33 replies to this topic

[TheMatt]

Recently I was able to buy the model of pressure cooker I've always wanted: an 8-litre Kuhn Rikon Hotel model. (I got mine on eBay so it's a year or two older than that link's "family" model, but it's the same thing...except I got it at half the price. woo! And, yes, I've inspected it. It was NIB and the gasket is still just fine. I've already ordered a spare gasket because...well, good to have one around.)

What I like about this model that it is a big pressure cooker that wide-and-big (28 cm diameter) not tall-and-big (22 cm diameter, like this stockpot model), so I could fit large pieces of meat or other things in it easily. And, yowza, is it big...but I'd always heard from friends that with pressure cookers, "Go Big" since you only get 2/3 of the volume to play with, etc.

Now, I have a few pressure cooker standards I'm going to try (stews, spare ribs...), but I thought I'd ask here to see if anyone has any good recipes that could help me use this baby to its fullest. I'm especially interested in those recipes that provide meals that can be doled out over a few days. Think "single man cooking for the week" style dishes and not "cooking for a dinner party" ones that should be eaten day of cooking. Recipes that can use the dimensions of this cooker would also be great.

[Daniel]

I have never used a pressure cooker and look forward to seeing the advise you get.. I only know pressure cookers for cooking beans, what is the sparerib dish you are making?

Edit to add: Wow this website provides a step by step.. Now I wonder if anyone has smoked ribs for a couple of hours before putting them in the pressure cooker with say smoked tomato sauce.. That might be interesting. Then grill after they come out of the pressure cooker.http://www.paulstravelpictures.com/Pressure-Cooker-Pork-Ribs-Recipe/

[TheMatt]

Welp, this evening I decided to take the PC out for a ride, cooking a picnic shoulder for some July 4th pulled pork. And, I have to say, it worked pretty well. I think I needed more liquid in the cooker since I was having a bear of a time getting the pressure to stabilize. Likewise, I think I cooked it a bit to long as afterwards a good chunk of the shoulder was a bit too tough to shred. But, since the shoulder was a nine-pounder (bone-in, on-sale), I still got about 8, 9 cups of pulled pork. Not too efficient, but not bad for about $6-7.

[The Scream]

Now, I have a few pressure cooker standards I'm going to try (stews, spare ribs...), but I thought I'd ask here to see if anyone has any good recipes that could help me use this baby to its fullest. I'm especially interested in those recipes that provide meals that can be doled out over a few days. Think "single man cooking for the week" style dishes and not "cooking for a dinner party" ones that should be eaten day of cooking. Recipes that can use the dimensions of this cooker would also be great.

Tagines

[TheMatt]

I'm thinking I might do a cheesecake in the PC this weekend. I'll have to adapt the recipes as I have a 9" springform and most PC cheesecake recipes are for 7". Luckily, a 9" cylinder is almost 2x the volume of a 7" (not quite, but almost).

My problem is *what* recipe. I have a key lime one that looks interesting...

[Daniel]

Well, out of nowhere, I get a package sent to me. I open the box and I have this huge ol pressure cooker smiling up at me. I have no idea what to do with this thing but, will have some fun with it for sure..

Anyone have any ideas? I think I am going to make chicken stock tonight.

[Daniel]

I guess my question is, does cooking with a pressure cooker provide anything other than speed. Because, i don't really have a need for speed in cooking. I care about the best results.


Daniel

[Daniel]

So last night, I unpacked the pressure cooker. I don't know why I was so nervous about the thing, they are simple. To a pot, I added a tray of chicken thighs, a package of chicken feet, a package of chicken backs, celery, carrot, onion, parsley, a bay leaf, garlic and peppercorns. Closed the cover and turned the heat on high. In about 30 minutes, the PSI Regulator started slowly moving up. It finally got to 15 psi which is where the instructions indicated we want to be at. I lowered the heat and kept it puttering away at 15 PSI.

I was told to keep it there for 30 minutes but, instead I left it there for an hour. So, now we have been cooking for 1.5 hours. I turned the heat off completely and went to bed and allowed the pressure to slowly dissipate.

I woke up this morning strained the stock and it looks great. Chicken stock for everyone!

I am making a chickpea salad for a wedding we are catering this weekend. Look forward to attempting to cook some chickpeas tonight.

[TheMatt]

I am making a chickpea salad for a wedding we are catering this weekend. Look forward to attempting to cook some chickpeas tonight.

Yeah, they really are the best thing ever for dried beans and legumes. Just remember, no more than about 1/3 full and you might have to add some oil to prevent foaming.

[Daniel]

I am making a chickpea salad for a wedding we are catering this weekend. Look forward to attempting to cook some chickpeas tonight.

Yeah, they really are the best thing ever for dried beans and legumes. Just remember, no more than about 1/3 full and you might have to add some oil to prevent foaming.

Ooo thanks.. Next week, ropa vieja...

[Daisy]

So last night, I unpacked the pressure cooker. I don't know why I was so nervous about the thing, they are simple. To a pot, I added a tray of chicken thighs, a package of chicken feet, a package of chicken backs, celery, carrot, onion, parsley, a bay leaf, garlic and peppercorns. Closed the cover and turned the heat on high. In about 30 minutes, the PSI Regulator started slowly moving up. It finally got to 15 psi which is where the instructions indicated we want to be at. I lowered the heat and kept it puttering away at 15 PSI.

I was told to keep it there for 30 minutes but, instead I left it there for an hour. So, now we have been cooking for 1.5 hours. I turned the heat off completely and went to bed and allowed the pressure to slowly dissipate.

I woke up this morning strained the stock and it looks great. Chicken stock for everyone!

I am making a chickpea salad for a wedding we are catering this weekend. Look forward to attempting to cook some chickpeas tonight.

Please tell me you didn't leave the stock unrefrigerated overnight.

[Suzanne F]

So last night, I unpacked the pressure cooker. I don't know why I was so nervous about the thing, they are simple. To a pot, I added a tray of chicken thighs, a package of chicken feet, a package of chicken backs, celery, carrot, onion, parsley, a bay leaf, garlic and peppercorns. Closed the cover and turned the heat on high. In about 30 minutes, the PSI Regulator started slowly moving up. It finally got to 15 psi which is where the instructions indicated we want to be at. I lowered the heat and kept it puttering away at 15 PSI.

I was told to keep it there for 30 minutes but, instead I left it there for an hour. So, now we have been cooking for 1.5 hours. I turned the heat off completely and went to bed and allowed the pressure to slowly dissipate.

I woke up this morning strained the stock and it looks great. Chicken stock for everyone!

I am making a chickpea salad for a wedding we are catering this weekend. Look forward to attempting to cook some chickpeas tonight.

Please tell me you didn't leave the stock unrefrigerated overnight.

It will be fine. And so will Daniel and Misses A and K. All that time under pressure (and therefore higher-than-boiling temperature) will have taken out pretty much any pathogens.

[Daniel]

So last night, I unpacked the pressure cooker. I don't know why I was so nervous about the thing, they are simple. To a pot, I added a tray of chicken thighs, a package of chicken feet, a package of chicken backs, celery, carrot, onion, parsley, a bay leaf, garlic and peppercorns. Closed the cover and turned the heat on high. In about 30 minutes, the PSI Regulator started slowly moving up. It finally got to 15 psi which is where the instructions indicated we want to be at. I lowered the heat and kept it puttering away at 15 PSI.

I was told to keep it there for 30 minutes but, instead I left it there for an hour. So, now we have been cooking for 1.5 hours. I turned the heat off completely and went to bed and allowed the pressure to slowly dissipate.

I woke up this morning strained the stock and it looks great. Chicken stock for everyone!

I am making a chickpea salad for a wedding we are catering this weekend. Look forward to attempting to cook some chickpeas tonight.

Please tell me you didn't leave the stock unrefrigerated overnight.

I did.. Even gave it a taste this morning. When I say overnight.. I finished the stock at 130 in the morning and tasted it at 645..

[Rail Paul]

This thread has me considering a search for my pressure cooker. I haven't used it in years...

[Daniel]

I put an entire bag of unsoaked, dried chickpeas in the pressure cooker the other day. I have the super large pressure cooker so it takes about 20 minutes for it to pressurize. From there, I let the beans cook at 15 psi for about 26 minutes. I cut the pressure and had perfectly cooked chickpeas. 46 minutes start to finish, perfectly cooked chickpeas. The future is now my friends.

I have been eating them salted and cold. The other day, I roasted some in olive oil and they became perfectly little crunchy guys. I added some garlic to a hot pan filled with a chinese chile oil. Cooked out the garlic and added the beans, then some smoked spanish paprika, then two shots of tabasco, then some red wine vinegar. This was a simple delicious spicy plate of chickpeas. It will make a perfect side or an accompaniment to squid.

The chinese supermarket has incredibly large snails, I think I am going to toss those into the cooker one of these days. Also want to cook a scungili salad soon.