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 Post subject: Pressure Cooker Perfection
PostPosted: Sat Jan 12, 2013 10:23 am 
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Joined: Wed Apr 27, 2011 3:27 pm
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Location: Finger Lakes Wine Country
Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the bookstore, a new potboiler arrives from those pesky editors at America’s Test Kitchen promising to change the way you cook. The unfairly maligned appliance gets its fifteen minutes of fame. Dirt cheap in paper @ $13.29. Pre-order yours today!


Pressure Cooker Perfection

An Eater Boston article include an impressive list of recipes.

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 Post subject: Re: Pressure Cooker Perfection
PostPosted: Sun Jan 13, 2013 7:57 am 
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Joined: Sun Oct 21, 2012 8:51 am
Posts: 663
Location: W. Montana
Thanks, Jim!
I've been waiting for this.
Amazon doesn't say when it's going to be available but I ordered and will wait patiently.

I love using my pressure cookers!
One of my dogs is on the green bean diet and I've been usiing my PC to cook the beans for her. It takes less than one minute to do...of course that doesn't count the time it takes to come to pressure.


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 Post subject: Re: Pressure Cooker Perfection
PostPosted: Sun Jan 13, 2013 9:29 am 
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Joined: Fri Dec 19, 2008 8:10 pm
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Location: PA
Under Book Description it says it will be published on March 1, 2013.


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 Post subject: Re: Pressure Cooker Perfection
PostPosted: Sat Oct 05, 2013 9:02 pm 
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So I tried my first recipe from this. I made the Beef Ragu with warm spices (bone in short ribs cooked in tomato sauce spiced with an onion, red wine, cinnamon and a pinch of cloves). I think I may not have gotten things up to full pressure when I started timing (they suggested using the yellow pop up indicator on the Fagor Duo as a sign of full pressure; my manual says no, it's not until steam comes out the valve, but I figured their time was likely set via following their instructions given that they tested the recipes with the same pot I have). The ribs were nowhere near done at the 25 minute mark, and pressure was gone from the pot way before the 15 minutes of natural release called for. Even an additional 5 minutes didn't finish them up; I ended up just letting them simmer stovetop while I did something else. The end result was ok. Nothing to rave about, but solid.

My braised cabbage otoh (epicurious recipe done in 4 minutes at high pressure, cold water release and simmered to finish about 10 minutes) was amazing.

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 Post subject: Re: Pressure Cooker Perfection
PostPosted: Sat Oct 05, 2013 10:48 pm 
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Joined: Thu Dec 18, 2008 1:03 am
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Location: Portland, OR
Carey,

So, pressure cooker imperfection?

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 Post subject: Re: Pressure Cooker Perfection
PostPosted: Sun Oct 06, 2013 12:52 am 
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Joined: Sat Nov 12, 2011 8:05 pm
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Location: Chico, CA
I have found that times in CI recipes are almost always under what it takes me. I've adapted some of my recipes using a similar CI recipe with great results, but I always start the time after steam is coming out. The pop-up thing reminds me of those they use to put in meats to tell you it was done, I still use a thermometer.

I've adapted the chocolate and rosemary short rib recipe (posted in the favorite pc recipes thread) and it came out great as did the carbonnade.

I decided to ignore this book because I have not cared for most pc cookbooks. I prefer just adapting good regular recipes and I've never had one that was not good. Next on the adapted list are my two favorite ATK bean recipes, Cowboy beans, and Meaty Baked Beans.

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 Post subject: Re: Pressure Cooker Perfection
PostPosted: Sun Oct 06, 2013 7:55 pm 
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I re-read the book....I think I should just have started timing once full pressure came up; I got spooked by the negative reviews on amazon who all complained about too long cooking times.

We ate the Ragu tonight for dinner over Catelli Smart pasta. Was pretty good actually. I'd make it again only with the right time next time.

The beef burgundy recipe otoh (which I tried tonight to restock the freezer with) worked perfectly fine with the time as marked (starting from full pressure). But it is bland as heck....nowhere near as good as my normal recipe. They don't have you sear the beef at all, and it tastes like it. Not really sure how to salvage it. I simmered it down a ton as it had way too much liquid, added in more wine and beef bouillon, but it's still mediocre. Not up to CI's old standards at all.

[Edit]: the problem is that they don't seem to have read the pressure cooker instruction manual! They say (incorrectly) that full pressure is when the little yellow pop up button comes up on the Fagor. The Fagor manual says no! The yellow pop up just let's you know that the pot has some pressure in it, not how much...it's not at full pressure until steam comes out the valve on the top, which takes about 5 minutes or so after the button pops up. Hence the totally whacked up timing everyone is talking about. Plus, they are obsessed with boneless short ribs (???) I've never seen them sold this way, and it is $$$ to buy twice as many bone in ones to have enough after deboning and trimming, and throwing out all those bones seems wasteful. Meat browning seems to be a consistently skipped step as well. Not sure how many more recipes I am willing to risk food on.

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Last edited by cmd2012 on Sun Oct 06, 2013 9:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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 Post subject: Re: Pressure Cooker Perfection
PostPosted: Sun Oct 06, 2013 9:15 pm 
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Location: Chico, CA
Next time adapt Ina's recipe to the PC. I might take the meat put it a flavorful wine, garlic, fresh thyme, etc. and simmer it on low for a bit. You might still get some flavor into it.

When I convert recipes, I always do the pre-braise steps the same, except in the cooker. So I sear my meat, sweat my mushrooms/onions, etc. and just use the cooker to reduce the oven or stove top time. I don't do it as a throw everything in at once and cook. I find those recipes whether in a slow cooker or pressure cooker to be too bland.

For the few times I do that, e.g. black beans when I am lazy, I up the seasoning and use dry/powdered garlic, onion, etc. as well as fresh, then open the cooker at the minimal time, check the seasoning and add more and put back for five-ten minutes depending on the dish.

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 Post subject: Re: Pressure Cooker Perfection
PostPosted: Sun Oct 06, 2013 9:24 pm 
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Alina,

I think you're right. I've done Ina's company pot roast in the PC and it worked well. It's what I did with my slow cooker too (got rid of the specialty cookbooks and just did regular recipes in it), and that's when I started having good results. I'm starting to think that PC/slow cooker recipe developers just don't like food that much.

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 Post subject: Re: Pressure Cooker Perfection
PostPosted: Sun Oct 06, 2013 9:52 pm 
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Carey,

Not to point out the obvious or anything, but it's the whole point of a CI recipe that it's supposed to be tested obsessively? Frankly, I'd call one recipe with a wrong cooking time a failure in a CI cookbook, and I certainly wouldn't keep trying after two.

As for the bad/bland SC/PC cookbooks, I think there's a couple things going on there. One is that many such cookbooks (and the SC/PC itself) are sold on the basis of being faster and easier to cook than regular methods. Searing or frying stuff in a separate pan is a big turn-off for their main target audience.

The second issue is that, frequently, specialty "device" cookbooks are written by people who aren't professional cooks.

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