Cooking Under Pressure -The Ultimate Electric Pressure Recipe Cookbook and Guide for Electric Pressure Cookers.: Revised Edition #3 - Now Contains 175 Electric Pressure Cooker Recipes. (3 page)

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Using Inserts: Most pressure cookers come with a rack, called a trivet that keeps food from direct contact with the bottom of the pan, where the heat originates. This is to prevent scorching, but it is also handy for cooking two things at once. For example, you can layer the bottom with corn on the cob, or whole potatoes, add the water, then put the rack on top of the veggies. Now, place a whole chicken, roast, pork loin, pork chops, en papilotte packs (more on this coming up...), or anything else you want on top of the rack, lock the lid, close the vent, and let ‘er go. The flavors of the different ingredients blend, meld, enhance each other, and do all kinds of wonderful things when left on their own. Try to select things that all have similar cooking times. As long as everything will cook within 5 -7 minutes of each other, you’re good to go. Be creative.... If your trivet doesn’t have handles to make it easy to remove it, you can make a pair from folded up foil. This makes it easy to remove things like a whole chicken, which may fall apart if you try to lever it out with spatulas.....

There are several ways to cook in a pressure cooker. The easiest is just to throw everything in, add water and set the timer. I have included some “dump” recipes later in the recipe section. This is fine for things that have similar cooking times, but what if you want to cook things with greatly different cooking times, such as a beef stew with brisket. Brisket takes a little while to tenderize, and your potatoes and carrots would undoubtedly turn to mush. To get around this problem, use the phased cooking method. Just put your brisket in the cooker with enough water, and cook it until it is done. Then, just do a manual pressure release (or use the cold water method with a stop-top cooker), add the potatoes, carrots and other stuff, put on the lid, close the vent and continue cooking until the veggies are done. For cooking several things at once, but still keep them separate, you can use the tiered cooking method. All you do is put the different items in separate pans that will fit in the cooker, and layer them (but not more than 3/4 of the way full), one on top of another. Some models come with stackable pans, and after-market kits are easily available. You may come across some cookers that call themselves infusion cookers. Don’t be miss-lead. It is just a marketing ploy to get you to buy another expensive kitchen appliance. All pressure cookers are infusion cookers. That’s the way they work. They drive the flavor of your cooking water, and the foods own natural juices deep into the food, instead of leaching it out. That’s why you don’t need a lot of spices. Want some smoked chicken, but only have a hour or so to cook? Put 2 cups of water in your cooker, along with 6 or 7 drops of Liquid Smoke, and maybe a little garlic powder. Add a whole chicken (on the trivet, so you can get it back out in one piece), close the lid, seal the vent and cook for 20 minutes or so. Ease the bird out, and....instant smoked chicken. It tastes just like it’s been in the smoker for 6 or 7 hours, except is isn’t nearly as dry. Next time, try using orange juice instead of water. Add barbecue sauce to the liquid. Cook your rice in Green Tea. Try doing a ham in Coca Cola, Pepsi, or (delicious) 7-Up. Add some maple syrup to the liquid the next time you do a chicken or ham. Go ahead...be creative.

There is no hard and fast formula for converting a regular recipe to a pressure cooker one. But the good news is that pressure cookers are incredibly forgiving. A few basic guidelines are to limit the amount of fats and oils to no more than 1/4 cup, total. Add milk and dairy products after pressure cooking, so they won’t scorch. Reduce liquids by at least 1/3, because the water will not evaporate in a pressure cooker. It is a closed system. Except for what the food absorbs, what you put in is what you will get out. Reduce the cooking times by 2/3rds, and be sure to use the cooking time charts if you are not sure. Add thickening agents such as roux, flour, cornstarch, etc...After pressure cooking. Just allow the food to continue cooking with the lid off until the desired thickness is achieved.

To troubleshoot, there really isn’t much to worry about. Only a few things can happen, and none are really that bad. If you used too much water (not really a bad thing), you can ladle the extra liquid out, and save it to use in future recipes. It will freeze just fine. If you didn’t use enough liquid, your first warning will be a scorched smell. Immediately reduce pressure manually, and check the food. It will probably be just a little scorched on the bottom, and the rest will be salvageable. Just trim the crispy stuff off, and save it to use in other recipes, or give it to the dog, cat, garbage disposal, or whatever, and pay more attention next time. If you really over-cooked the veggies, to where they are just mush, remove the meat, and use an immersion blender or pour it into a regular blender, and puree it all into a rich gravy. Serve it over the meat. No one will be the wiser. If you didn’t cook the food long enough, just put the lid back on, seal the vent and cook it a little longer. That’s really all there is to it.

One final tip: When you are carrying the pressure cooker, be sure to use the side carry handles, and not the lid handle (that’s how I broke mine.....).

Bon apetit

Mainten
ance and Repair

If something breaks or goes wrong with your cooker, repair and service depends on the brand. Stove-top models like Presto are easy to find replacement parts for, and most major brands have outstanding Customer Service. Electric models are a little more difficult to get parts and service for. Most of these are not manufactured by the company that is selling them. The vast majority are manufactured in China, and replacement parts are difficult to find. Customer Service on most of these is non-existent. A case in point. The handle on my Electric Wolfgang Puck Bistro Elite broke where the screws go in to hold it to the lid. Numerous calls to their ‘Customer Service’ number were answered by a machine telling me to leave my number, and no option for getting anyone with a pulse on the line. All of my calls went unanswered. The only call that was answered by a real human-being was to the Sales Department, who transferred me to the ‘Customer Service’ department as soon as they realized that I did not want to buy anything. They were unimpressed that my unit should have still been under warranty. I was able to find some replacement parts at http://www.wpcookware.com/categories.asp?cat=29, but they only had the complete lid assembly, for $53.00. I wound up repairing the handle myself with a $3.00 tube of 5-minute epoxy from Ace Hardware.

Not pretty, but it works......

For $53.00, I could probably have a Fabrication Shop make me a complete new handle out of wood, or aluminum that would never break again. I will probably be doing that soon. This cooker was only 3 months old when the handle broke.

On the good side, the website does have the most important replacement part you will need...the gasket. More on that later.

No matter how good a unit is made, it will not last long if it is not taken care of. And the very first thing to do to make sure your unit lasts, is to disassemble it, and clean every part of it after each use. Pay special attention to the gasket, and the vent. Make sure the vent is clean and free by running water through it. The gasket should be oiled with vegetable oil every few months to keep it from drying out.

Cleaning a stove-top pressure cooker is easy, but electric ones are a bit tricker, because they cannot be submerged, and you have to be careful not to get water in the digital circuits, or it will ruin the readouts and sensors. Here are the steps to clean an electric cooker:

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Clean the outside- remove the electric cord and the inner cooking pot. Wipe the outside of the unit with a clean, damp (not wet) cloth. Stubborn spots can be removed by wetting them with vinegar, and letting it set for 5 minutes, then wipe it off. The inside can be wiped with a very damp cloth, and allowed to air dry. Wipe off the cord with a damp cloth. A toothbrush, or similar brush can be used to clean out the plug receptacle. You can use electrical contact cleaners like Blow Off, but be sure to dry the contacts well, before using the unit again.

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Clean the inner pot-this can be cleaned just like any other pot, taking care not to use anything abrasive that might damage the non-stick surface. Do not use steel wool, Scotchbrite, greenies, SOS pads, or similar pads, but the plastic scouring pads are OK. Make sure the outside is dry before using it again.

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Cleaning the lid-this is one of the most critical parts. Remove the Pressure Valve and rinse it well with hot water. Remove the gasket, and sealing ring, and rinse them well. Coat them with a little vegetable oil. Remove the Anti-Block cover, and rinse it well. Rinse the lid with hot water (detergent is usually not necessary), and wipe the inner surface of the lid with a damp cloth, paying special attention to the gasket channel, the areas around the float-valve, pressure limit valve, air escape valve, and the anti-block cover. Make sure water flows freely through the Pressure Valve, and Float Valves. Remember to put all the parts back in the lid before using the unit again.

Everything should be dried before using the unit.

Here are a few maintenance tips that will greatly increase the life-span of your cooker.

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Clean the unit after every use.

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Replace damaged gaskets, and seal rings. Anytime there are cracks, they need need replaced. It’s a good idea to always have a spare gasket, and seal ring. Be sure to coat the new ones with vegetable oil before installing.

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Store the unit with the lid on top, upside-down, with the weight setting in the middle. This allows air to circulate inside and retard the growth of mold and bacteria.

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If you won’t be using the unit for a few weeks, store the gasket and seal ring in a Zip-Lok baggie with with a little dry baking soda. Store the bag in the unit. Also, add a teaspoon or so of baking soda to the bottom of the inner cooking pot. This removes odors, and moisture build-up.

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It is possible to restore a gasket and seal ring that has just started to crack, by coating it with vegetable oil, but I do not recommend it. Gaskets and seal rings are cheap, and it’s not worth taking the chance of a catastrophic failure. The rings are one of the most critical parts of the entire unit.

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Never overfill the cooker. 3/4 full is plenty, to allow for expansion of the food during cooking. Over-filling can block the valves, resulting in damage to the unit, and a possible dangerous situation.

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Make sure there is at least 1/2 cup of water in the cooking pot before pressure-cooking. Allowing the cooker to run dry can damage the seals and gaskets.

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Never use chlorine bleach to clean the unit. Chlorine can react with the metal in the cooker.

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Never leave a stove-top pressure cooker unattended when being used. They lack the automatic safety features of electric cookers. Electric cookers can be safely left alone while cooking.

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With just a little care, your pressure cooker can last a lifetime, or longer.