All electric galley: rice cooker

[rslifkin]

For short grain sticky rice in the instant pot I remember settling on slightly more water than rice (can't remember exactly what ratio I used) and then 7 minutes low pressure in manual mode, followed by opening the vent to dump the pressure. Results were fairly good, just not as good as a real rice cooker.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by Auspicious

Home canning is greatly under rated by the cruising community. Scaling up from a pint to two gallons of pasta sauce is just not a big deal. I usually produce ten pints (for us) and three quarts (for delivery). Cost is about the same as off-the-shelf commercial at US mainland prices but taste is better and we like the control over ingredients like salt and chemicals. Lots of soup, chili, some meat dishes, lots of pickles. My wife cans jams and jellies.

We are supposed to do a 6-month provisioning and clean wake challenge now but covid messed that up with us being stuck here in Florida. We will sail for the Bahamas soon and have been using these provisions for months at home already.

Without pressure canning a crew of two can’t bring all the food they need for 6 months. Our pressure canner can do 16 pint jars in one batch

[Auspicious]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

Without pressure canning a crew of two can’t bring all the food they need for 6 months. Our pressure canner can do 16 pint jars in one batch

I can't do that many at once. My canner is not tall enough for too layers of pints. I can fit eight or nine quarts or ten(ish) pints or a mix. I have a Presto 16 qt pressure canner that was a wedding gift to my mother in 1957. It works great. I just wish it were the bigger one. Regardless, it has earned its storage place on Auspicious. We pressure can, water bath can, it's our big stock pot, and has been pressed into service for steaming crabs and making seafood boils on many a beach.

I have little screens to grow sprouts in empty Ball jars. That might fit into your provisioning challenge if that gets life breathed into it. See https://sproutpeople.org/sprouting-s...creen-lid-set/ . Cheaper and easier than dedicated sprouters. I do microgreens also on damp papertowels. Something fresh when the cabbage runs out.

[jmh2002]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

So we just had a great Babi Kecap Indonesian dinner...

...The pork was home pressure canned in a pint Mason jar in beef stock (shelf stable for many years) and we had home made Atjar Tjampoer (pickled veggies) home canned in a water bath canner

Originally Posted by Auspicious

I have a Presto 16 qt pressure canner that was a wedding gift to my mother in 1957. It works great. I just wish it were the bigger one. Regardless, it has earned its storage place on Auspicious. We pressure can, water bath can, it's our big stock pot, and has been pressed into service for steaming crabs and making seafood boils on many a beach.

When I eventually move homes I want to get one of these pressure canners. So useful, for so many things.

Even for living at home, it's another way to store perishables without needing a big freezer.

And the items remain 'transportable' too, to another location (boat, holiday home, RV, etc).

Which model do you have @Jedi?

And since we are on the subject, I understand that the Instant Pot can do water bath and pressure canning (Max model only for pressure canning) too.

I realise it is a lot smaller capacity (Max model is 6qt), but do you have any personal thoughts on this, in relation to having an all in one device?

[Auspicious]

Originally Posted by jmh2002

And since we are on the subject, I understand that the Instant Pot can do water bath and pressure canning (Max model only for pressure canning) too.

No. Instant Pot advertised pressure canning for the Max when they released it but USDA testing showed the pressure did not get high enough or remain stable enough for home canning. There is no electric pressure cooker that meets the requirements. USDA and the FTC made Instant Pot stop advertising canning as a capability.

Stove-top canners in the US are dominated by Presto and All-American. All-American has big clamps to hold it closed that could be an issue for people with arthritis in their hands. Otherwise it doesn't make a big difference. As s/v Jedi indicated bigger canners are better.

The bibles for home canning are USDA https://nchfp.uga.edu/publications/p...ions_usda.html and the Ball Blue Book.

[jmh2002]

Thanks Dave

They do still seem to be advertising this feature though:

https://instantpot.com/portfolio-item/max-6/

"Using 70% less energy, this fully-programmable multicooker incorporates the benefits of a Pressure Cooker, Pressure Canner, Sous Vide, Slow Cooker, Rice Cooker,  Sauté/Searing pan, Steamer, Yogurt Maker, Food Warmer and much more."

"Historically, 15psi pressure has only been achieved by stove-top pressure cookers. With the Instant Pot Max, you can now do home pressure canning."

"Sustained 15psi not only cooks food faster, but it also lets you do safe home canning in the pressure cooker."

But google does give me some links to the contrary as you stated:

https://www.google.com/search?newwin...sclient=psy-ab

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by jmh2002

When I eventually move homes I want to get one of these pressure canners. So useful, for so many things.

Even for living at home, it's another way to store perishables without needing a big freezer.

And the items remain 'transportable' too, to another location (boat, holiday home, RV, etc).

Which model do you have @Jedi?

And since we are on the subject, I understand that the Instant Pot can do water bath and pressure canning (Max model only for pressure canning) too.

I realise it is a lot smaller capacity (Max model is 6qt), but do you have any personal thoughts on this, in relation to having an all in one device?

This is the one to buy... itis so popular that it’s hard to find but Amazonhas a couple now: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I paid $20 less not even a year ago. The big advantage of the All American is that it is built like a tank andit does not have/need a rubber seal. It also has much thicker walls for more even heat distribution so less jar breakage.

We can fit 7x quart jars, 8x 1.5 pint jars and 16x pint jars in one batch. You need to convert your favorite dishes to work with this system. We now can boneless chicken tighs, stew beef and pork tenderloin all in stock in pint jars in 16-jar batches of each. Then we make supporting pint jars with the veggie/sauce mix like for Hungarian Goulash, Thai hot chicken curry etc. that all combine with those jars with the meat.
You will want some machine for processing fresh vegetables because that quickly becomes an overwhelming job.

Pickling in the waterbath canner is also a big thing for vegetables. We eat much more pickled veggies now and should have done that always as it is great tasting. We make lots of pickled cucumber with onion, piccalilly, atjar tjampoer etc.

We got a stainless steel waterbath canner that is compatible with induction so we can also use the pot for large batches of soups, chili etc... that all get canned

[jmh2002]

Thank you very much for all the info, I really appreciate it. This is something that I have some knowledge of, but no personal experience.

Water bath preserving of vegetables I'm more familiar with, both from my mother, and especially from my wife's family in eastern europe. It's still a common everyday practice, and even people who don't do it at home still buy the commercial made versions. It's totally normal. And these preserved products are very good for gut health.

Here is a good sized jar

[Auspicious]

Originally Posted by jmh2002

Thanks Dave

They do still seem to be advertising this feature though

I can't track down the finding from USDA that Instant Pot should not be used for pressure canning. My quick Google search returned:

https://www.cnet.com/news/instant-po...anning-safety/

https://foodinjars.com/blog/canning-...stant-pot-max/

Dr. Andress referred to in one article is the world's most renowned expert on home canning. It's worth noting that USDA is pretty much it as far as official science goes for home canning. Other governments simply don't address it beyond naming protection (like the French with wines and mushrooms and cheese). There are a number of American universities whose food science schools participate. University of Georgia pretty much owns the 800 pound gorilla status. Until Dr. Andress says the IP Max is okay it is not okay.

Focus on the USDA for pressure canning guidance is not US centric. That's all there is.

Given that as context it is interesting that Instant Pot has chosen to fund McGill University in Canada to evaluate the Max. Yes, yes, Canadian company, Canadian university. It's going to be an uphill battle to get NCHFP and USDA approval based on their findings. McGill isn't a player in that sort of food science to my knowledge.

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

You will want some machine for processing fresh vegetables because that quickly becomes an overwhelming job.

...or work on your knife skills. *grin* Seriously veg is time consuming, especially for things like carrots that generally get peeled. Even something as simple as trimming green beans quickly becomes mind numbing. I recommend comfortable clothes, shoes with good support, and a tablet streaming whatever you are binge watching. Two gallons at a clip is about my limit although I've had a couple of power weekends that churned out eight gallons.

For long term provisioning there is not substitute for good data. Beth Leonard has good guidance in 'The Voyager's Handbook' on how much to take for various periods and conditions. I expect s/v Jedi does what we do: count what goes into stores and periodically inventory to develop your own consumption data. Over a long period the variation averages out and you have a good baseline for yourself. To keep things simple I only track stores. When something is moved into the galley for ready access it counts as consumed. It takes about a week to "eat" the galley and I use that as a buffer. Custom data collection accounts for dietary needs and preferences. WTF would I do with ten pounds of quinoa? I'm sure not going to eat it. @Dockhead isn't going to want fifty kilos of pasta. *grin* What would @Seaworthy Lass do with twenty kilos of venison, home canned or not? Don't carry what you don't want to eat.

[ranger58sb]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

My previous test was 1:1 ratio and it was a fail (reported in earlier comments). In the rice setting, you cannot change the number of minutes of pressure, that is manual mode.

When I get good results with 1:1.25 in the rice program, I will repeat that ratio in manual mode 4 minutes high pressure followed by 10 minutes natural release. I will also measure energy again. My current thought are that it does not matter much if you use rice or manual buttons for jasmin rice.

I thought the wording was odd... when it said "count 4 minutes" or some such. Given you've said you can't change the pressure on the rice setting (didn't know that)... I guess I'd interpret that to "use the rice setting, watch the time yourself, and go to the next step (after?) 4 minutes."

Maybe.

-Chris

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by ranger42c

I thought the wording was odd... when it said "count 4 minutes" or some such. Given you've said you can't change the pressure on the rice setting (didn't know that)... I guess I'd interpret that to "use the rice setting, watch the time yourself, and go to the next step (after?) 4 minutes."

Maybe.

-Chris

No, the 4 minutes (other sources say 3-4 or 3-5) is with the manual button. The rice program is fully automatic and lasts 12 minutes, after which it enters a keep warm mode with timer counting. When starting the Rice program the display shows “12” until it activates and show “On”. The next thing I saw was “10” but more than 2 minutes later so I guess the program figured out the quantity by counting the time it took to build pressure and figured it needed 10 more minutes. Then at “3” I heard clicking noises I think it shut down all heating. Then it counted further down and entered that keep warm phase during which the pressure slowly goes down. At 10 minutes I manually released pressure still left and opened it.

If someone states it’s just as handy to use a pot on a stove compared to the IP then I have to agree. The method and required tinkering, as well as results for rice quality and energy consumption are comparable. A real rice cooker is a huge step up from this and as the IP adds much complexity over a simple pot on the stove, it is a fail. This is the second fail for us after first trying it for our yogurt production.

[Auspicious]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

If someone states it’s just as handy to use a pot on a stove compared to the IP then I have to agree. The method and required tinkering, as well as results for rice quality and energy consumption are comparable. A real rice cooker is a huge step up from this and as the IP adds much complexity over a simple pot on the stove, it is a fail. This is the second fail for us after first trying it for our yogurt production.

Me! Me! Me! *grin* The IP is not a good rice cooker. A pot on the stove is more handy and the product is better. A rice cooker is a huge step up from the IP and a marginal improvement over a pot. My experience is that rice cookers are harder to clean than a pot; I accept that others with different (newer, non-stick) rice cookers have a different experience.

The IP must be the world's most stupid way to make yogurt. Just reading the directions makes my head hurt. How can anyone make something so simple so complicated?

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by Auspicious

Me! Me! Me! *grin* The IP is not a good rice cooker. A pot on the stove is more handy and the product is better. A rice cooker is a huge step up from the IP and a marginal improvement over a pot. My experience is that rice cookers are harder to clean than a pot; I accept that others with different (newer, non-stick) rice cookers have a different experience.

The IP must be the world's most stupid way to make yogurt. Just reading the directions makes my head hurt. How can anyone make something so simple so complicated?

I have tried many methods over the years and when you consider the IP to use in the galley to replace multiple appliances... and with such fanatical support from people even here on this forum, I had to try it. The advantage is that I could put 8 cup-sized Mason jars inside the IP to make yogurt for our use for a week plus have the starter for the next batch. It worked but it was a lot of work.
Our current, best method is technically not the best but it just works with very little effort. We use the EasiYo insulated canister thing and replaced the inner plastic container with a quart size Mason jar, which fit so well that it can’t be coincidence. You fill the insulated canister to the mark with boiling water, put the jar with milk and starter in, close it up and check back 8-24 hours later. It always works and is very energy efficient.

Edit: we use milk powder and a heirloom yogurt culture that keeps going generation after generation unlike the modern, genetically modified cultures that die after a couple generations so as to protect their product.

[weavis]

Originally Posted by Auspicious

Me! Me! Me! *grin* The IP is not a good rice cooker. A pot on the stove is more handy and the product is better. A rice cooker is a huge step up from the IP and a marginal improvement over a pot. My experience is that rice cookers are harder to clean than a pot; I accept that others with different (newer, non-stick) rice cookers have a different experience.

The IP must be the world's most stupid way to make yogurt. Just reading the directions makes my head hurt. How can anyone make something so simple so complicated?

Your prejudice is showing. Put milk in the IP. auto heats to temperature for pasturising. Cool. add yoghurt starter. push switch for 8 hours.

Yoghurt.

If you use Longlife.. no need to pre heat. Add yoghurt starter. push switch for 8 hours.

Yoghurt.

I make a gallon at time...bottle after.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by weavis

Your prejudice is showing. Put milk in the IP. auto heats to temperature for pasturising. Cool. add yoghurt starter. push switch for 8 hours.

Yoghurt.

If you use Longlife.. no need to pre heat. Add yoghurt starter. push switch for 8 hours.

Yoghurt.

People whacked me once when I put the “h” in yoghurt... now I realize it the UK English I learned in school

What you write is true and it’s as easy as that, but what do you do with the yogurt once it’s ready? We transferred it to another jar and then washed the IP pan. With our current method, it’s already in the jar so we just take it from the Easiyo and stick it in the fridge.