How To Use A Pressure Cooker ?

A pressure cooker is one of the most useful tools you can have for the kitchen. Although chefs and other skilled cooks have been using pressure cookers for decades, the average home cook often avoids them. Some people think that pressure cookers are dangerous and are afraid to use one, while others think it is too complex for an unskilled cook to use. This is not true at all, as just about anyone can use a pressure cooker. Here is a step by step guide for how to use a pressure cooker that will help beginners feel more at ease usingthis device.

 Start with the Manual

Not all pressure cookers are the same. Although this guide will work for most pressure cookers you should still read the manufacturer’s user manual that came with your pressure cooker. This will ensure that you are getting specific  directions for you device. If you have lost your user’s  manual then you can usually find a replacement online or by contacting the manufacturer directly. Here are some basic steps that will work with most pressure cookers in the event that you cannot get the user’s manual.

 Before you Start

The first thing you need to do is to thoroughly inspect and clean your pressure cooker. You should make sure there are no dried food particles inside the device or around the lid, as this could stop you from getting the proper seal. You should also inspect the gasket to be sure there are no cracks, tears or other signs of deterioration. You should also make sure that all vent valves are free of debris and that the handles are tightly connected.

 Filling Your Pressure Cooker

Pressure cookers work by heating water and other liquids to super hot temperatures that allow you to cook meats and other large food items much more quickly. The amount of liquid you put in your pressure cooker will depend on what type it is, but most of the time you never want to add more than a cup of water or other liquids to your pressure cooker. This amount is usually enough for twenty minutes of cooking, but you should test you’re your particular device if you are unsure. You should never fill your pressure cooker more than two thirds of the way to the top and if you are cooking foods that might froth or foam, you should never fill it more than halfway.

 Building Pressure

After you have filled your pressure cooker you need to build up the pressure. You must first close and lock the lid on top of the device. Be sure that it is in the locked position or you will not be able to get the necessary pressure. Then just put the pressure cooker over high heat and wait. Once the valve at the top starts to jiggle (about 3 to 5 times per minute). If you have a pressure cooker with a valve stem, then you should heat the cooker until it reaches 15 psi, which is the standard cooking pressure for most recipes. Once you have built the proper amount of pressure you can lower the temperature to a level that will maintain it.

 Cooking, Timing and Watching

You should not leave your pressure cooker unattended, as you may have to periodically adjust the temperature to maintain the correct amount of pressure. Every food item cooks differently in a pressure cooker, so be sure to consult your recipe for the exact cooking times of the food you are cooking. You should be sure to use a timer so that you do not overcook your items, as this can happen quickly if you are not careful.

 How to Release the Pressure

Your pressure cooker lid will not come off until all of the pressure is released. The method you use to release the pressure will depend on the type of food you are cooking, as some factor this into the cooking time. You can use the natural method, which takes the longest, as the pressure is gradually released on its own. You can speed things up by running the cooker under cold water or simply taking off the valve.

 Now that you know how to use a pressure cooker it is time to get out there and start cooking!

How Does A Pressure Cooker Work?

It’s difficult to imagine a world of home-cooked meals – especially comfort food – existing without the helpful kitchen appliance of a regular pressure cooker.
While not exactly the most sexy or attractive kitchen appliance – and very few pressure cookers have of the same kind of design aesthetic as Apple products – the truth of the matter is that there may not be a more personal and powerful small kitchen appliance that you can rely on for a broad number of dishes or cooking techniques. Pressure cookers have been around fordecades and decades, and give you the ability to transform ingredients into some of the most delicious meals you’ve ever had.
But exactly how does a pressure cooker work? We are going to break down all of the essential details for this kitchen technology – as well as outline a handful of primary applications and uses for the pressure cooker – in this quick and easy to read guide.
What is a pressure cooker supposed to do?
Before we dive directly into how a pressure cooker works, it’s essential to understand exactly what a pressure cooker is supposed to do in the first place.
While will dive deeper into the actual physics and principles behind the pressure cooker below as we explain exactly how a pressure cooker works, though just of the situation is that you’ll be using a rather simplified machine to speed up your cooking with the power of steam and pressure. Basically what we’re going to want to do is superheat water to around 212°F (the boiling point of water) and then use that steam inside of a pressurized cooking surface to speed up our cooking times dramatically.
Essential components of all pressure cookers
While all pressure cookers are built in manufactured differently, the truth of the matter is that they have a number of similar components and technologies to make the actual system work. The first thing is the actual cooking surface that you’ll be placing your ingredients inside of – what looks like a regular and every day pot or pan.
However, you’ll also notice that there is a hinged lid attached to the top of your pressure cooker – in the top will be adorned with a number of other little bits and pieces . A sealing ring goes around the entirety of the lid to make sure for an airtight seal when closed and locked, and overpressure plug make sure that steam has the ability to blow off when the pressure reaches dangerous levels, and is also a pressure regulator switch or not on the top of the lid as well. Finally, all pressure cookers come complete with a locking pin and handle – not only allowing you to safely move the pressure cooker around but also creating an airtight seal and system.
The principles behind cooking with pressure cookers
Even home cooks understand that water boils at 212°F – but once you reach that level you can’t “over boil” water. Sure, you can continue to raise the temperature – which are never going to be able to increase the temperature of the actual steam that it is producing.
However, the moment that you begin to place that steam under intense pressure (even with just say 15 psi or so), the pressure and heat of that steam increases from 212°F to around 257°F – a dramatic increase that can truly speed up the cooking time of any of your favorite dishes.
Not only are you going to be cooking your dishes at considerably higher temperatures, but you’re also going to be able to crank up the speed of your cooking because of the heat transfer properties that steam enjoys. While you’ll be able to stick your hand in an open 400° oven without burning yourself, just putting your hand over 212° steam will scold you and potentially burn you an instant. Now imagine what you’d be able to do with 257°F steam – the kind of steam that you’ll be able to get the moment you use your new pressure cooker.

Most estimates assume that you’ll be able to cut your cooking time (for variety of different meals) by at least two thirds – all depending upon the actual PSI settings that you’re using with your pressure cooker. However, at the very least you should be able to anticipate 50% reductions in your cooking times regardless of the settings that you’re using. This allows you to create world-class meals for the entire family in a fraction of the time it would have taken otherwise.
Perfect applications for your new pressure cooker
Now that you have all the information you need to properly  answer “how does a pressure cooker work?”, you’re probably a little bit excited to dive right into preparing your own world-class meals. There are a number of sites all throughout the Internet that can provide you with the kind of recipes you’re searching for – with focus on comfort foods like roasts, stews, chilies, and other one pot meals.
There are also a number of sites dedicated to helping you figure out how to pressure cook desserts – which can be a lot of fun the moment that you get started!

Presto Electric Pressure Cooker

The Presto Electric Pressure Cooker is a low cost pressure cooker, has a completely stainless steel body which makes it easy to clean. It is very easy to regulate and user friendly. This electric pressure cooker cooks meals easily using comparatively low energy and saves time. Presto Electric Pressure Cooker Body and Dimensions Presto electric pressure cooker comes in a stainless steel body, which ensures easy cleaning and is an efficient pressure cooker. This is highly useful for those who are absolutely against computerized or digital models. Unlike the other brands, it has a simple temperature control dial which one can manually turn to adjust to the required temperature from 0 to 400 degrees.

Normally other brands offer the soft touch LED display and programmable timers which some may find difficult to operate. The presto cooker has dimensions of 15.5″ x 9.5″ x 10.5″ and consumes about 1300W of power. The pressure cooker is of very high quality and value and needs a very low maintenance. It is very affordable as it is reasonably priced.

Although Presto Cooker does not get much attention by the people as the other brands receive, but yet the brand surprisingly offers a very good quality pressure cooker at a very low price. Presto electric pressure cooker’s 6 Quart model in compared to the conventional methodscooks at least 3 to 4 times faster. The pressure cooker also comes with a complete 64 page recipe booklet containing some of the very delicious recipes along with easy to follow instructions. The Presto cookers has a safety locking mechanism to prevent the pressure cooker from accidentally being opened while cooking food under high pressure such as 15 psi.The lid does have automatic locks for safety and there is no need for one to worry whether it locked properly or not.

Its pressure regulator provided in the lid makes it easy to gauge when cooking time begins. Presto Electric Pressure Cooker is Lacking Presto electric pressure cooker is a utilitarian cooker but it lacks some of the features found in other brands such as Fagor and Nesco electric pressure cookers, such as a low-pressure setting option which is essential for most people. It also lack steamer basket, but one can always buy a vegetable steamer basket separately. Further the pressure cooker does not have a quick steam release valve. To release the pressure immediately one must run the electric pressure cooker under cold water. Presto electric pressure cooker is normally immersible in water for cleaning.

These electric pressure cookers are dishwasher safe, hence no worries as the heat control dial is totally detachable. Presto Electric Pressure Cooker Pricing Presto Electric Pressure Cooker’s model 6003 is 9.25 x 9.5 x 11.75 and weighs 5.91 has a heavy cast aluminum body with non-stick surface inside and outside, with 6 quart capacity is priced at $32.59. It comes with 1-year limited warranty and consumes 1000 Watts of power. Its 6020 model, 6 quart electric multi-cooker, stainless steel make is priced at $56.95 and operates at 1500 Watts. This presto electric pressure cooker has an aluminum clad base for even heating of the food.

Best Electric pressure cooker recipes

Electric pressure cooker recipes make it easier to fix the delicious meals you crave.  In this article, I am going to give you some tips for electric canner recipes.  I will also recommend favorite book at the end that I am 100% sure you will love.  The Electric pressure cookers can always cook virtually anything ranging from rice, meat, soups, etc.  The main advantage of an electric pressure cooker is that you can walk away from the pot once everything has been properly set.  You can prepare meals up to 70% faster.  With this new found excitement, challenges also may appear.  Since you are preparing a meal faster, you want to be careful that different ingredients do not burn in the pot.  This is where a book about electric pressure cooker recipes would come in handy.

Electric Pressure Cooker Recipes and Tips

Following your electric pressure cooker recipes book, it is wise to add your food in small batches when utilizing the brown setting.   Why?  You can brown your vegetables and meats on all sides by adding a touch of olive or canola oil.  Once browning is finished, you can set aside what is in the pot and then add some wine to remove the flavor from the juices.  You can then re-add your main ingredients to cook under pressure.  The flavor is more intense this way.

Watch your liquid.  Because the food is sealed tight in a closed container, you do not need a lot of water as with a traditional pot.  1 cup of liquid is usually enough regardless of what you are cooking.  It is a good idea to always check your manufacturer’s manual for best recommendations.  If you have filled the pot more than half way inside of the pressure cooker, it is too much.

Don’t Overdo It – Do not fill the pressure cooker with too much food.  If you do, it will effect how the pressure cooker performs  and how your food comes out.  Two-thirds full is a good rule of thumb.

Electric Pressure Cooker Recipes – Simple Enough

An electric pressure can make it all easier as stated above.  You simply choose the desired pressure level.  Then, you set the desired time.  The controls should be easy to understand and navigate.  Next, just hit the start button.  The counter should start to countdown.  When desired level of pressure is reached out, there should be some sort of beeping sound indicating it is ready to attention.

Favorite Electric Pressure Cooker Recipes Cookbook

electric pressure cooker recipesI only recommend two books for Electric Pressure Cooker Recipes.  The first one is ‘Great Food Fast’ by Bob Warden.  This book was specifically designed for electric pressure cooker recipes.  Most pressure cooker books are written for stove top models.  It has a 4.5 out of 5 by Amazon.  What I like about this book.  All The directions are  really very well written.  Some valuable information including preparation time, cooking time and pressure needed.  The pages are color coded and easy enough for beginners to understand.  It has a simple outline in the back side for different types of foods which is very useful to everyone.  Over 170 people give this book 5 stars.

pressure perfectThe Runner up is Pressure Perfect.   This book offers some great recipes as well.  There also are really great extras, variations, transformations, and pressure points.  Many people buy both books as you will see. All These electric pressure cooker recipes can really be a treat for you and your family members.

Electric Pressure Cooker Reviews

Here at Electric pressure cooker reviews we do not want to waste your time.   In this article, we will review the top rated electric pressure cookers on the market.  There were many to choose from but most were not worth your time.  Then We have narrowed it down to two models.  Before we get into our top picks, we will let you know that the winners were pressurecookers we actually cooked numerous dishes in.  That’s right.  The pressure cookers that performed the best after several dishes are listed below.  There are many positive electric pressure cooker reviews about these dishes as well.

These pressure cookers either met or exceeded our expectations based upon the following criteria:

Performance:   How awesome tasty did the dishes come out?  Was the pan scorched?  Did anything malfunction in the process or was the food burned?

Durability:  We tested these pressure cookers for several weeks making several dishes.  These all pressure cookers still worked as advertised without anything breaking.

Safety:  This is self explanatory for Electric pressure cooker.  The electric pressure cookers on the whole are safe no doubt.  However, some brands people have complained that the beeper did not go off or that the temperature monitor did not work perfectly.  We ensured that these all certain features worked properly.

Clean-Up:  Is this pot dishwasher safe?  Can it be disassembled easily?  Can inner lid be easily removed for clean up?

Electric Pressure Cooker Reviews and buying guide – Instant Pot Performance

In the electric pressure cooker reviews. Our Winner is the Instant Pot Ip- Lux60 6-in-1 programmable pressure cooker.  It exceeded our expectations  and almost 400 people give it a five star rating on Amazon.  These electric pressure cooker reviews are the real deal.

>>Instant Pot lp Electric Pressure Cooker Reviews <<

There are 10 pre-programmed functions including: bean/chili/soup, meat/poultry/stew, congee/multi-grain rice/rice.  There are also separate settings for browning (sauté) or slow cooking.   The sauté option is used for browning meat or vegetables before deciding on how you want them cooked.  There are three sauté temperatures: low (275-302 F), normal (320-349 F), and More (347-410 F).  We do have a gripe, however.   You have to check the floating pressure valve after about 10 minutes to see if the lock is up indicating internal pressure.  If you do not, your meal could become undercooked.  Once you start the pressure cooker, you need to wait about 10 minutes and make sure the lock is up.  After that, you can go about your business. *Note* They are working to resolve this for their next model.

Slow cooked pasta sauces, meat and soups performed above average cooking faster than I expected without losing the flavor.  Some people complained in their electric pressure cooker reviews that they had issues with this but I did not that.  The rice also came out above average but you do have to be careful to not leave it on the warm setting for too long because the rice can dry out rather quickly than any other cooker.  I recommend adding some more water or serving the rice right after this is finished.  I expected my pork chops or beef stew to scorch the pan but that did not happen on the ‘more’ setting.

Durability: This pot holds 6.33 quarts capacity.  It weighs around 14 pounds.  What this means for you?  It is big enough for a family meal or roast, large enough for most families.  It is light enough to carry around, tuck it away in the cabinet, or keep it on the counter as many women noted from their electric pressure cooker reviews.

The stainless steel pot inside the cooker is great choice for the amount of wear and tear that pressure cooker will be experiencing especially if you cook a lot of amount. The  Stainless steel doesn’t peel off and most people do not want dangerous chemicals getting into their owned food.  As stated earlier, we cooked a lot of different dishes over several weeks and this pot continued to hold up as very well.  Nothing on this pressure cooker broke or malfunctioned.

>>Instant Pot lp Electric Pressure Cooker Reviews By Real People<<

Safety:  There are 10 full-proof safety options on this pressure cooker.  Everyone of these features I will not go into detail here but I will outline some of them for your convenience.

Last Resort Pressure Release Valve – This is used as a backup to the main pressure release valve.  If it fails, the excess pressure is released into the body of the unit.

Locking Lid – This prevents the lid from opening even without any power to it.

Temperature Monitor – This monitors the temperature inside of the pressure cooker making sure it is within a safe range.  If it does get outside of a safe range, the temperature turns off the heat.

Ease of Cleaning:

The outer part of the pan is easy to clean.  The inner pot is dishwasher safe as well.  The lid has to be hand washed only though.  Some may thing this is a pain but it is not too bad if you do not let the food dry on the lid.  There is a trough for the lid that can be a little stubborn to clean.  The pressure valve can be removed as well as the internal valve screen.  After removing the pressure valve and internal valve screen, then you can easily fit it into the dishwasher.  Easy Peasy!  Few users in their electric pressure cooker reviews noted that they had problems cleaning it.

InstaPot Cons:  The only Cons that I have is that the actual manual that comes with the pressure cooker can be a little confusing to navigate.  Some of the electric pressure cooker reviews state that the manual was not detailed enough.  Some of the other users have reported that they have burned vegetables as well.  If you are completely new to electric pressure cooking, then I suggest you actually buy a electric pressure cooker recipe book as well to go with it.  They have more detail and provide specific instructions.

Electric Pressure Cooker Reviews – Bottom Line

Bottom Line:  The overwhelmingly positive electric pressure cooker reviews regarding this model cannot be ignored.  Once you get comfortable with the cooking options and the preset settings, I think you will agree with the positive electric pressure cooker reviews!

Very Close Runner Up- The only other pressure cooker that we could positively recommend is the Emeril 1000 watt  6 quart electric cooker.  It performed just below our top pick.  Although many people are not familiar with it or it may not have many electric pressure cooker reviews, it is still an good choice.

Check out what others are saying in their Electric Pressure Cooker Reviews!

All American 921 All American Pressure Cooker and Canner review

The All American 921 All American Pressure Cooker/Canner is a pressure cooker and a canner in one. This product is made of hand-cast aluminum with a metal-to-metal sealing system with no gasket.

This product can hold 19 pint jars or 7 quart jars. The pressure gage can give the user a clear pressure reading so they can also control it. This cooker/canner has three settings: 5psi, 10psi, and 15psi.

Features and Specifications

• 21-1/2-quart pressure cooker/canner holds 19 pint jars or 7 quart jars
• Made of durable, hand-cast aluminum with attractive satin finish
• Exclusive “metal-to-metal” sealing system for a steam-tight seal; no gaskets
• Geared steam gauge, automatic overpressure release; settings of 5 psi, 10 psi, and 15 psi
• 15-3/8 inches high with 12-1/4-inch inside diameter; made in USA
• Product Dimensions: 16 x 15 x 17 inches ; 20 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 25 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B00004S88Z
• Item model number: 921

The Reviews

The durability of this product is what’s mostly making the customers happy. There was even one customer who said that with this kind of durability, you may be able to pass this on to your children. It is also very easy to use, according to the users. The product provides instructions, which, according to most were very easy to follow. Most of them said that it cut their cooking time to more than half, which is great, especially for those who are very busy.

This cooker is also great for people who cook for a lot of people, caterers, maybe, or those who hold parties regularly. For those who want to serve only themselves or only two or three people found this quite hard to maneuver. Some said that it’s too big and too heavy for everyday lifting and cooking. The height may also be too tall for some as it may require 16 inches of free space.

Another thing that a lot of users loved is that it doesn’t need a gaskets. Most people find that the gaskets should be replaced quite often and were inconvenient. Without the need for a gasket, everything is much easier.

The customer service also received a lot of positive reviews. They said that they were immediately able to get their product really fast after they’ve ordered.

There were some negative comments on the lid, however, as one couple said that they literally had to pull the lid off even after the pressure has gone down to 0psi. Maybe with a lot of getting used to and a lot of use, this problem could be solved.

For those who are new to the process of canning, the product comes with canning techniques and recipes for your convenience.