14
TIPS FOR SUCCESSFUL PRESSURE COOKING
Pressure cookers can save you time and money, helping you prepare delicious meals
that retain nutritional values often lost in other cooking methods.
Pressure cooking does require some adjustments, however.
Follow these tips for the best pressure-cooking results:
• Your pressure cooker pot acts as a traditional saucepan base and for best results
brown meat and foods like onions and spices. No point in dirtying another pan
to wash up - do it all in the pressure cooker. Add the food in small batches
and brown the food on all sides. Transfer the food to a bowl and set aside
and then combine again when completed.
• Don’t overdo the liquid. Because food cooks in a closed, sealed pot when cooking
under pressure, you have less evaporation and should therefore use less cooking
liquid than when cooking in a conventional pot. Regardless of what you’re cooking,
however, always use enough liquid. ( 2 cups ) An extra 1/4 cup if you are
using the trivet. However, check your recipe booklet to see exactly what the recipe
recommends. Never ll the pot more than halfway with liquid.
• Don’t ll a pressure cooker more than two-thirds full with food. Also, never pack
food tightly into a pressure cooker. If you don’t follow these basic rules for cooking
under pressure, the pressure cooker won’t operate efciently, affecting how the
food comes out. You may also cause the safety valves to activate, especially if there’s
too much food in the pot.
• Remember that even cut pieces mean evenly cooked food. Food should be cut into
uniform-sized pieces so that they cook in the same amount of time.
• Use stop-and-go cooking for perfect results. When making a recipe that contains
ingredients that cook at different times, begin by partially cooking slow-to-cook
foods, such as meat, rst. Then use a quick-release method to stop the pressure
cooker. Next, add the faster-cooking ingredients - such as vegetables - to the meat.
Bring the pot back up to pressure again and nish everything up
together at the same time.
• Start off on high heat and turn down to a simmer re heat source once
you hit pressure.
• Gas burners react quickly, but most electric burners don’t. If you have an electric
stove, use two burners: one on high heat to reach pressure and a second set on
a low setting to maintain pressure. Switch the pressure cooker over to the burner
with the low setting when you reach pressure.
15
• Set a timer. Have a kitchen timer handy so that after the pressure cooker reaches
and maintains pressure, you can set it for the cooking time specied in the recipe.
• The suggested cooking times in the following list or your recipe BEGIN when the
pressure cooker reaches high pressure. Always bring the pressure cooker up to high
pressure over high heat, then lower the heat source to stabilise the pressure
depending on the type of stove-top pressure cooker you’re using.
Always start with the shortest cooking time; you can always continue cooking
under pressure for an additional couple minutes until the desired texture is reached.
TEMPERATURE-PRESSURE SETTINGS
• If you are cooking from frozen – add approx 50% of the recommended
cooking time.
• We do not recommend cooking large pieces of meat from frozen.
The outside will become stringy and over cooked.
• Frozen items work best when items are in smaller pieces.
• Suggested Pressure-Cooker Cooking Times
The suggested cooking times in the following list BEGIN when the pressure cooker
reaches high pressure. Always bring the pressure cooker up to high pressure over
high heat, then lower the heat to stabilize the pressure depending on the type
of stove-top pressure cooker you’re using.
You can’t test foods for doneness while pressure cooking, so here’s a handy table
that shows how long to cooks foods in a pressure cooker.
The cooking times in the table begin when the pressure cooker reaches
high pressure.
Always start with the shortest cooking time; you can always continue cooking
under pressure for an additional couple minutes until the desired
texture is reached.
This list is a guide only. The cooking time will vary according to the size of the
pieces of vegetables or meat and your preference for taste and texture.
