Important (Read 1503 times)

I prefer the pressure cooker for cooking beans.  I can cook up a batch of beans and a batch of rice in about 30 minutes.  I'll put one layer of rinsed and sorted but not soaked dry beans on the bottom of the pressure cooker and then set the center portion of one of those cheep vegetable steamers that look like a flower in the center and fill the cooker to the level of the steamer with boiling water from my electric kettle, toss in some garlic and a bay leaf and turn on the heat.  Then I'll put 1 cup of rice and 1.5 cups of boiling water from the kettle into a 1 quart round pyrex storage dish, and place it on the steamer.  Put on the lid, bring to pressure, let cook for 20 minutes, and then let the pressure drop naturally.  The rice is already in the container I stick it into the fridge in, and I toss the beans into a jar.  If I wasn't single I'd have to find a taller stand for the rice container to sit on so I could cook more beans per batch, and probably use a bigger container for the rice.

funny. i'm an organic chemist, and yet most pressure cookers terrify me. big fan of slow cookers, tho. i agree that most legumes taste better slow-cooked, too. 

 

if anyone's like me, tho, and cooks things overnight, it is kinda strange to wake up and smell tomorrow's dinner at 4 or 5 am..

 

yeah, both me (and hubby, a chem prof) grew up in traditional ethnic households where pressure cookers (the old-fashioned ones, even) were (and are) in routine use. didn't pay much attention after awhile then, except for the occasional admonishment to steer clear.

 

but both of us have seen the (major) damage that can be done under very similar principles, doing chemistry, if things go awry. fortunately, i can't remember an incident where someone was hurt under those circumstances (unfortunately, plenty of others). it's a bit of a testament to the 'safety' of pressure cookers, or (more likely) the vigilance of the cooks (who keep the food fr being overdone as well). one mitigating factor is that the temp's don't get nearly as high as in a lab expt.

 

the main issue (tho very rare) is a potential failure of the steam release valve. then, it really is a 'bomb', as we call the related lab reaction systems.  most pressure cookers are steel, so they won't explode under normal cooking temps (tho that's obviously time-dependent, which is one reason why you can't just go away for hours- in the event of a however unlikely valve fail). more likely, you'd burn your food. still, one could get seriously scalded if attempting to open a unit under those circumstances (and not waiting long enough for the whole vessel to cool down).

 

ok. sorry for the over analysis. likely for me, it's a case of 'a little knowledge'...

cg - I kinda feel the same way about pressure cookers.

 

 

- mostly unrelated...when I was working tech service one of our products was 2 part liquid resin.  This wasnt the catalytic reaction kind, this kind needed application of heat after mixing to start the reaction. Directions were to bake the parts in the resin.    My coworker got a VERY angry call from the captain of an aircraft carrier at sea.  They had followed the directions and placed the coated parts in the oven and about 15 minutes later the door blew right off the oven. 

 

My coworker went into the lab across the hall, mixed the resin in question, put it in our test oven and went back to his desk.  Sure enough 15 minutes later the doors exploded off our oven. (That's always a fun day at work BTW)   The captain was not impressed with the return call of "You're right, it blows the goddamn doors right off".  Not particularly helpful when you arent supposed to put in to dock for another month.

My crockpot is currently full of white beans and water, set to 8 hours.  Later, this evening, I will likely dump in a jar of salsa.  Add some salt about 30 minutes before serving.  We will feed the family of 4 1/2 and have ample leftovers, all for a grand total of about ~$5. Some smashed potatoes* on the side and you have yourself a filling winter meal fit for the gray flurry-filled day here in Nashville.

 

Yep.  Costco apparently is saving us money.

 

* Smashed potatoes: new potatoes diced coarsely, boiled and lightly smashed (skin and all) with milk, butter, salt and maybe garlic, cheese, herbs to taste.  Also dirt cheap and tasty, but not really requiring anything from Costco.

 

 

Trent ... I'm no doctor, and I don't play one on TV, but I would add a FRESH green lettuce salad made tomatoes, red onion, cucumber, radishes, mushrooms to that meal.  I'll bet it will go over well. 

 

Yours truly,

Grandma

FRESH green lettuce salad made tomatoes, red onion, cucumber, radishes

 

Fresh?  In January?

Ben is now officially my favorite poster on RA.

 

That is all.

 

Yeah, that was pretty good. Not that I was particularly bothered by Trent's original post. But Ben had a funny response.

Of course you have a pressure cooker.  You are a reporter.  Duh.