What size is your pressure cooker? I bought a Fagor on sale, and it came with two pans, a shallow one that is still huge, and I tall one that is great for making stock. Mine is induction compatible, and I bought a portable induction burner to go with it, to see whether I wanted to convert to all induction - I don't - but I like having the one induction burner. One is enough, however.

Here's what I cook in the pressure cooker: Beans, rice, potatoes, soup stock (in the large pot), and vegetables. Mine came with a steamer basket (for the large pot), and so I can steam vegetables if I want to, but normally I just cook them in one cup of water in the small pan and then use the cooking water to make a sauce. Since I use the PC exclusively with the induction burner, I can time the burner to turn off at just the right time, and so nothing gets overcooked. I find that everything I mentioned above cooks in a fraction of the time, and if done correctly, has more flavor and just the texture that I want. I would be afraid to use the PC on a burner that did not shut off by itself, however.

I assume that the PC came with instructions that include cooking times for the items I mentioned. What brand did you get? Is it electric, or does it require a burner?

That is a great thing to have. A pressure cooker is essentially a time turner. 15 minutes in the cooker at high pressure is like 1 hour cooking in a normal pot. I mostly use mine for making stock and slow-cooked meat/poultry dishes. Also for dry beans, to cook them quickly without presoaking. Have fun!

It is a Cooks Essential which I think is a QVC exclusive. It is a 6qt and also browns and slow cooks. It is electric and did not come with any accessories except an additional cookbook. It probably would not have picked this brand but it was a gift so I appreciate it and will use it.

First experience with it last night. The recipe called for quick release and suggested wearing gloves and using tongs to turn the knob which I did. The steam and some hot water really shot out. I ended up calling DH for assistance. He took a bowl and held it above the release knob. It contained some of the spurting water.

Any suggestions for when you need to use the quick release?

How full was the pc? Pressure release should just let steam out, maybe a few droplets of water.

My advice is to be bold and dive right in. Cook something. Break the seal.

I was terrified of my PC for the longest time, but once I used it, I overcame my fear (of explosion).

Now I have an Instant-Pot that I have to get my feet wet using.

Good grief, cool it down under the tap before opening. That relieves the pressure and stops the cooking. Your book must have said that. That is quick relief. Slow is if you let it set for 2 1/2 years and starve to death while it cools off by itself.

Good grief-is that comment responding to me?

I generally do quick release and wouldn't bother running it under water. That seems strange.

Good grief, cool it down under the tap before opening.

That's how you do it with old skool stove-top pressure cookers. I'm not sure that an under-the-tap cool down is an option with Debrak's electric cooker. But I don't have any experience with the electric ones.

Personally, I would not want one of the new electric ones with all the digital stuff to possibly/ probably malfunction.

I have an old Presto Meatmaster--probably from the 1950's because it is just like the one that Mom had. The downside to those is that, so far, I've not been able to find a silicone seal to fit it so I'm stuck with having to buy a new rubber seal for it every couple of years. Upside is that it will work during power outages...on my gas cooktop, on the gas Weber or even over a wood fire.

The cooker was not that full. Pretty low.

The book certainly did not say to put the electric cooker under water. It just says to turn the valve to release while using tongs to avoid the steam.

I will be trying it again and if possible I will snap a photo of it "releasing". Any one who was leaning over it would have gotten a strong shot in the face.

The idea of using a stove top one on the grill in a power outage (as freezing rain is in the forecast) sounds great until I realized our wood pellet grill has to be plugged in to start. I suppose we could hook the generator to it.

I never release the steam from mine - the instruction booklet for mine says to let it cool off by itself, which generally takes about 5 minutes, and then it is easy to turn the steam release valve and open the top with no excess steam coming out. The extra five minutes are calculated as part of the cooking time, and so the food would not be done if the steam release valve were turned prematurely. When cooking vegetables, such as green beans, I turn off the heat as soon as the pressure has been reached, and then I just let it sit for about three minutes before turning the release valve, which goes down faster when there is less steam.

In the cookbook I received with it "Delicious Under Pressure" some of the recipes call for quick release and other natural release. The instructions with the cooker say there are some items that need quick release and others natural release. I can't remember which right now. At first (for a long time) I will only be following specific PC recipes I won't be going off road until I really get comfortable with it.

I have a Fagor stove top pressure cooker. If I am rushing to open it before the valve releases, the run under cold water wiĺl bring pressure down. If I think it is fairly cool I put a dish towel over the vent and open the vent valve. Otherwise the steam hits the backsplash and makes a mess. Never open it facing you.

I think we've agreed she cannot put her electric pressure cooker under cold water ;)

I had just typed you a note explaining how I open my similar looking Fagor electric with quick release, then decided I shouldn't assume and looked up your owners manual online. While your appliance looks much like my Fagor, the Cooks Essential manual does say

The Quick Steam Release Feature allows you to release pressure with

the simple push of a button. Press this release button in short bursts

to prevent ejection of hot liquid along with steam.

So is a little different than my own where I just open the regulator knob and release all at once. My first thought had been maybe you were getting it somewhere in between settings and not fully open. Probably I was not correct in thinking that. If you just practice a little with yours and follow the instruction book that came with it, get used to its method of operation, I think you'll get the hang of it, be comfortable with it very quickly - it doesn't sound like yours is doing anything unusual for that model.

Your manual also reads:

CAUTION: When preparing recipes with a high volume of liquid,

some liquid may spurt through the vent when you use the

Quick Steam Release. If this happens, allow the pressure to

come down naturally, or wait for a minute, then resume releasing

the steam in very short bursts.

I think the amount and force of steam and the distance the water traveled surprised me. It was released in short bursts as I jumped back each time it released, LOL. Once DH took over it was a continuous release. I was also concerned about the food as the recipe called for the quick release, I didn't know how much time the "quick" release was supposed to take before it affected the quality.

This will take some time to get used to.

Thank you all for the posts!

When I release my Fagor, I'm able to turn the knob without problem or being in the pathway of the steam, which is formidable. Always a steady stream of steam.

You usually avoid the quick release method when cooking meat. I have an electric pressure cooking and was taken aback the first time I used it and tried the quick release method. I was supposed to use tongs to manipulate the pressure knob to the release setting. I guess I'm clumsy, so I wasn't able to successfully do that and ended up just doing it by hand. The forceful steam release was scary to me.

Since then, I've always left the pressure cooker alone for at least 15 minutes before attempting to open it -- 20-25 minutes for meat. No more excessive bursts of steam, and I haven't noticed any over cooking. That said, I usually use my pressure cooking for meat or stock. The only vegetables I've cooked are things like beets that really don't overcook by doing a natural release.

When you release the steam at high pressure, water boiled away rapidly, including juicy inside meat.

There is no reason why you need to release the steam so quickly. Time yourself better. Don't hurry. The pressure of the high heat is what pressure cooking is all about. You pay money to heat up and to build up the pressure. Why waste it?

dcarch

Those who don't do the quick release are you saying to ignore the recipe instructions and let it do a natural release?

Those who don't do the quick release are you saying to ignore the recipe instructions and let it do a natural release?

Totally depends on what you are cooking....AND the recipe.

The main reason for using quick release is to STOP the cooking process so the food (rice, for instance) doesn't turn to mush.

I sometimes make beef stew in the PC in a two step process. Brown the meat, add water and pressure cook. While it isn't strictly necessary to stop the stew meat cooking quickly , I usually do a quick release so I can proceed to the next step....which is adding the potatoes, carrots, etc., and bringing the cooker back to pressure. Because potatoes, esp., can easily be overcooked, it is imperative that I use a quick release at the end of this step to halt the veggies from overcooking.

As to cooking times and 'the recipe'---Lars mentioned a very important point. Remember that as long as the cooker is under pressure, regardless of whether or not it is under power (gas flame, electric burner, etc.), the food is still cooking and it is cooking at a heat in excess of 212 degrees (or whatever the boiling point of water is at your elevation.*) So this cooking 'lag time' (the time for the steam inside the PC to condense) has been accounted for in the recipe.

For example: If a recipe says to cook under pressure for 15 minutes and then to let the pressure drop naturally....But you decide to do a quick release instead, most likely that whatever you're cooking...dried beans, maybe?...probably ***won't be tender.

* The fact that pressure cookers cook foods at heats in excess of the boiling point (up to 250 degrees, depending on altitude) makes them an invaluable tool for cooks living at higher elevations.

Sherpas having fun with Pressure Cooker Mt. Everest Base Camp

**Added Note: Electric pressure cookers generally cook at 12#'s of pressure. Recipes written for old skool stove top pressure cookers, which cook at 15#'s of pressure, will require longer cooking times if you're using a cooker that cooks at 12#'s.

***Personal experience has taught me that with cooking unsoaked dried beans, particularly pintos,...that the cooking time can vary widely. Depends on how old the beans are and, to a degree, I think, where the beans were grown. And likely, also, on how they were stored. Fresher beans cook faster. I've had some beans that cooked in only 12 minutes. Those were Kansas beans bought fresh from the combine (harvester.) Fresh crop beans from Loveland, Co required about 20 minutes in the PC. Weird, huh?

My Fagor doesn't cook at 12 psi from what I'm told....no problems with underdone foods but then my other stove top pressure cookers are weighted gauge and I was used to cooking at 10#, not using the 15# setting (sea level here). I've been using the Fagor with the assumption it is high (9 psi) and low (5 psi). Since I'm not canning in it, the actual psi hasn't been too much of a concern.

I have no experience with this new generation of Pressure Cookers.Thanx for the added info, Morz. Apparently the working cooking pressures of this new generation of cookers is all over the place.

The actual PSI may not be of a lot of concern with everyday meal cooking but, the higher the PSI, the hotter the cooking temperature.

A clip from Modernist Cuisine:

The valve regulates the pressure inside the cooker to a preset level:
typically 0.7 or 1 bar / 10 or 15 psi above atmospheric pressure; this
value is called the gauge pressure. At these elevated pressures, water
boils at 114 °C or 121 °C / 237 °F or 250 °F, respectively.

You could time how long it takes to do a slow release, then adjust for the cooking times in recipes that specify a fast release. That should get you close enough.

Like John said, I adjust cooking times (especially for vegetables) based on how long it takes to do a slow release, but that time varies depending on how much volume is in the cooker - but there is a minimum volume required - about 1 cup, I think. I often cook broccoli with rice, but I only put the stems, thinly sliced, in with the rice, and then when the rice is almost done, I add the florets, stir them in, and then just let the cooker get back up to pressure and turn it off and wait for about five minutes before opening it again. If the rice is cooked with broth, this can cause the rice to stick a bit on the second heating, but I try to undercook it for the first heating. It takes a few trials to get it right, but I do like the results. When the broccoli is cooked with the rice, it stays hotter longer than when cooked by itself.

I Agree with ci_lantro.

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debrak_2008

Those who don't do the quick release are you saying to ignore the recipe instructions and let it do a natural release?

Not to ignore, but to understand the basics and adjust the timing accordingly.

The basics: At full pressure, food is cooked at 250F, after pressure release, food is cooked at 212F.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

I disagree with the PC expert Miss Viki:

"---. Use
this method for serving fresh, tender-crisp vegetables, or delicate seafoods. ---"

I cook veggies at 180F, seafood at 130F to 160F. 250F will kill tender veggie and no seafood should ever be cooked at 250F.

"--- When the pressure cooker is removed from heat the air
molecules inside the pot begin to cool and contract, and if the vent opening is
blocked by the stream of water, then no air molecules can get inside to replace
the volume. The air inside the cooker rapidly contracts as it cools so there is
less air pressure inside the pot than outside. This creates a very powerful
vacuum that can actually cause the lid (or the weakest area of the metal) to
collapse as the vacuum sucks it down inside the pot. ---"

If you look at a PC's construction you will see the metal is much thicker than normal cookwares. That is because the PC has to be strong enough to overcome more than 1,000 lbs of pressure.

If the PC is designed to be strong enough for over 15 lbs PSI, the vacuum created is never more than 14 lbs PSI, the vacuum will not collapse the PC.

In any case no true vacuum can be created because water inside the PC will start boiling to create partial vapor pressure to equalize outside pressure.

dcarch

Thank you all for the information. As usual you all go above and beyond with information. Need to sit and read it all again. Hope to try the PC again soon and will watch the time it takes to quick release (if I use that). A friend just told me she has a newer PC but never uses it because the instructions seem so hard to understand. Maybe we can both can learn to use the PC.

Side note: Have you read instruction manuals lately? Often times it is very clear they were not written by someone with a command of the english language. Error or other codes. Why not put all the possible codes that could appear all together? So you can look down the list and find your match. Instead of having to read the entire manual to find the codes scattered throughout the book.

Happy New Year!

debrak_2008 - congrats on the new electric pressure cooker! I bought an Instant Pot brand electric pressure cooker, a couple months ago, and it has changed my life. I can now cook beans successfully! And finally tender pot roast! (LOL)

I was a bit afraid of mine at first, but now I'm doing more and more with it. I've made three cheesecakes in it already and they were grand successes.

Definitely read your owners manual thoroughly. All electric PCs are similar but have their differences. There are some excellent blogs and web sites that I found to be very helpful. Some are geared for the Instant Pot, but I think can be useful for any brand electric PC:

Hip Pressure Cooking

Pressure Cooking today

Dad Cooks Dinner

and if you are on Facebook, this is an Instant Pot group but very helpful and nice. I'm not a member of that particular group (it would clog up my news feed) but I read it daily for ideas, inspiration and information:
Instant Pot Community on Facebook

2nd attempt is in the cooker! Au Gratin Potatoes.

Cavium, Thank you for the links I will check them out. In the recipes I've read desserts such as cheesecakes it's seemed more difficult in a pressure cooker. I will have consider trying a cheesecake.