Aehm...How embarrassing...Pressure cooker???

maryb

I use my pressure cooker all the time for making stock - every chicken we have, the carcase goes in the pan with enough water to come halfway up. bring to high pressure cook for 20 mins. I tried doing it in the slow cooker but the flavour is much more intense in the pressure cooker.
Cooking ham joints - cook on High for 8 minutes per pound then finish it off in the oven with asugar and muatard galze for 30 minutes. always beautifully tender and the stock makes lovely soup with a handful of country soup mix and a pinch of curry powder.

In fact any soup is quick and easy. Leek and potato. Slice the veg into the cooker with a knob of butter then cook on low without the weight for 5 minutes or so to swaet the veg. then add the stock, bring to high pressure and cook 10 minutes.

Minestrone - fry some bacon and onion in the open cooker then slice some leeks celery carrots and shred some cabbage and stir them in, add a tin of tomatoes and a bit of stock to come halfway up the cooker then break a handful of spaghetti into short lengths. you can also add beans but i don't like them. close the cooker bring to pressure and cook 10 minutes.

You can save quite a bit of money by getting a pack of red kidmey beans, soak them, bring them to the boil for one minute then DISCARD THE WATER. add fas much fresh water as the cooker will safely hold (not more than 2/3) close the cooker then bring to pressure and cook for 20 minutes. if it's very full cook for longer on a lower pressure (unscrew one of the rings on the weight). freeze in portions for adding to a chilli con carne. i use a big plastic bag and tie it at intetvals witha twist tie then I just cut the bottom one off when I need some baens.

make your own Hummous. A teacup full of chick peas soak in boiling water for an hour then discard the water and put in the cooker with plenty of water to cover and cook on high pressure for 20 minutes. drain and reseve some of the cooking water then whizz the cooked chick peas in a food processor with juice of a lemon two cloves of garlic, a tablespoonsful of olive oil and enough of the cooking water to get the right consistency (that's trial and error) then add about a tablespoonful of tahin paste. that will make the equivalent of two big pots of hummous from sainsbury's for a fraction of the price.

Lemon curd is fantastic and so easy - put all the ingredients in a pudding basin cover with foild and put in the cooker with water to surround it and cook for 15 minutes

When I make marmalade I use it to soften the peel without having to cook it for hours. You can make the whole batch in the pressure cooker using it as an open pan but i usually tarnsfer it to my jam pan afterwards as it can spit a bit in the cooker as it is deeper and narrower than a jam pan.

finally Christams puddings - ther's another thread about cooking chrismas puddings in a slow cooker but i love the colour and texture of the pudding whwn it's cooked in the pressure cooker - it's less dark and treacly and it's very quick to rehaet on Christmas day

Although I love my slow cooker, if I had to choose i would go for the pressure cooker as it makes beautifully tender stews in avery short space of time and does all these other things too

Emuchops

I have bought the above pressure cooker today from a charity shop. It's got a grey 'Hammerite' type finish and looks quite modern. It holds 4.25L.
I have never used a PC before and wondered if anyone could help by either directing me to a manual site (have looked but can't find anything), or, if anyone has a similar model, giving me some basic directions.
Really, any help much appreciated.

It has no 'weights'. Model number 57053/040401.
Pressure may be 8.3kpa-quite worn so hard to read.

room512

Does it have a model number on it anywhere as Prestige recalled some - link

Here's a link to a prestige manual - link

HTH as I've never used a pressure cooker before (well not since I was at school anyway!)

Ignore the top link as you have a different model number!

BAGGY

Dont fill it more than about 2/3 I would say. Easiest thing to start with would be boiled pots coz if you kill them it wont cost the earth.
Chuck the pots in and enough water to cover them. Lock the lid (it should click into place) and put on high. Once it is up to pressure- fizzing fairly furiously- lower the heat until it is just about hissing. It may be that there is a red valve that will pop out to let you know it's working. Time the spuds from then about half normal time. When cooked put the whole pressure cooker in the sink and run the cold tap over the top. You may have a steam release valve and you can open that too. This will cause the pressure to escape with much hissing. If you are at all worried keep the pan in the sink until it has fallen silent. Then open it away from you clicking the lock open a little bit at a time to see if any noise escapes.
I have made it sound really scarey but I am being on the caution side as I know loads of people are scared of them. I love mine (hate my slowcooker) and wouldn't be without it.

Fag_ash_lil

Emuchops wrote: »

I have bought the above pressure cooker today from a charity shop. It's got a grey 'Hammerite' type finish and looks quite modern. It holds 4.25L.
I have never used a PC before and wondered if anyone could help by either directing me to a manual site (have looked but can't find anything), or, if anyone has a similar model, giving me some basic directions.
Really, any help much appreciated.

It has no 'weights'. Model number 57053/040401.
Pressure may be 8.3kpa-quite worn so hard to read.

Hi ya,

I've just checked online and Prestige still seem to sell the spare parts for them ... so they can't be too old ! ... if i was you i would give them a ring and say that " my mum " had lost her instruction book and could they send you another one out
Here is their contact details

http://www.prestige.co.uk/customer-assistance/

Good luck ..

terri x

Emuchops

Thanks to everyone who replied. I followed Baggy's instructions and it worked well. The red button didn't pop up (maybe it's broken?), but I figured the potato's were ready after about 10 minutes. They were a bit hard but mashed down fine. Should you start the cooking timing from when it pops up? I have a very slow electric hob so maybe that had something to do with it. Will experiment more later this week.
Just looked at button-doesn't appear to be broken.

Lilyplonk

message deleted due to not noticing how old the original post was

Lilyplonk

If it was working properly, the potatoes should have been well and truly cooked BEFORE 10mins and certainly not in need of 'hard mashing'. Were they 'whole' or very large pieces (ie halves).

Have you any idea which model of Prestige it is that you've got? check on here, to see if you can spot yours - http://www.prestige.co.uk/pressure-cookers.html

Emuchops

Hello, the potato was cut into pieces. My cooker has solid metal 'rings' that take an age to heat up, so I'm sure this is a factor. Will try using it again soon and report the results. It doesn't seem as intimidating now I've done the potatoes.

Lilyplonk

aaaaahhhhh - yup - see what you mean . Solid hotplates can make a big difference when cooking - a while to come up to temp - cold metal - cold water to come to the boil. I've been using a gas hob for so long, I'd forgotten about electric hotplates.

When my nan first got her PC in 1964, she had a very old-fashioned electric cooker - middle one in the link - but she was 'chuffed to little mint-balls' that it still reduced cooking times.

That particular PC was still being used 25yrs later when it accidentally got left behind during a house move.