Pressure Cooking - Liquid content

[Geoff Lane]

Folks,

New to pressure cooking. Got a Pressure King multi function electric device, think it can vacuum the living room too if I set it correctly.

Followed a recipe for curried potato and aubergine which only suggested 125ml of vegetable stock and cook under pressure for 3 minutes.

Potatoes not cooked so extended cooking time eventually to around 15 minutes.

Definitely set to pressure cook as much hissing when valve set to exhaust.

Tried same recipe but used around 700ml fluid, covered veg.

Cooked perfectly in 8 minutes.

Instructions very vague, does it matter if food not submerged in liquid?

Geoff

[Malcolm Loades]

Have you read the User's Manual?

It says "CAUTION! Never cook with no water or any liquid. Liquid volume
should always be at least the 2 cup level.". I don't think that
instruction is "very vague".

The inner bowl in which you place the food and liquid is clearly marked
with cup measures. 2 cups in ml is a little under 500ml (0.5 litre) or
16/17 fluid ounces (nearly a pint).

Hope this helps.

Malcolm

---

Post by Geoff Lane
Folks,
New to pressure cooking. Got a Pressure King multi function electric device, think it can vacuum the living room too if I set it correctly.
Followed a recipe for curried potato and aubergine which only suggested 125ml of vegetable stock and cook under pressure for 3 minutes.
Potatoes not cooked so extended cooking time eventually to around 15 minutes.
Definitely set to pressure cook as much hissing when valve set to exhaust.
Tried same recipe but used around 700ml fluid, covered veg.
Cooked perfectly in 8 minutes.
Instructions very vague, does it matter if food not submerged in liquid?
Geoff

[Geoff Lane]

Post by Malcolm Loades
Have you read the User's Manual?
It says "CAUTION! Never cook with no water or any liquid. Liquid volume
should always be at least the 2 cup level.". I don't think that
instruction is "very vague".
Malcolm
---

Post by Geoff Lane
Folks,
New to pressure cooking. Got a Pressure King multi function electric device, think it can vacuum the living room too if I set it correctly.
Followed a recipe for curried potato and aubergine which only suggested 125ml of vegetable stock and cook under pressure for 3 minutes.
Potatoes not cooked so extended cooking time eventually to around 15 minutes.
Definitely set to pressure cook as much hissing when valve set to exhaust.
Tried same recipe but used around 700ml fluid, covered veg.
Cooked perfectly in 8 minutes.
Instructions very vague, does it matter if food not submerged in liquid?
Geoff

Bearing in mind the extensive multi cook function of the device I do think the instructions are vague, everyone knows pressure cooking is completely different to normal cooking but instructions do not appear to point out any difference between stewing, steaming or pressure cooking - all require pressure release so guess they are all similar or same, not sure.

Also, through searching elsewhere it seems Pressure King is a low pressure cooker, around 5psi rather than the normal 12psi so any general recipes would need adjusting.

The original recipe I referred to using 125ml stock, I didn't quote the entire contents, there were also tinned tomatoes which added to liquid.

Seems a great device though.

Thanks for response.

Geoff

[Brian Reay]

Post by Geoff Lane

Post by Malcolm Loades
Have you read the User's Manual?
It says "CAUTION! Never cook with no water or any liquid. Liquid volume
should always be at least the 2 cup level.". I don't think that
instruction is "very vague".
Malcolm
---

Post by Geoff Lane
Folks,
New to pressure cooking. Got a Pressure King multi function electric device, think it can vacuum the living room too if I set it correctly.
Followed a recipe for curried potato and aubergine which only suggested 125ml of vegetable stock and cook under pressure for 3 minutes.
Potatoes not cooked so extended cooking time eventually to around 15 minutes.
Definitely set to pressure cook as much hissing when valve set to exhaust.
Tried same recipe but used around 700ml fluid, covered veg.
Cooked perfectly in 8 minutes.
Instructions very vague, does it matter if food not submerged in liquid?
Geoff

Bearing in mind the extensive multi cook function of the device I do think the instructions are vague, everyone knows pressure cooking is completely different to normal cooking but instructions do not appear to point out any difference between stewing, steaming or pressure cooking - all require pressure release so guess they are all similar or same, not sure.
Also, through searching elsewhere it seems Pressure King is a low pressure cooker, around 5psi rather than the normal 12psi so any general recipes would need adjusting.
The original recipe I referred to using 125ml stock, I didn't quote the entire contents, there were also tinned tomatoes which added to liquid.
Seems a great device though.

A couple of friends in the USA have them and are very keen on them. Both
are widowers and having to adapt to cooking.

You mention they are 'low pressure' pressure cookers. The conventional
one we used to use (we stopped as it wasn't compatible with our
induction hob) had two settings, although I rarely used anything other
than high. From memory, the lower setting extended the cooking time by
about 25% but that is little more than a vague memory.

In our student days, we used it a lot (we had an early model then) and
cooked chicken, cheap cuts of meat, all kinds of things in it. In later
years I used it mainly for soups and stews type meals. It was great for
making stock from the Xmas Turkey and then soup from the stock.

I've since invested in a (very) large stock pot and make stocks in that
and invested in some Le Creuset.

[Brian Reay]

Post by Geoff Lane
Folks,
New to pressure cooking. Got a Pressure King multi function electric device, think it can vacuum the living room too if I set it correctly.
Followed a recipe for curried potato and aubergine which only suggested 125ml of vegetable stock and cook under pressure for 3 minutes.
Potatoes not cooked so extended cooking time eventually to around 15 minutes.
Definitely set to pressure cook as much hissing when valve set to exhaust.
Tried same recipe but used around 700ml fluid, covered veg.
Cooked perfectly in 8 minutes.
Instructions very vague, does it matter if food not submerged in liquid?
Geoff

My experience is based on conventional pressure cookers (ie the pan
type) rather than electric ones you seem to have but I expect the basics
are similar.

The conventional ones, at least ours, required more manual intervention-
timing from when things came to pressure, removing from heat etc, ....
whereas I understand the electric ones automate things, at least to an
extent.


8 mins for potatoes sounds about right, even a bit long, although there
is no need to cover them in water/liquid. We used to put perhaps 1/4" of
water in the bottom, place in a trivet (a raised disk, perforated) then
a divided thing with, typically, the potatoes and some veg. Depending on
the veg, it may be necessary to stop process part way and add the veg
have way through.

[Geoff Lane]

Post by Brian Reay

Post by Geoff Lane
Folks,
New to pressure cooking.
Followed a recipe for curried potato and aubergine which only suggested 125ml of vegetable stock and cook under pressure for 3 minutes.
Potatoes not cooked so extended cooking time eventually to around 15 minutes.
Cooked perfectly in 8 minutes.
Instructions very vague, does it matter if food not submerged in liquid?
Geoff

My experience is based on conventional pressure cookers (ie the pan
type) rather than electric ones you seem to have but I expect the basics
are similar.
The conventional ones, at least ours, required more manual intervention-
timing from when things came to pressure, removing from heat etc, ....
whereas I understand the electric ones automate things, at least to an
extent.
8 mins for potatoes sounds about right, even a bit long, Depending on
the veg, it may be necessary to stop process part way and add the veg
have way through.

More reading seems the electric device I have is a low pressure cooker, seems it cooks at around 5psi rather than the normal 12psi so maybe that is why longer cooking time.

Strangely, looking at a recipe site saw two veggie recipes but cooking times hugely different; Sweet potato and cauliflower says 10 minutes, sweet potato and lentils 40 minutes. Would have thought sweet potatoes melted in 40 minutes.

Geoff


Geoff

[Richard Tobin]

Post by Geoff Lane
More reading seems the electric device I have is a low pressure cooker,
seems it cooks at around 5psi rather than the normal 12psi so maybe that
is why longer cooking time.

Yes, 5 psi will only raise the temperature to about 108 C, compared
to 118 C for 12 psi.

-- Richard

[Brian Reay]

Post by Geoff Lane
Folks,
New to pressure cooking. Got a Pressure King multi function electric
device, think it can vacuum the living room too if I set it correctly.
Followed a recipe for curried potato and aubergine which only suggested
125ml of vegetable stock and cook under pressure for 3 minutes.
Potatoes not cooked so extended cooking time eventually to around 15 minutes.
Definitely set to pressure cook as much hissing when valve set to exhaust.
Tried same recipe but used around 700ml fluid, covered veg.
Cooked perfectly in 8 minutes.
Instructions very vague, does it matter if food not submerged in liquid?
Geoff

Is that 8 mins the total time, from ‘pressing the button’ to opening the
lid to serve, please?

With a conventional pressure cooker, the cooking time started when the
beast ‘came to pressure’ and stopped when you removed from heated and
cooled the pan under a tap. That actually extended things by several
minutes. It didn’t make much difference overall for longer cooking times
but the advantage for short ones was less obvious.

[Ophelia]

Post by Geoff Lane
Folks,
New to pressure cooking. Got a Pressure King multi function electric
device, think it can vacuum the living room too if I set it correctly.
Followed a recipe for curried potato and aubergine which only suggested
125ml of vegetable stock and cook under pressure for 3 minutes.
Potatoes not cooked so extended cooking time eventually to around 15 minutes.
Definitely set to pressure cook as much hissing when valve set to exhaust.
Tried same recipe but used around 700ml fluid, covered veg.
Cooked perfectly in 8 minutes.
Instructions very vague, does it matter if food not submerged in liquid?
Geoff

Is that 8 mins the total time, from ‘pressing the button’ to opening the
lid to serve, please?

With a conventional pressure cooker, the cooking time started when the
beast ‘came to pressure’ and stopped when you removed from heated and
cooled the pan under a tap. That actually extended things by several
minutes. It didn’t make much difference overall for longer cooking times
but the advantage for short ones was less obvious.

====

I only have a conventional PC too.

[Ophelia]

Post by Brian Reay

Post by Geoff Lane
Folks,
New to pressure cooking. Got a Pressure King multi function electric
device, think it can vacuum the living room too if I set it correctly.
Followed a recipe for curried potato and aubergine which only suggested
125ml of vegetable stock and cook under pressure for 3 minutes.
Potatoes not cooked so extended cooking time eventually to around 15 minutes.
Definitely set to pressure cook as much hissing when valve set to exhaust.
Tried same recipe but used around 700ml fluid, covered veg.
Cooked perfectly in 8 minutes.
Instructions very vague, does it matter if food not submerged in liquid?
Geoff

Is that 8 mins the total time, from ‘pressing the button’ to opening the
lid to serve, please?
With a conventional pressure cooker, the cooking time started when the
beast ‘came to pressure’ and stopped when you removed from heated and
cooled the pan under a tap. That actually extended things by several
minutes. It didn’t make much difference overall for longer cooking times
but the advantage for short ones was less obvious.
====
I only have a conventional PC too.

I’ve been half considering one of the electric/ automatic ones but I’m not
convinced it would get much use.

===

Same here! I see those new fancy things do not only do pressure cooking
.. but every thing else too!!! All in one pot!!

I have given it a little thought, but decided I am very happy with what i
have, even if they do take up a lot of space:)