Pressure Cooking

DullGreyGuy

ANGLICANPAT said:

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 ?

Both our old and current pressure cookers are stainless steel. Aluminium is used extensively in normal pans so any pushback would have impacted all pans equally surely?

I think these things just wax and wain like all trends.... air fryers are having their moment right now despite having been out for 12 years. Whilst pressure cookers fell out of favour here the instapot has been big in the US for a good while. 

Suspect there were just too many stories of them being dangerous, many old ones were very big so not so good for smaller family units and then we got the microwave that promised to cook everything much faster. 

CJRyder

I have an Instant Pot which is probably my most used kitchen appliance. My go-to method for rice dishes, anything containing dried pulses, small meat joints, stews and general crap-in-a-pots. One of the best things about it is that there is a simple way to adjust the timings. I have also been given a Pressure King Pro which feels a lot harder to use and less instinctive. Does anybody else have a Pressure King Pro?

ZsaZsa

That’s really helpful, thank you both 😊😊

joedenise

I've got a Pressure King Pro but have only used it a couple of time and not impressed at all.  Fortunately I bought it really cheaply second hand.  Much prefer my stove top pressure cooker.

CJRyder

joedenise said:

I've got a Pressure King Pro but have only used it a couple of time and not impressed at all.  Fortunately I bought it really cheaply second hand.  Much prefer my stove top pressure cooker.

Cheers. My test dish is plain cheap rice with a sprinkling of frozen mixed veg, mainly as I used to make it every night after I went out for darts. I don't know if I need to play with the settings more though.

Doom_and_Gloom

joedenise said:

I've got a Pressure King Pro but have only used it a couple of time and not impressed at all.  Fortunately I bought it really cheaply second hand.  Much prefer my stove top pressure cooker.

I have a PKP 20 in 1 6L. I've had it 3 years and wouldn't be without mine.
I often use it for beans, including kidney beans that many people are weary of cooking themselves.
I'll be using it later to make a tofu vegetable curry using the stew/soup setting. One day I will try making a curry using the pressure cooker setting itself.
I much prefer the electric version over the hob version. For me as a disabled person it is much safer all around. The fact that I can just leave it and come back and it is all done is perfect.

joedenise

CJRyder said:

joedenise said:

I've got a Pressure King Pro but have only used it a couple of time and not impressed at all.  Fortunately I bought it really cheaply second hand.  Much prefer my stove top pressure cooker.

Cheers. My test dish is plain cheap rice with a sprinkling of frozen mixed veg, mainly as I used to make it every night after I went out for darts. I don't know if I need to play with the settings more though.

I've never bothered cooking rice in a pressure cooker.  It doesn't take that long on the hob!  I boil it for about 6 or 7 minutes and then leave to steam for about 10 minutes or so.  Perfectly cooked rice.

CJRyder

joedenise said:

CJRyder said:

joedenise said:

I've got a Pressure King Pro but have only used it a couple of time and not impressed at all.  Fortunately I bought it really cheaply second hand.  Much prefer my stove top pressure cooker.

Cheers. My test dish is plain cheap rice with a sprinkling of frozen mixed veg, mainly as I used to make it every night after I went out for darts. I don't know if I need to play with the settings more though.

I've never bothered cooking rice in a pressure cooker.  It doesn't take that long on the hob!  I boil it for about 6 or 7 minutes and then leave to steam for about 10 minutes or so.  Perfectly cooked rice.

For me I like to set and forget, particularly when busy. But I also make rice and pulse/legume, so to be able to one pot everything is grand. Rice, veg and dried lentils - 18 minutes, high pressure and no soaking involved. A sprinkle of curry powder makes golden rice and additions.

daaave

maisie_cat said:

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.

I bought the sage fast slow pro 6 months ago, when it was on offer for £120ish at John Lewis.

I make good use of it.

although I don’t really need a new/spare inner pot, lots of reports of them getting damaged over time (I suspect people use metal utensils) - and spares are expensive and hard to get hold of. I signed up on their website to “notify me” when back in stock. Email received a month later but by the time I tried to buy a few hours later, they were out of stock. Signed up again to “notify me” and, another month later, at 8am I caught the email and was able to buy for £24, after Quidco and a discount code I found on hotukdeals.

All in all, a very good device.

I make decent chilli, bolognaise, Shepard’s pie, casserole, fish risotto. Any reasonably cheap meals I can batch cook from fresh ingredients, then freeze. 

Any new recipe ideas anyone?

tip: if you get the lid warnings, make sure the pin is absolutely central to the hole, before starting pressure cooking. It’s really annoying and a bit of a design fault, but I’ve stopped having problems since I pay very close attention to the pin. Close the lid fully and turn all the way, then rotate it back a couple of millimetres so it’s exactly central.

zagubov

I'm a microbiologist, so have used pressure cookers a lot.
For food safety, they're ideal. Microwaves can't (AFAIK) guarantee to sterilise food, and it doesn't claim to.
Pressure cookers are notoriously efficient.
Aluminium crockery might have once been suspected of increasing dementia risks but that idea itself is regarded as very suspect now.
One negative about pressure cookers is the sheer vigorous violence of its treatment of food. Some fragile nutrients may be seriously depleted if exposed to extensive pressure cooking.