Without doubt, pressure cookers are the best means of cooking the healthiest food in the shortest possible time. Yet, there are people who own a pressure cooker but are not aware of how to use it actually. Here’s a list of ten items that can be cooked using a pressure cooker, leaving you with enough to do purse other household activities.

1. Curried Lamb – Most people like having a curry rather frequently. More than just a treat it is a great taste experience.

2. Spicy Chicken and Polenta – A not so popular dish that gets your taste buds tingling. This hearty and nutritious too and will be the talking point of your friends and guests.

3. Chicken legs with scallions and carrots – a very basic and easy to offer meal. The combination of chicken legs and the scallions is simply unbeatable.

4. Pork Loin with Onion – An easy and quick pork dish in the list of top 10 is really hearty.

5. Spicy Shrimp – Not too filling yet an exceptionally satisfying dish. The combination of shrimp and sweet chilly source is sure to make your mouth watering even as your read.

6. Pasta with Chickpeas – The inquisitive blending of flavors of the Mediterranean with a typically Asian dish, this vegetarian food blows away your taste buds and leaves an undeniable impression on your guests.

7. Quail Eggs with salad – Not for the conservatives but is unbelievably good to eat, simple and quick way of providing a tasty food.

8. Asparagus Cream soup – Many users fail to appreciate that pressure cooker can be exploited to make great soups and this particular one is out of this world.

9. Veal Stew with Vegetables – The only “game” recipe that appears our present list of top ten. This hearty and classically manly food is perfect fair after a day out at the hunt.

10. Quick Ratatouille recipe – Though not a meal by itself, this side dish with awesome taste will have your guests asking who is the chef, extremely quick, easy and tasty.

Almost time to visit the kitchen and start making one of the Top 10 dishes with a Pressure Cooker!

Congratulations for having bought a new pressure cooker with an impressive look. It may be a bit scary initially. Getting familiar with its use and the associated terminology helps and encourages its use.

Be sure to read the booklet that comes along with the cooker. Though there are some specific instructions for using electric cooker and high BTU stoves, the following directions remain unchanged, irrespective of its being a gas stove or an electric one.

Do not stir. Some food items get burnt easily if not stirred or kept on high flame for long, tomatoes being one of those. So, you are directed to add them at the end, eliminating stirring. Pressure cookers reach the correct pressure over high flame.

Lock the lid in place. It may sound frivolous, but surprisingly many users simply put in food, turn the heat on and just leave the lid on the top, without realizing that the lid has not been locked. As a consequence, there is no build up of pressure and your fuel is wasted. Check the instructions provided in the manual for its proper locking.

Bring to high pressure. Having put the ingredients in the pan with requisite amount of water, put it on the flame. Take care that the flame just covers the pan and is not bigger than the bottom of the pan.

Turn the heat to high. Depending on the type of food and its quantity, it may take five to twenty minutes for the pressure to get built up. It’s important not to fill the pan beyond the recommended level. This is particularly important if you are using the cooker to home can food. The recipes do not include the time needed for raising the pressure.

Reduce heat. Once the needed pressure is achieved, you should lower the flame and thus retain the pressure. Initially, you may find it a bit difficult but after a couple of attempts you would know when to lower the heat and by what extent. It varies with the design and make of the cooker.

Quick release the pressure: This is simple to understand. As you release the pressure quickly, the process of cooking in the container comes to a halt. The safest and quickest way to do it is to keep the pressure cooker under running water. However, you can’t apply the same trick with electric pressure cookers. The steam can be released by slightly tilting the pressure regulator by use of a fork or pair of tongs. Be extra careful, lest the stem should hit your face and cause burn. As the pressure inside comes back to normal, you can open the pressure cooker. This is perfect way of cooking vegetables as it avoids their being overcooked.

Natural pressure release: If a recipe demands natural release of steam, you simply turn of the flame and let the pressure take its own time to come down naturally. Usually, this method is recommended for cooking meats. The natural cooling may take ten to twenty five minutes. A large canner may take almost an hour or more, but you won’t normally use such a size for cooking dinner.

So, these are the most often used terms while using a pressure cooker. Before winding up, once again, please do go thru the instructions manual before you start using the new cooker that enables you to cook healthier foods for the family in a considerable short time and at a lower expense too.

It’s difficult to imagine the life of a modern woman in the kitchen without a pressure cooker that helps to save cooking time of food and thus her time in the kitchen. A pressure cooker is a device that looks like any other pot in the kitchen but is provided with a lid at the top. The lid at the top seals the contents within. Therefore the steam that is formed remains within the pot, thus raising the temperature within resulting to saving of cooking time.

The pressure of trapped steam inside the cooker is measured in terms of pounds per square inch, abbreviated as PSI.
To prevent any leakage of steam thru the gap between the lid and the bottom portion the pot {pressure cooker}, a gasket is inserted in between the two parts. This gasket, usually of rubber forms an integral part the pressure cooker and is accommodated in the inside of the lid, along its periphery and acts as a sealant.

The latest designs of pressure cookers are provided with three valves to make it absolutely safe for use. Different manufactures have different designs of valves, but the function in each case is to release steam, if the pressure inside exceeds safe limits.

Reasons to Use a Pressure Cooker

There are many reasons and benefits of using a pressure cooker. Some of these are:

Nutritional Boost: As the steam needed for cooking food is retained within the cooker along with food, most of the vitamins and minerals are retained in cooked food, unlike the conventional methods of cooking.

Timesaving: Another advantage of retaining steam is that the temperature rises rapidly that helps to cook faster by about 70%. You may put all the ingredients together in the cooker and utilize the time for some other activity. Thus cooking in a pressure cooker enables multi-tasking.

Energy Efficient: Faster cooking means lower consumption of fuel and results to savings.

Cooler Kitchen: as all the heat is trapped inside the cooker, the kitchen won’t get so hot as with conventional styled cooking.

Cleaner Kitchen: Cooker being a sealed unit doesn’t cause any splashes or spatters, associated with conventional cooking, thereby leaving the kitchen cleaner.

Tips for Buying a Pressure Cooker

Pressure cookers are available in many models of varying capacities from four to eight quarts. For a small family six quarts suffices but larger families should opt for eight quarts.

The material used for making pressure cookers may be aluminum or stainless steel.
Stainless steel is a better, longer lasting material than aluminum and offers better quality of cooked food. Further, there is no risk of food remaining stuck at its bottom. The heavier models in stainless facilitate to sauté or brown the food before subjecting it to pressure. Therefore there is no need to shift food from one utensil to the cooker for final coking.
For ease and convenience of cooking, pressure cookers are essentially needed. However, before using the device, make sure that you read the instructions and safety precautions to be observed while cooking.