For many professional cooks and chefs, there is no doubt that electric pressure cookers have made their life easier in the kitchen. These electric pressure cookers play a very crucial part in making a lot of dishes such as preparing bean and whole-grain dishes rapidly. Some people even claim that pressure cookers have helped improve their diet because of the fact that these models of pressure cooker are able to cook healthy foods that often take too long to prepare using conventional methods.
It was in the years 1940s and 1950s that the pressure cookers were made known to man and it has made a long way since then.In this current generation of cookware, modern pressure cookers are equipped with more and more key features that make pressure cookers more convenient and helpful to many people such as multiple safety measures.
A concrete example of this would be the design of the lid and lock system.This new design makes it nearly impossible to remove the lid when the pot is filled with pressure. In addition to the safety measures, modern designed pressure cookers are also equipped with spring-valve pressure regulators that are inaudible, efficient and more importantly, safe.
How Does A Pressure Cooker Work?
The way the pressure cooker works is by congesting the pressure or steam inside the pot and then it is sealed very tightly. The congested steam now causes the atmospheric pressure to rise which causes the increasing boiling temperature of the water. Pressure cookers cook food faster because instead of maintaining at 212°F (which is the maximum temperature of an unsealed pot), you are now able to cook it beyond that to 250°F because of the pressure build up.
Aside from the faster cooking time, this also means more energy and money is saved. Pressure cookers are able to help your household save from consuming energy up to 60 to 80 percent depending on the food and mode of pressure cooking, whether electric or gas. Now, that really makes a huge difference.
To be more specific, electric pressure cookers are more convenient and easy to use than stove pot ones. That is why more and more people choose to go electric when it comes to pressure cookers. Here are some of the dishes that you can make with an electric pressure cooker. These are not complicated and can be made with the everyday ingredients that you have in your fridge.
Pressure Cooker Pot Roast
Ingredients needed are as follows:
- 3 1/2 lb. Beef Chuck or Rump Roast
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 large onion, roughly chopped
- 1 1/2 cup water or beef broth (I used water with a Swanson Beef Flavor Boost packet.)
- 2 bay leaves
To cook a pressure cooker pot roast, here’s what you should do.
- Pat roast dry and season liberally with Lemon Pepper (or your favorite seasoning).
- Put oil in the cooking pot and select browning (or Saute on the Instant Pot). When oil begins to sizzle, brown meat on both sides. Remove roast from the cooking pot and add onions, water and bay leaves. Put roast back in the cooking pot on top of the onions.
- Select High Pressure. Set timer for 70 minutes. (Should reach high pressure in about 10 minutes.) When beep sounds turn off pressure cooker and use a natural pressure release to release pressure (approximately 20 minutes). You can also use a Natural Pressure for 10 minutes, followed by Quick Pressure Release. When valve drops carefully remove the lid.
- Remove roast to a serving platter. Strain juices and discard onion and bay leaves. Thicken juices in cooking pot on simmer with a slurry of water and flour or cornstarch to make gravy.
Pressure Cooker Brown Rice
The ingredients are as follows:
- 2 cup brown rice (I used short grain)
- 2 3/4 cups water
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Here are the step by step directions that you should follow:
- Combine the rice, water and salt in the pressure cooker pot. Lock the lid in place and select High Pressure and 22 minutes cook time. When beep sounds turn off pressure cooker and use a natural pressure release to release pressure (approximately 20 minutes). If you’re in a hurry you can use a Natural Pressure for 10 minutes, followed by Quick Pressure Release.
- When valve drops, carefully remove lid tilting it away from you. Fluff rice with a fork.
Beef Pepper and Onion roast
Ingredients are as follows:
- 3 pounds beef rump roast
- salt and ground black pepper to taste
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup vegetable shortening
- 2 (1 ounce) packages dry onion soup mix
- 2 1/2 cups cold water, or as needed
- 8 potatoes, peeled and halved
- 3 onions, peeled
- 1/2 cup cold water
Here are the directions on how to make this delicious dish:
- Season roast with salt and pepper on all sides; coat roast with flour (reserve leftover flour for gravy).
- Melt shortening in a pressure cooker over medium-high heat. Brown roast on all sides in hot shortening. Sprinkle onion soup mix over the roast. Pour in at least two cups of water; use 1 to 2 cups more if the beef is a tough cut or to reach the minimum amount recommended by the pressure cooker’s manufacturer.
- Seal the lid and bring the cooker up to full pressure over high heat. Reduce the heat to low, maintaining full pressure, and cook for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
- Release the pressure and test for doneness; the meat should be fork-tender. Add potatoes and onions, making sure the vegetables are submerged in the cooking liquid. (You may need to rearrange the roast on top of the vegetables or add more water.) Seal the lid and return the pressure cooker to full pressure.
- Reduce heat to low, maintaining full pressure, and cook for 10 minutes. Release the pressure; transfer meat and vegetables to a serving platter.
- To make gravy, bring the cooking liquid to a boil. Whisk reserved flour into 1/2 cup cold water; whisk the flour mixture into the boiling broth. Cook until thickened, stirring occasionally, about 3 minutes. Serve gravy with pot roast and vegetables.
These are just some of the dishes that you can make with your very own electric pressure cooker.
Don’t know which pressure cooker to buy?