Pressure Cooker Tips

Pressure cooking is a great way to cook food without destroying its nutrients and still make the meals ready up to 70% faster than traditional techniques.

To truly get the most from your pressure cooker you need to follow the exact instructions that will deliver the best possible results.

But before go any further, I suggest you to read on history pressure cooker and how does pressure cooker works in cooking with pressure cooker. A good start is to understand how the pressure cooker works and then look at how to use a pressure cooker. Many times these are the most important aspects that determine how to get things done.

Pressure Cooking vs. Traditional Cooking

Anything can be thrown away and be cooked into a pressure cooker. With this electronic gadget, pressure cookers can cook basic and traditional foods like roasts, stews and chili.

Also, pressure cooker are designed to manage cooking of casseroles, rice, vegetables, beans and also desserts like custards and puddings.

Pressure cooking as many benefits over traditional cooking styles:

Food gets cooked a lot faster than traditional techniques. The time savings can be as high as 70%
With reduced cooking time, you use less fuel, so it is greener solution to cooking
The cooking technique just cooks the food and does not destroy the essential nutrients. So you get a more wholesome meal.

While pressure cooking has advantages, unless you really know how to use it, there are some drawbacks to it too.

It is very easy to undercook or overcook the food. This typically happens when you are not certain how long to cook the food. However, with experience you should overcome this problem. I suggest you read cooking with pressure cooker to understand how the pressure cooker works and how to use a pressure cooker
Meat shrinkage is higher in this technique over other cooking styles.

For more details, you can find several reasons for using a pressure cooker here.

Here are some simple pressure cooker tips that you can follow for the prefect cooking experience.

Pressure Cooker Tips on using the appliance

Although pressure cookers are easy to use, timesaving and come with inbuilt safety features, there are a few things that you need to remember when using the appliance:

Before every use, inspect both the interior and exterior of the pot and lid to ensure that it is clean and free from food and debris.
Check that the gasket is in good condition and that there are no signs of wear and tear; there should be no cracking, tears, gumminess or weakened areas.
Ensure that the lid is correctly closed and locked prior to switching on.
Do not overfill the pressure cooker as this can cover safety valves/vents and food could get lodged in them preventing excess pressure from being released. Do not fill the cooker over two-thirds.
On the other hand, do not under fill the cooker as adequate liquid is required to build pressure and to avoid scorching the pot.
Do not use the pressure cooker for other types of cooking, such as deep frying or baking using dry heat as it is only designed to cook using steam pressure and using it otherwise could result in scalding or injury.
Do not fill the cooker over half if you are making food items which expands during the cooking process i.e. rice or dried vegetable, or food which has a tendency to froth or splutter as this may block the pressure release mechanisms. When cooking the aforementioned items, it is advisable to follow the cooking instructions provided by the manufacturer to get desired results.
To achieve even cooking, cut similar foods into equally sized pieces and when using a mix of ingredients, cut those that cook quicker in larger pieces and slower cooking items into smaller pieces so that they all are ready at the same time.
When moving the pressure cooker use the heat proof handles which are designed to endure the heavy load of the cooker and exercise extreme caution at all times.
Only open the pressure cooker after the internal pressure has been released and the unit has cooled down.

Pressure Cooker Tips: Taking Care of your Pressure Cooker

To lengthen the life of your pressure cooker, you must look after it. Here are a few cleaning tips:

Once the unit has cooled down, remove the rubber gasket or ring from the lid and wash it separately by hand. Do not remove it when the lid is still hot as it may get deformed and not fit back into position.
Use mild dishwashing soap to hand-wash the pot.
Do not immerse the pressure cooker lid under water as it may clog the safety devices.

Pressure cooker tips When storing the pressure cooker:

Keep the clean and dry gasket under refrigerated conditions if possible to improve its life
Do not lock the pressure cooker with the gasket in the lid when storing as the gasket can get damaged or the lid could seal itself if there is moisture present making it impossible to release.
The best way to store the pressure cooker is to place the lid upside down on the pot.

Now you must remember that these tips are general and your cooker manual will have a lot more specific ones.

But these pressure cooker tips will give you a very good idea of how to use your cooker. After sometime you will get used to your cooker and then it will not be a problem anymore.

Detail instruction on How to install rubber ring on a pressure cooker