it can toughen the meat) a tin of tomatoes and a slug of red wine or beer, according to taste. Thicken with cornflour after cooking. If you're feeling really daring, you could cook it, then add dumplings & simmer for another half-hour without pressure. 

    Seconding the suggestion for finding recipe books - there's a lot you can do with a pressure cooker, but only if you know that it's do-able!
    Angie - GC Feb 25: £308.75/£500: 2025 Fashion on the Ration Challenge: 0/68: (Money's just a substitute for time & talent...)
  • florain
    florain Posts: 50 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10 Posts
    For a gammon joint, as above I cover with water, heat gently and then leave to stand 2/3 hours. Discard that water.
    From my first instruction manual (40!) years ago - 
    For the first 2lb of meat add 1/2 pint water. For each extra 1lb add another 1/4pt.
    For the first 2lb cook for 30mins at high pressure. For each extra 1lb add on 15 min. We like it well cooked now so I usually add on another 10 mins or so.
    Have used this for 3 different cookers over the years. I also use the stock for soup (courgette today, got to use them up some how) so add onion, celery, carrot etc.

Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 348.3K Banking & Borrowing
  • 252.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 452.4K Spending & Discounts
  • 240.9K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 617.2K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 175.7K Life & Family
  • 254.1K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16K Discuss & Feedback
  • 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.