Pressure cooker favorites?

[Honey Badger]

We've been wanting a pressure cooker for some time and I just bought one on Amazon before they started adding tax.
DH used it the other night to cook Delicata squash and they came out great after 4 minutes.  Just plain cooked, though; nothing fancy.

I want to use it for meal stuff because we've gotten quite lazy about cooking and when I'm working long hours I don't want to come home and start a big meal.

So what are your favorite pressure cooker recipes?

[moroccangirl]

Oh man. I'll be following this. I want a pressure cooker so I can make my meats tender, but I need to watch some YouTube videos on how to use them.

[nadra24]

I am pretty sure my mom uses hers exclusively for mashed potatoes.  I use it for that, but also for corn on the cob, black beans, and sometimes brown rice.  I would use it for steel cut oats, but I put so much garlic and cumin in my black beans that my pressure cooker has taken on a slight odor.  Cumin-flavored oatmeal is not delicious, just sayin.

[merigayle]

I use mine multiple times a week, but mostly cooking beans and grains.

[ecodork]

-Beans
-Artichokes
-Risotto! It's a much faster method than having to stand there stirring for 45 minutes.

[Honey Badger]

I am pretty sure my mom uses hers exclusively for mashed potatoes.  I use it for that, but also for corn on the cob, black beans, and sometimes brown rice.  I would use it for steel cut oats, but I put so much garlic and cumin in my black beans that my pressure cooker has taken on a slight odor.  Cumin-flavored oatmeal is not delicious, just sayin.

Really?  This surprises me.  Is it stainless?  If so, I thought stainless steel was more impermeable than that.

We've only used it a couple times so far.  I need to get over the idea that it's going to take more effort to get it up to pressure and cook that it would be to just throw whatever it is into a saucepan and boil.
I'm going to make something (meal-foodish) this weekend; maybe black bean soup or a pot roast.

[merigayle]

Really?  This surprises me.  Is it stainless?  If so, I thought stainless steel was more impermeable than that.

We've only used it a couple times so far.  I need to get over the idea that it's going to take more effort to get it up to pressure and cook that it would be to just throw whatever it is into a saucepan and boil.
I'm going to make something (meal-foodish) this weekend; maybe black bean soup or a pot roast.

you mean less effort, right?

[Honey Badger]

you mean less effort, right?

I mean that since I haven't actually used it (DH has), that I have it in my head that it'd just be easier to toss potatoes or whatever in a saucepan and boil them than to go to the hassle of getting the cooker up to pressure and then back down again.
I told DH this last night and he assured me that it gets up to pressure in a couple of minutes.

I have dried black beans and just bought the remaining ingredients necessary to make black bean soup.  It's not going to be veg as I figured I'd make DH happy and add Andouille sausage.  I'll probably make that tomorrow.
The recipe calls for cumin seed and all I have is cumin powder.  Hopefully it won't matter.

[merigayle]

I mean that since I haven't actually used it (DH has), that I have it in my head that it'd just be easier to toss potatoes or whatever in a saucepan and boil them than to go to the hassle of getting the cooker up to pressure and then back down again.
I told DH this last night and he assured me that it gets up to pressure in a couple of minutes.

I have dried black beans and just bought the remaining ingredients necessary to make black bean soup.  It's not going to be veg as I figured I'd make DH happy and add Andouille sausage.  I'll probably make that tomorrow.
The recipe calls for cumin seed and all I have is cumin powder.  Hopefully it won't matter.

it is pretty easy and it does get up to pressure pretty fast, and then you just turn the knob to release the pressure and it releases, so you really do not have to do anything, or some recipes are natural release where you just take it off the heat and let it come down from pressure on it's own.

[gebuh]

it is pretty easy and it does get up to pressure pretty fast, and then you just turn the knob to release the pressure and it releases, so you really do not have to do anything, or some recipes are natural release where you just take it off the heat and let it come down from pressure on it's own.

I like to run water over it to release.
I second beans and risotto.  It's also great for brown rice and stews.

[monster2]

I want one! My friend used to make the most amazing black beans with chorizo and pigs feet, I passed on the actual feet but it was amazing, the chorizo got so tender!

Sent from my MB865 using Tapatalk 2

[merigayle]

I like to run water over it to release.
I second beans and risotto.  It's also great for brown rice and stews.

most of the recipes i use call for either "natural release" or "quick release," not sure where running water over it would fall into those two? Or totally different method?

[ecodork]

most of the recipes i use call for either "natural release" or "quick release," not sure where running water over it would fall into those two? Or totally different method?

I think it's the same thing. Older models don't have a quick-release knob/toggle, so running cold water over the pot reduces the pressure, allowing you to open the lid with out getting scalded/have beans exploding all over your kitchen.

[merigayle]

That makes sense!

[gebuh]

I think it's the same thing. Older models don't have a quick-release knob/toggle, so running cold water over the pot reduces the pressure, allowing you to open the lid with out getting scalded/have beans exploding all over your kitchen.

No - I have a newer model, so it has the relief valve thingy, but it's noisy and spews steam(and sometimes bits of other stuff)  So I run water over a portion of the lid - same as quick release.

[merigayle]

No - I have a newer model, so it has the relief valve thingy, but it's noisy and spews steam(and sometimes bits of other stuff)  So I run water over a portion of the lid - same as quick release.

interesting, yes it does spew steam and water and stuff.

[Honey Badger]

No - I have a newer model, so it has the relief valve thingy, but it's noisy and spews steam(and sometimes bits of other stuff)  So I run water over a portion of the lid - same as quick release.

This is what the instructions say on ours, too.  New.

Today I cooked the green beans and corn on the cob in 2 minutes!
We'll be having black bean soup with Cuban Andouille sausage and ham hocks (for flavor) sometime this week.
I need to buy cumin seeds, though.  Apparently using powdered cumin in a pressure cooker causes it to lose a lot of its flavor. 

We have a subscription to Cooks Illustrated and they had tested pressure cookers, which is what we used to make our choice.  It's this one:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00023D9RG/ref=oh_details_o00_s01_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

They strongly recommended an 8 qt, even for 2 people.  The other one that was rated quite good was a lot more $$, so we went with the cheaper one.
http://www.amazon.com/Fissler-Vitaquick-Pressure-Cooker-FIS5859/dp/B00873AOIU/ref=sr_1_44?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1378677571&sr=1-44&keywords=pressure+cooker

[merigayle]

Yeah food cooks fast! Never did corn the cob, hmmmm. I broke my last one and did upgrade to the larger model but still prefer my older one, maybe I am just having a hard time adjusting to change.

[gebuh]

This is what the instructions say on ours, too.  New.

Today I cooked the green beans and corn on the cob in 2 minutes!
We'll be having black bean soup with Cuban Andouille sausage and ham hocks (for flavor) sometime this week.
I need to buy cumin seeds, though.  Apparently using powdered cumin in a pressure cooker causes it to lose a lot of its flavor. 

We have a subscription to Cooks Illustrated and they had tested pressure cookers, which is what we used to make our choice.  It's this one:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00023D9RG/ref=oh_details_o00_s01_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

They strongly recommended an 8 qt, even for 2 people.  The other one that was rated quite good was a lot more $$, so we went with the cheaper one.
http://www.amazon.com/Fissler-Vitaquick-Pressure-Cooker-FIS5859/dp/B00873AOIU/ref=sr_1_44?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1378677571&sr=1-44&keywords=pressure+cooker

I never use powdered cumin - I buy the seeds and grind them as I need them, same with coriander and pepper - extra points for toasting them first, try it you'll never go back to powdered.  I'm on my 2nd pressure cooker, I didn't do as your recommendation suggested and got a smaller one.  It reaches pressure faster but since you need so much head room it can't cook in the amounts I like (prison sized portions), plus I wanted to do some pressure canning (have yet to do that).  I just recently started cooking rice in it - somebody here (I think it was Meri) put me on to that, I gotta try brown rice in there.

[witchypoo]

i'm surprised to hear you use a pressure cooker for corn on the cob, nadra.

i steam mine for 3 minutes in a regular stock pot and it's perfect every time.  is there a benefit to using the pressure cooker?