Pressure Cooking

[Uncle Bob]

Originally Posted by Bergovoy

btw, you can see the pot expand under pressure... you can also measure the increase in size... there is a ton of pressure in there... .

Bergovoy you cant possibly BELIEVE that!!

Rob

[Bergovoy]

Originally Posted by Uncle Bob

Bergovoy you cant possibly BELIEVE that!!

Rob

yes, i do...i dont iknow how much pressure but will use the 15psi as an example, 15 times 30 sq inches or however many there are, is a ton, okay, not 2000, but a bunch...

and as for the 'water' being better then gas, i would believe that the water is boiled and super heated, which is why things cook faster, so super heated steam coming out in an explosive rate will hit everything in a typical kitchen area, no doubt a normal galley...

I believe the lid could fly thru a hull with ease..

it wouldnt be pretty, but again, from what i read the chances of that happening with todays 'typical' pressure cooker is rare...

there are pictures and videos, but my laptop really hates youtube and other FLASH stuff... not sure what is going on with it.. but if i watch a vid it takes me two or three reboots before things are ok... really sucks... I can tell when i need to reboot when it takes 5 minutes for the laptop to boot...

i have scanned the hard drive and used MS diagnostics, and nothing except it takes hours when i run it when things are screwed up and lagging...

anyways...

if you used an older pressure cooker, or a defective pressure cooker, there is a small chance in hell that there can be a catostrohpic failure...

[Brent Swain]

If you fill a pressure cooker with water , then give her 150 lbs PSI of pressure, and it doesn't blow, it is very safe at 15 lbs. If it does blow when full of water, it is harmless, as water doesn't compress or expand.
Love my Italian made Lagostina, the best pressure cooker I've ever seen. Ingenious lid arangement. The original rocker didn't give enough pressure, so I converted it to take a presto rocker. Now it's been great for decades.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by Brent Swain

If you fill a pressure cooker with water , then give her 150 lbs PSI of pressure ...

How does one do that?

[Bergovoy]

i would agree, and have said that newer pressure cookers have built in safety features that prevent catostrophic events... and yes, if you have cold water and inject gas or other means to increase the pressure then yes, you are correct again, although i have no idea how you would increase the pressure?

but, I should point out that as pressure cookers do expand and contract and all that, there is the possibility for several things to occur. namely, maetal fatigue, seal failure, and even safety devices failing...

to say that it is safe and not possible to catostrpohic failure is wrong... its like saying your gasoline engine is safe and shouldnt be treated with respect abnd care and caution AND or your battery and charging system...things can and do happen and 'reasonable' care and caution' should be considered...

for back up, i would advise you to look at the packing material that came with the new pressure cooker and read the warning materials... however unlikely, they still include it...

[Bergovoy]

Originally Posted by GordMay

How does one do that?

your fast, maybe cause you are more brief? (briefer?)

[BessLB]

Hi All! I got a Fagor for Christmas and am taking some time at home during limited winter boating season to learn how to use it. So far I'm impressed! Chili and pot roast both came out beautifully. But, how do you keep from burning stuff to the bottom of the pot? I tried oil and cooking spray both and neither worked well. I don't mind scrubbing, but seriously, how many brillo pads can you store on board?

[Bergovoy]

dont use the pot like a fry pan... if you want to 'brown meat' fine, but dont cover the meat or pressure cook the browning stage...

cover the meat up after you browned it, and add liquids.. it is the liquid that does the cooking... make sure you always have liquid in there, so watch the pressure release weight/control and make sure you see steam coming out all the time, you can lift the rag if you are covering it to check...

if you run out of liquid, then cool down and release the pressure and add more liquid.


but basically you just want the heat just high enough to create pressure, which will be just above boiling...

you will use less liquid then in regular cooking, but you still need som...

liquid - water..or broth/soup stock not oils...

[BessLB]

Thanks....but did that. water and soup both. Still stuck on crust. I browned the meat, then added the liquids, brought to a boil, then covered...waited for the little pop "under pressure" gauge...then turned down the heat a little...halfway maybe. Is my heat still too high?

[Bergovoy]

if you are boiling off the liquid then then you either have too much heat or not enuf water, i would suggest turning the heat down until just barely boiling...heat doesnt do the cooking, it is the steam... so as long as you are boiling, think steam table thing at a buffet?, then you are ok...

when done with searing/browning, try tossing in a quarter cup of your favorite wine... it will break loose the stuck on stuff and add some crazy good flavor.. between the wine and the brown stuff from the bottom of the pot...

you should have some juice/gravy in the pot when you are done cooking... and if you have too much juice, you can 'reduce' it by boiling it with the cover off, and it will evaporate the water and leave lots of flavor...

dont add salt to the juice until reduced though as you will end up with brine as it reduces...

[BessLB]

Thanks Berg..i've got to be cooking too hot. I will try lower heat. Thanks for the wine tip!

[Bergovoy]

be careful when adding wine or any alchol... either turn the flames off, or remove the pot/pan from the flame completely.. the 'splatter' will flame up... prolly wont do any damage but if you arent expecting it you may react and cause damage...

it's kinda cool if you are wanting to impress someone though

[Bergovoy]

also, if you want to thicken up the juice, after you are done cooking, for gravy, you can mix water and corn starch, so it is just slightly thicker then milk, but not as thick as a milkshake...

should be thin... you can use milk instead of water, or you can use flour instead of corn starch, BUT, if you use flour, you will need to cook the juice, ok, I will stop calliing it that, its gravy... or sauce if you are french... hehehe

if you use flour you should cook the gravy longer, and use less thickening agent... it will thicken up

[GeoPowers]

Pots deflecting/distorting, exploding pots shooting holes in boats, and shooting flames from adding wine?? What kind of pot are you trying to stir?

Janet, enjoy your blog, looking forward to it growing and future entries!

[reiner]

expanding pressure cooker???? shrapnel flying around???
Thats is absolute garbage....my Grandma had a Restaurant and so did my mum. Pressure cookers everywhere. ( and some of them very old) We have 3 and never have seen a problem.
Any idea ho much pressure you need to expand stainless steel?????

Just saying.....

Reiner