all you cooks out there; do i need a pressure cooker?

[vash]

been thinking of getting one. i've been doing fine without one, so far. anyone use one regularly? figured fast stews and stocks would be awesome.

my friend got a high end stainless, heavy bottom one from china for very little money. he heads out next month with his wife.

[gtc]

Superfast beef stew is pretty awesome... but at the end of the day it's just another gadget taking up space in the cupboard.

Lol at the chinese pressure cooker.... that sounds like an accident waiting to happen.

I would get a nice name brand pressure cooker. You will probably need to replace the seal someday, and I bet the chinese one could be hard to find.

[sammyg2]

Mom used to make awesome swiss steak and fried chicken in hers.

Always wanted to get one and try it out but I already have plenty of kitchen toys to play with.

[Zeke]

A good tool, but they've gotten very expensive. Ours died and we miss it. Best way to cook potatoes if you're going to have mashed. Artichokes in minutes. Stewed tomatoes for canning. The list goes on.

[vash]

Originally Posted by gtc

Lol at the chinese pressure cooker.... that sounds like an accident waiting to happen.

just so you know. every decent pressure cooker i looked at in dept stores..either from France, or China. most of them were from china. they were in the $120 range..or up.

[mjohnson]

Living at 7500 feet, a pressure cooker comes in pretty handy. We use ours at least twice a week.

We have one of these:
Kuhn Rikon Switzerland Products: 5 Qt Duromatic Top Model

It has a spring loaded device that holds the pressure. No rattletop means no hissing and other noise ('till you get to a high enough pressure - then it gently releases).

The foodie scene's done some pretty exhaustive testing - turns out that by not continuously releasing steam it preserves the flavors better.

We love ours, but since it was made by Swiss elves it was kind of pricey. I've seen it on Amazon for ~$170 though.

[Evans, Marv]

I've had a pressure cooker for ever. They're good for cooking things like Milt mentioned. Also really good for making tough cuts and tough types of meat (Corned beef comes to mind) tender without being dry. I also use mine as a plain old cooking pot. The gasket on mine is so old I can't even remember how old it is or the pressure cooker. It's an old Presto aluminum pressure cooker.

[vash]

i almost bought an aluminum one. but i decided against it. i know i will do some acid foods..like sunday gravy. i dont want to etch it into my dish and give me memory loss..

[trekkor]

My wife uses hers all the time.
She just bought a Cuisinart.
Her Farberware unit she replaced was ten years old and the non-stick coating was coming off.

Makes the cheap cuts of beef very tender.
Spices, onion and garlic.
Then uses the liquids to make fantastic sauces.


KT

[Joeaksa]

Have used one for years. Look at Goodwill or other second hand stores and you can find them at a reasonable price.

[911pcars]

I have a Manttra, made in India. Picked it up on eBay a few years ago for about $40. Works fine.

Sherwood

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by vash

i almost bought an aluminum one. but i decided against it. i know i will do some acid foods..like sunday gravy. i dont want to etch it into my dish and give me memory loss..

It's OK. You won't remember the memory loss.

Stews and stew like things where you want the meat soft. Instead of 3+ hours of simmering, it is 1/2 hour in the pressure cooker. My wife make a "chilli" like dish. It is made by boiling a specific mexican red pepper with garlic. This is pulverised and strained and the red sauce is then used in a lot of dishes (enchiladas, etc).

We take that sauce, mix in browned stew meat and then pressure cook for 20 minutes (20 minutes once it reached pressure). Then we add potatos, cook 5 more minutes. Meat (even super crappy chuck meat) is soft, without falling apart and the potatos are cooked, and again not falling apart.

I also make rice in mine, which takes all of 10 minutes.

Again, making soup from chicken bones. Don't cook the bones too long at pressure, or they totally dissolve! They also make pinto and other dried beans quickly.

Get yourself 2 of them. I like the very small size, for making small amounts and then the large one for larger amounts. My small one needs a new safety bung.

Most of them come with a small receipe book which will help you with most of the standard stuff (Potatos, rice, veggies, dried beans, meat, canning, etc).

[javadog]

Originally Posted by vash

figured fast stews and stocks would be awesome.

Stews, yes. Stocks, no.

JR

[jyl]

No personal experience, but I think I'm going to get one. Too many apparent uses to resist, for a guy who loves stews.

Right now I'm trolling eBay for a new (used) food processor. My 20 y/o Braun can barely handle hard cheese.

[red-beard]

Just made Coq au Vin with mine. Good stuff!

[304065]

Cliff, get the Kuhn Rikon or the Fissler. I have the Fissler, it rocks. You have to adapt your techniques to make it work but it saves enormous time!

[mjohnson]

Originally Posted by javadog

Stews, yes. Stocks, no.

JR

I'm not in complete agreement with that.

If you're getting your Julia Child on and doing highbrow stocks, especially for something like consomee, it's likely not the best tool for the job.

If you're making a quick stock with the roast chicken carcass for tomorrow lunch's chix and barley soup - the pressure cooker rocks! Yes it'll be cloudy. No the flavors won't be quite as pure and clean as the "right" way - but it'll be done by the time you're done with dinner.

The more thorough reviews I've seen also mentioned the difference in the quality of stock made in the rattle-top versus the springy-thingy types. I guess the rattle makes the flavors go away faster.

[javadog]

Originally Posted by mjohnson

If you're getting your Julia Child on and doing highbrow stocks...

Actually, I have found that the best use for one of these things is to cook about 10 pounds of chicken for my dogs. They love chicken and rice....

Never liked Julia much. She was too odd for me, and not much of a cook, although I did enjoy that movie Julie and Julia. I'm more a Jacques Pepin fan.

Cheers,
JR