Pressure Cooking

DullGreyGuy

Have a Kuhn Rikon too, not sure about your model but with ours the steam comes out away from the release valve... still probably sensible to use a spoon or such but have used by hand without any issues.

Tend to use ours exclusively for those traditionally low and slow meat cuts in stews etc... for most veg prefer to steam them. 

pamsdish

I like the steam function on the instant pot, bring it to pressure and qr for tender veg or steam for 5 for potatoes and the like,  I have a silicone colander from aldi which I use a lot. 

Swipe

I have a stove top pressure cooker but find it really difficult to find the fine line between burning the food at the base of the pot and not having it on high enough to steam properly. I have an induction hob which I think might be the issue. Does anyone have any tips?

joedenise

@Swipe - I have an induction hob and stove top pressure cooker too and find that as long as I don't add potatoes or lentils too early then nothing sticks.  You need to make sure there is enough liquid so that there is plenty of steam.  I bring the cooker to pressure and then reduce the heat down to 4 which is just under half way (my dial goes up to 9).  As long as there is a steady stream of steam the food will cook OK without sticking.

Very occasionally it needs to be a bit lower and other times a little higher but you'll soon find the right level for your particular hob.  You just need to make sure there is a steady stream of steam.  I also make sure that the cooker hood is switched on low but I increase it when I release the pressure and move the PC off the heat.

Hope that helps.

Swipe

joedenise said:

@Swipe - I have an induction hob and stove top pressure cooker too and find that as long as I don't add potatoes or lentils too early then nothing sticks.  You need to make sure there is enough liquid so that there is plenty of steam.  I bring the cooker to pressure and then reduce the heat down to 4 which is just under half way (my dial goes up to 9).  As long as there is a steady stream of steam the food will cook OK without sticking.

Very occasionally it needs to be a bit lower and other times a little higher but you'll soon find the right level for your particular hob.  You just need to make sure there is a steady stream of steam.  I also make sure that the cooker hood is switched on low but I increase it when I release the pressure and move the PC off the heat.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for the tips. Much appreciated.

ANGLICANPAT

I wonder if their popularity  dropped off  a few years ago when  there was quite a bit of controversy about whether the aluminium in them  contributed to dementia  -   something which is now not thought to be the case ?

Madbat60

We have a stove top pressure cooker we use a lot for making soups, chilli, curry in.  Yesterday DP cooked braising steak in it and left it on low in the SC to finish off.   I don't like the texture of meat straight out of the pressure cooker so I prefer to put it in SC after. I have an induction hob so it's been a learning process 

ZsaZsa

@maisie_cat can I ask how you get on with the sage? I’ve had mine a couple of years but don’t use the pressure cook function nearly as much as I’d like. The pre set times seem really long to me, any casserole type meals I always feel like the meat is dry, but I still can’t gauge the liquid levels so I have to reduce down a lot too. Most recipes on line seem to be based on instant pot timings which seem much shorter. I’m really interested to know how the 2 machines compare as you have both 😊

joedenise

I have a stove top pressure cooker and tend to pressure cook for about 1/3 of the time suggested in normal recipes.  It seems to work for me.  Very occasionally I'll need to reduce the liquid but generally I seem to be able to gauge it well.  I probably use about 2/3 of what it says in the recipe as quite a bit is lost with the steam which escapes.

Don't know if that helps you at all @ZsaZsa.

maisie_cat

ZsaZsa said:

@maisie_cat can I ask how you get on with the sage? I’ve had mine a couple of years but don’t use the pressure cook function nearly as much as I’d like. The pre set times seem really long to me, any casserole type meals I always feel like the meat is dry, but I still can’t gauge the liquid levels so I have to reduce down a lot too. Most recipes on line seem to be based on instant pot timings which seem much shorter. I’m really interested to know how the 2 machines compare as you have both 😊

I actually like the sage apart from the lid lining up for the pressure pin. The main difference between the 2 models is the presets on the sage versus basic on the IP and the sage has gradiated pressure settings whereas the IP has high or low.
I have changed times over the years and try hard not to use too much liquid. With something like a brisket, I always unroll it so it doesn't have a dry side. A whole chicken is never dry, I simply sit it on a bed of sauteed sofrito veg and a large glass of wine or stock.
I bought the instant pot because I wanted the airfryer lid but find that theand a spare PC, IP is better for quick things like 1 minute chicken or quinoa and 3 minute pasta.
The Sage doesn't time below 5 minutes unless you catch it once it's started, but it's better for presets.
The IP has a burn notice when cooking tomato based for some odd reason so I use the sage for tomato based recipes.
I would say I prefer the sage but the spare parts for sage are a nightmare, I was trying to get another spare pot for 18 months before I gave up.
I have several sage appliances but won't get another, due to the lack of spares and customer service.