Is a pressure cooker a good thing?

[Zab]

I read a thread about preassure cookers and wondered.. is that a nice thing to have?

My car passed the annual check-up with no flaws so I might have a few kronor to spend (in sweden you must have your car checked every year and usually with old cars they find something that needs fixing; rust, breaks, small parts. If you don't fix it in a month you'll be driving illegally).

Anyhow.. I can only afford a cheap IKEA preassure cooker :lol: yes, Ikea happened to be the only ones carrying any nearby..

Is it worth it? I've never used any before.. how do I change recepies to fit that method of cooking?
Will it only reduce cooking time or will the meat be more tender as well?

I'm also concidering a food sealer.. but that can wait..

Or I could just save the money concidering I'm already over my budget..

 

[mystang89]

I read a thread about preassure cookers and wondered.. is that a nice thing to have?

My car passed the annual check-up with no flaws so I might have a few kronor to spend (in sweden you must have your car checked every year and usually with old cars they find something that needs fixing; rust, breaks, small parts. If you don't fix it in a month you'll be driving illegally).

Anyhow.. I can only afford a cheap IKEA preassure cooker :lol: yes, Ikea happened to be the only ones carrying any nearby..

Is it worth it? I've never used any before.. how do I change recepies to fit that method of cooking?
Will it only reduce cooking time or will the meat be more tender as well?

I'm also concidering a food sealer.. but that can wait..

Or I could just save the money concidering I'm already over my budget..

I'm biased but YES! Imho it's a great investment if you get one that isn't a lemon. (Look at the thread I haven't posted yet if you don't know what I'm talking about.)
Really the only thing I can think of that you might have to change in your recipes would be to add liquid if your recipe doesn't call for it. It depends completely on the recipe but I do all my cooking in the pressure cooker - from browning the meat, sauteing onions, making gravy to actually pressure cooing all of it together. It helps to bring the entire taste together.

As far as just lessening cooking times or actually making the meat juicy, mouth-wateringly tender...yes and yes.

I think the only thing a pressure cooker can't do is clean your cloths

That stinks about having to do that with the car every year. They used to do that where I live but to a lesser extent. It was just an emissions test but they did away with that as well, probably ran out of money.

A food sealer is also a good investment as well but I understand money constraints.

 

[Zab]

xD A lemon? I might actually understand that phrase after watching Disneys "Cars 2".. :O I'll try to find the thread you havn't posted yet x) I hope to learn what to look for to avoid lemons?

I don't mind having the car checked.. rather that than having it fail on the highway. Last year the carrying beam on my Atos was rusted down to nothing and the left front wheel was just secured with a few small stabilising things.. I had noticed a noise but people kept telling me it was just the break-block thingies needing to be changed. >< Im also happy for anything that keeps others from colliding with me due to malfunctions <br /><br />__________ Fri Apr 12, 2013 2:55 pm __________<br /><br />Looked online and Ikeas cooker has actually gotten good reviews. Even from people who were sceptic. Now it's cheap, it won't be the best to get.. but appearantly we have nearly no preassure cookers in Sweden and most are some 300+ usd to buy. Ikeas is 50.. so..
I actually think I'll buy it.

I wonder why we don't have them when I read most of our neighbours do.. appearantly a few exploded in the 50ies so people got scared..

 

[Dood]

There are entire cook books devoted to pressure cooking and I agree that it is a fabulous invention.

The only down side is over cooking can turn vegetables and even meat to mushy slop, so watch the clock and don't over cook. Also keep it in good working order to avoid explosions and make sure the rubber seal is good and get it replaced if it gets brittle.

 

[Zab]

I really think I'll have to go visit IKEA tomorrow :lol:

Thanks for the advice, I've heard to rub some oil on the rubber seals once in a while as well?

And I'll need to go find some yummy recipy as Lakrits is on his way to freezer camp soonish
Can I cook it first and then fry it a bit in a pan to give it colour? Or for the summer - cook it before bbq?

 

[mystang89]

Thanks for the advice, I've heard to rub some oil on the rubber seals once in a while as well? Can I cook it first and then fry it a bit in a pan to give it colour? Or for the summer - cook it before bbq?

Yeah, they say to rub some cooking oil on the seal after each use in order to keep it from cracking after so long.

The reason pressure cookers blew up back in the 50's was because there wasn't really any secure locks on them. They were just held on by groves in the lid and a piece of metal on the lid handle that slightly slid over the pot handle. The pressure cookers today are much safer to use but you still do need to be careful and look at the pressure cooker you get to make sure it has met safety standards, otherwise :explode:

If I want color on the meat or the grilled taste to it I sizzle it in the pressure cooker or put it on the grill first. I would think that if you put the rabbit in the pressure cooker first and then put it on the grill that the meat would fall off the bone and into the fire. I suppose pressure cooking it first and then frying it might be ok though since there is no fire for it to fall into. Just my thoughts though.

 

[MaggieJ]

Pressure cookers are good... but unless you are looking to process a lot of rabbits (or other meat) you might want to hold off on the expenditure.

Meat can be just as tender and flavorful using the "sear and simmer" method. Brown the meat (floured or not, just as you please) in a hot skittle or stew pot and then add a little liquid (apple juice works well), put the lid on and reduce the temperature to the minimum. This is my favourite way to cook most meats... They come out tender but not "stewed".

 

[mystang89]

Maggie is right about being able to sear and simmer it. I just normally don't have the patience for the simmering part. Another reason it works so well for me is because I normally forget to lay out the meat for it to thaw until about an hour before we are supposed to eat so I need something that thaws it, cooks it and makes it taste like I slaved over it for days before my wife gets home.

 

[Zab]

Thanks

I figured they'd be safe after 60 years so I'm not that worried I know it's a cheap brand but I also know that IKEA tends to have some sort of quality.. the ''ugly and simple but functional'' type *lol* I saw an OBH Nordica for a bit more in another place and although they're a well known brand I'm not trusting them. Bought a juicer by them before and when I tried to juice berries there would leak juice into the machine and pour out in the bottom with the wires... so stylish but I don't think safety is their priority.
Anyway, this one has had good reviews and this far everyone is happy with it from what I can find out. Except one guy but he was some sort of preassure cooker geek who had a better one.. and I don't expect this one to be as effective as the 300usd ones.

How do you mean with ''stewed'' meat?

The thing is that the few times I cook (when I lived in my appartment and when I feel to actually do something at home) I tend to make pots and such that boils for hours. That is nice and all, but I wouldn't mind being able to do that a bit faster. Mostly, dad does the cooking.. a part is because the things I like to make takes forever. He usually bils potatoes and fries some meat in the pan, and makes it taste great. My meat always turn out dry if I try to do that. So my cooking is more the soup-oven-boild forever type of foods with lots of veggies.. we're complete opposites.. xD If I could make a 2-3 hour boil in 30-60 minutes instead, I might be of more use at home. Rabbit or not.. <br /><br />__________ Sat Apr 13, 2013 10:09 am __________<br /><br />I bought it
And I've made my first meal.. I love it. Even though it tried to kill me.. (I didn't expect a 5 foot beam of hot steam to come out and twirl around all of a sudden.. but that makes cooking more interesting I guess )

But the meat (beef.. from the shoulder area..) was lovely. I need more spices is all.. and the veggies wasmn't overcooked, strangely enough, just perfect.. I've had meat boiliung for hours and not getting that nice.. and 25 minutes only.. I love it. Simple as that.. why is it not more common over here? :O

But I need to learn the whole spicing and salting thing.. I normally do a little at a time and taste it, which doesn't feel that simple with this device.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Wow, that turned out very nicely!

I am going to have to give it a try. We have a pressure cooker/canner, but have only canned with it so far.

 

[Mickey328]

I use one of my pressure cookers at least once a week. You can cook the toughest cuts of meat in a short time and they come out meltingly tender. I also use my big one to make stock instead of just simmering it all day long, it's ready in less than an hour. They're wonderful things!

 

[Zab]

MSD - yes, try it! I'm blown away by mine
Mickey: I believe you
Will try a year or more old buck in it sometime soonish..

 

[jollysrabbits]

sorry I am gonna be the safety guy here, you said a bunch of steam came out, did you purge it to release the pressure properly, a little steam is normal, but you either have to open valve or depress the purge button for about 3-4 minutes.( depends on your model) I love my pressure cooker, got a really cool one as a wedding present, its electric and doubles as a rice cooker/crock pot

 

[Zab]

Not sure how you mean?

It does spit out a lot of steam in the start (from the vent), when it has reached preassure and untill I've turned the heat down. I read about it in a review as well but didn't think it was so much. I don't really like that it comes so suddenly, but I can live with that..
Once the heat is down it stops and just puffs out a bit of steam that's not worrysome (probably less than a normal pot). There was no problems to have it release preassure when the food was finished - I poured cold water on the lid as the manual said and then it say ''poof'' and I can open it.

As far as the manual goes, there's no way to tweak or put any setting on how much of a preassure it gets.. It's either full force or none..

__________ Sat Apr 13, 2013 11:52 am __________

It looks like this and appearantly that is the signal to turn down the heat.. there's no really good sign that it's going to blow like that though, so if you have a nicer way of heating it up I won't mind?

 

[jollysrabbits]

I am not familiar with the working of that model, I guess as long as you follow the instructions you will be good to go.

 

[Zab]

Well, looked around and got the advice to let the heat build up slowly on less heat (in spite of the manuals advice) instead. It migt be a good idea

 

[Frosted Rabbits]

There are certain foods that should NOT be pressure cooked-- Rice, for example!!! It clogs the release valve-- A friend did not know that, and the petcock literally BLEW through the roof. She told a friend, and he indicated feathers will do the same thing (he pressure cooks whole birds for his dogs)

 

[Zab]

Good to know It say rice and swelling food should not be filled to more than 1/3 of the cooker so it won't swell up to the lid.. but you mean even that is bad?

 

[mystang89]

They say if you are going to pressure cook rice or beans then it's a good idea to put a small amount of oil in with them. For the rice it's supposed to help keep the rice grounded and for the beans it's supposed to keep the peeling shell from rising and clogging the hole. I don't know if this works or not but that is the recommendation.

BTW, Congrats on the pressure cooker. Like I said in my original post, they are GREAT!