My uncle really wants to buy me a pressure cooker for christmas but I feel like I don't really need one because I've lived this long without one.
What cool things can I do with one I can't do with a regular pot or slow cooker? I'm vegan and eat lentils or beans with some form of grains is pretty much my go to and I cook a lot of curries. Do things like Rajma masala really turn out different if you do them in a pressure cooker?
>I'm vegan
GAAAAAAAAY
Anyway. Nah, there's nothing you can do with a pressure cooker you can't do with a regular pot and time. But the pressure cooker is faster. If you've ever glanced away from 4chan and noticed, oh, shit, it's late afternoon! and still wanted to have beans ready in time for dinner, it'd come in handy.
>>7047055
Mostly vegan here, and my pressure cooker sees duty at least four days a week. I mainly use it to cook beans. I can go from dry beans to cooked in 15-35min, depending on they type of bean. (Chickpeas take the longest). I can make lentil or split pea soup in 20 min.
My advice: get a big pressure cooker. You can always make a small amount of food in a big pressure cooker, but you can't make a big amount in a small one.
When I make rajma I usually cook the beans by themselves in the pressure cooker, and start the sauce in another pot, then give the two a little time to marry once the beans are done. Dry kidney beans take about 30 min to cook in my pressure cooker.
>>7047055
It really reduces the cooking time on beans. I find it worthwhile for that alone. And you can use them to do a bit of canning.
You won't need to soak beans before cooking.
That's about it.
>>7047081
But isn't soaking the beans meant to remove the chemicals that cause gas? Also kidney beans contain high levels of toxins that soaking removes right?
>>7047075
Some of the recipes I've seen puts the onions and tomatoes in and cooks it all together in the pressure cooker?
>>7047077
>>7047071
Do chickpeas or beans or whatever actually taste better or is it just shorter?
Also hows brown rice in a pressure cooker if you actually can do that?
>>7047055
If you like to live dangerously you can also make KFC style pressure fried foods
>>7047141
lol are there any pressure cookers that double as pressure cookers and pressure cooker fryers?
>>7047146
easy fried tofu or tempeh sounds pretty baller though.
>>7047146
No, it's a really bad idea to use a pressure cooker with oil
>>7047137
>Some of the recipes I've seen puts the onions and tomatoes in and cooks it all together in the pressure cooker?
That's how they do it in India. Their pressure cookers are different, though. They build up to a specific pressure, then release it through a whistle, then start building pressure again. Recipes from India often describe the cooking time of a dish as "two whistles" or "three whistles".
I put everything together when I'm doing soups and the like, but for a curry I kind of need to be able to taste as I'm going, so I cook the beans in the pressure cooker, and then marry them with the sauce after. Takes a little longer, but it's the only way I can get the taste right (I don't follow recipes when doing South Asian).
>>7047137
I've never noticed a difference in the flavor of my beans, but I soak all my beans which some people say reduces the flavor. I've seen a lot of conflicting information on whether to soak or not, with some places suggesting some beans like adzuki and black-eyed peas don't need while others like kidney do.
>>7047137
>isn't soaking the beans meant to remove the chemicals that cause gas?
Pretty sure that's bullshit and the only way to stop beans from causing gas is to eat them regularly so your body is used to them.
>Also kidney beans contain high levels of toxins that soaking removes
More bullshit. Cooking does that.
>I'm vegan
Never fails. A vegan will always tell you that they're a fucking vegan without being asked.
>>7047237
It's the old joke:
Q: How can you tell if someone is vegan?
A: They'll tell you.
>>7047228
>Pretty sure that's bullshit and the only way to stop beans from causing gas is to eat them regularly so your body is used to them.
The only way to reduce gas is to eat beans that are less gassy. In my experience, kidney beans are the least gassy bean, by far.
>>7047166
I'm Indian and do it your way too. It might just be in my head but it tastes better this way. Really though it really shouldn't make a difference either way.
The fact that you can cook shit that takes hours in less than an hour is reason alone to get a decent pressure cooker. Makes life so much easier.
Pressure cooker secret weapon - perfect rice in less than 20 minutes.
Microbiologist here. We use pressure cookers to sterilise things. Bring the vessel up to steam at high heat. Then, low heat for 20 minutes. You can use it to sterilise small items, wiping cloth and glassware such as glass jars for home canning or jams.
Anyone have a preference on electric cookers vs. traditional? From my understanding the electric have a lot of safety measures built in. Is there anywhere a traditional pressure cooker serves better?
>>7047137
>But isn't soaking the beans meant to remove the chemicals that cause gas? Also kidney beans contain high levels of toxins that soaking removes right?
No, soaking beans hydrates and softens them so they aren't hard or mealy when you've cooked them. I learned that the hard way my first time cooking with dry beans. The bit about soaking beans was at the start of the chapter in the cookbook, not with the recipe. Only time I've thrown out food for a reason other than spoiling.
>>7047534
it's great for growing psychedelic mushrooms too
>>7047055
>What cool things can I do with one I can't do with a regular pot or slow cooker?
You could use it as a weapon of mass destruction. Seriously.
Regards from /k/.
>>7047570
>Is there anywhere a traditional pressure cooker serves better?
Stove-top pressure cookers are superior for the most part. They are more durable, have longer warrenties (presto has a 12 year warrenty) and can be quickly depressurized by running cold water over the pressure cooker in the sink.
Electric pressure cookers have more fail safes and I believe can be left unattended to cook. You cannot leave a stove-top pressure cooker unattended!
>>7047237
No fucking shit they prefaced by saying they're vegan. Otherwise they'd get offered a pile of beef recipes before needing to clarify that those recipes are of no interest to them, thus wasting everyone's time. Fuck, some people are so dense.
My gran is always cooking up greens in her pressure cooker and my mom does "baked" potatoes in hers.
>>7047071
>nothing you can do with a pressure cooker you can't do with a regular pot and time
Correction: there's nothing relevant to Mr VeganOP can do with a pressure cooker that he can't do with a regular pot and time.
Pressure cookers make bone stock so clear that they need no clarification, something that's nearly impossible to do without the relative stillness that comes with pressure cooking.
I took the long road to figuring that out. See, growing up, we ate lots of homemade pork stock, which was always creamy and opaque. After leaving home, I continued to cook and make pork stock the same way my family always had.
A few years ago, I moved to the US. I bought a pressure cooker as one of my first purchases stateside. I prepared pork stock according to my usual methodology. However, it came out crystal clear and less unctuous. I figured it was a fluke, and thought nothing of it at the time. A second batch of pork stock also came clear. I thought there might be some difference with American pork or something.
Thereafter, I did some research into white pork stock v clear and learnt that mine came clear because liquids in a pressure cooker don't move anywhere near as much as those boiling normally. As such, the agitation that comes with boiling that would normally knock loose all the things that makes the stock creamy and unctuous just doesn't happen with pressure cooking, rendering clearer stock. This same lack of agitation also means that scum doesn't form, either, meaning that pressure-cooked stocks require little-to-no straining.
So there you have it.
>>7049829
why does /ck/ have such a hard time telling the difference between a vegetarian and a vegan?
