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Pressure Cooking

olbriar

olbriar

 
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Anyone like to cook under pressure? I started pressure cooking twenty five years ago or so. My mother had a pressure cooker and pressure fryer though she never cooked under pressure. A guy that I grew up with shared sysop duties with me on our local U's bbs and he turned me onto cooking under pressure. There are many benefits of cooking under pressure. The pressure increases the temperature in which liquid turns to gas vapor, thus increasing the cook temp beyond just boiling. This decreases the time of the cook and also helps break down fats and connecting tissues of meats. It produces a more tender dish and is healthier in less time. A pressure cooker is a fantastic tool for cooking dried beans. Again, less time for the cook is good but the higher temp released more starch from beans and the end product is tender and healthier. Cooking chicken under pressure not only produce tender and moist chicken cuts but the broth is extra flavorful for the higher temp pulls flavor out of the bones. One of my pressure cookers has a tray that sits above the water for steaming veggies. Steamed vegetables hold their color and texture while becoming tender.

I will admit that I've gotten away from pressure cooking. Ever since I bought my first smoker, it has become my cooking tool of choice. I just love the added smoke flavor I get from using a smoker. Meats are tender for they cook slowly at a low temp. Smoking meats is a great cooking option. However, as I'm smoking a tri-tip as I type, I started thinking about how good that cut of meat might be if I had pressure cooked it. I would have rubbed it with oil, seasoned it, brazed it in the bottom of the pressure cooker, added water and some bay leaves, and then let it cook under pressure.

Anyone into pressure cooking? Any special cooks you want to share?
 
i use my ninja foodi, which is an all in one cooker. it can pressure cook as well as air fry, roast, braise, and more. i use it mainly when i make pot roast or stews. i also pressure cook my ribs and then smoke then on my woodfire grill or my charcoal grill depending on the type of smoke i want to do.
 
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My wife and I have been using pressure cookers (seemingly) forever. We started with one of those stove top "jiggle top" cookers with the interchangeable weights. They worked well, but you had to keep an eye on things or the safety seal would blow from too much pressure. I got distracted with a phone call once while cooking, and launched the seal right through the kitchen ceiling! Also, the jiggler sounded like a hissing snake and terrified our dogs. Now we use an Instant Pot. It's foolproof and silent, though we pretty much just use it for three recipes: beef stew, chicken stew, and our own version of pigs in a blanket.
 
My go to pressure cooker has a knocker on top and a gasket seal on the lid. I've had only one incident with it and it was user error. I had failed to make certain the gasket was properly seated. It held pressure for a while then it didn't. Once the seal had been lost, the lid allowed a great deal of liquid to boil out on to the stove top.

I have a huge pressure cooker that I've used only once since we purchased a glass top stove. The cooker was ideal for cooking whole chickens and such and worked flawlessly but has been in storage for years now. With its size, it far exceeded the largest burner footprint on the glass top. I had no idea that cooking within that footprint was important. I was cooking a chicken when my new stove top cracked big time across the burner. I was fortunate that the authorized repairman replaced the top under warranty but he said it was obvious to him I had not adhered to the use instructions.
 
I used my pressure cooker recently to cook a pot of Navy beans. I like to bring my beans to a knocking temp then turn the burner off and let the pot slowly cool and loose enough pressure to open the lid. I then pour off the liquid and rinse the beans. I then fill the pot again with water, add my ham, and let the beans and ham cook twenty minutes at a medium knock and then turn off the burner. Again I let the pot cool and the beans are done to perfection.
 
I haven't decided, but I'll be cooking some more Navy beans or pinto beans tomorrow. I plan to add some of the pulled pork I smoked today and have a meal of it. I love beans, they are good for me, and it seems a great way to use some of my pulled pork. I'll definitely be using the pressure cooker for my beans. It's a great tool for cooking beans.
 
Black eyed peas today in the pressure cooker. I like to rinse the peas and then put them in the pressure cooker and bring the pot to high pressure. I then turn the fire off and let the pot cool and loose pressure. Once it's safe to open the cooker, I'll again rinse the peas and add new liquid. I'm in no hurry so I'll slow cook them with some pork in an open pot until tender.

Every now and then I google up a pressure cooked meal of some sort. I'm amazed that most all of the recipes that are out there are for some sort of instant pot or other electric pressure cooker. I guess I'm using an antique cooker. :) Maybe they are easier or less dangerous to use. Or maybe they are just bringing the science of pressure cooking to a new generation. Whatever the reason, the old traditional pressure cooking pot is definitely not a popular option today. The science is the same...
 
olbriar said:
Black eyed peas today in the pressure cooker. I like to rinse the peas and then put them in the pressure cooker and bring the pot to high pressure. I then turn the fire off and let the pot cool and loose pressure. Once it's safe to open the cooker, I'll again rinse the peas and add new liquid. I'm in no hurry so I'll slow cook them with some pork in an open pot until tender.

Every now and then I google up a pressure cooked meal of some sort. I'm amazed that most all of the recipes that are out there are for some sort of instant pot or other electric pressure cooker. I guess I'm using an antique cooker. :) Maybe they are easier or less dangerous to use. Or maybe they are just bringing the science of pressure cooking to a new generation. Whatever the reason, the old traditional pressure cooking pot is definitely not a popular option today. The science is the same...
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i love my ninja foodi cuz it does everything. so yes it makes pressure cooking easier and safer. i can't open it until there is no pressure. there is a valve that prevents any premature opening until that pressure is released. i have never pressure cooked beans before. i do like black eyed peas, but never tried to cook them. might be something i might want to try.
 
With all this talk about black eyed peas I went to the store to get some to soak over night, and they were sold out

blackeyepea.jpg
 
Canned beans contain a lot of sodium. Canned black eyed peas are not bad but they pale in comparison to cooking the dried pea. I never soak my peas but I let them come to high pressure in my cooker then turn off the heat and let the pressure drop naturally. I then rinse them again and pressure cook them until done.. around ten minutes.. or let them simmer and slowly cook. Either way they are fine eating. I like to dice onion up in my peas and I like to cook them with a bit of pork. Today I used half a pound of bacon for seasoning.
 
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