cooking with stainless steel frying pans

Recipes

Pressure cooker instructions

Vegetables

General guidelines for cooking vegetables.

Always add green vegetables to boiling water, so pressure is reached quickly.

Timing is crucial with vegetables as overcooking will spoil the results.

Root vegetables should be placed straight onto the trivet. Small vegetables, or those that have been cut up into small pieces, should be cooked in the separator.

The minimum 300ml water is all that is required for most vegetable cooking. The trivet keeps the vegetables just above the water so that they are cooked in steam and the flavours kept separate. Add the cooking liquid to gravies, soups or sauces so that any nutrients are not wasted.

You can make significant savings in time and fuel if you cook a selection of vegetables together. Here are some instructions for cooking potatoes and carrots together. Adapt these instructions to suit whatever selection of vegetables you choose.

Prepare all the vegetables in the usual way.

Look at the timetable and cut up the potatoes and carrots so that they are a suitable size for cooking in 4 minutes.

Pour in 300ml water.

Place the potatoes and carrots in piles in the separator and place on the trivet and season lightly.

Close the lid and bring to a high pressure, cook for 4 minutes. Release the steam quickly.

Vegetables cooking times

• Refer to timings for 12lb pressure unless otherwise stated.
• For beetroot trim off all but 2.5cm (1") of stalk and root - wash carefully without breaking the skin

Pasta and pulses

All rice, pasta and cereals can be cooked in the base of the cooker. Rice and small pasta shapes, such as shells can also be cooked in a solid container (or the separator lined with foil). This method is often used when cooking the rice or pasta on top of meat or poultry.

Cooking rice or pasta in the body of the cooker (not in a container)

• Do not fill more than a third full.
• Bring to pressure on a medium heat setting.
• During cooking keep the heat slightly lower than usual to prevent frothing up.
• Release pressure slowly.
• Care must be taken when cooking rice to prevent the contents from boiling up high enough in the cooker to block the vent.

Cooking rice or pasta in a container

• Use a suitable size ovenproof dish or perforated separator (lined with foil).
• Pour 300ml water into the container.
• Place 225g of rice/pasta in the container, add 450ml of boiling water, leave space for the rice to expand.
• Cover with a piece of greaseproof paper and tie down securely.
• Release pressure slowly.

Cooking coarse oatmeal, pearl barley

• Fill no more than a third full.
• Use 900ml boiling water for every 100g.
• Bring to the boil over a medium heat and cook on a lower heat setting as oatmeal rises and froths up.

Cooking millet, bulgur (cracked) wheat

• Cook in and ovenproof container or separator lined with foil.
• Do not cook in water in the body of the cooker.
• Pour 300ml water into the cooker and cook for 5 minutes.
• Cover securely.
• Release pressure slowly.

Couscous

• Soak couscous in boiling water. See chart for amounts. Add 15g butter.
• Stand for 10 minutes.
• Fork through couscous and then place into an ovenproof dish
• or separator (lined with foil).
• Pour in 300ml water.
• Do not cover, cook for 8 minutes.
• Add 25g softened butter.
• Release pressure slowly.

Cooking rice and cereals with milk (ie rice pudding)

• Do not cook more than 50g rice and 600ml milk.
• Bring milk to the boil in the open cooker.
• Add the rice or cereal, stir until boiling again.
• Lower the heat until the milk settles to a rolling boil.
• Close the lid and without altering the heat bring to pressure
• and cook for 15 minutes.
• Release pressure slowly.

Lentils

• Use twice the amount of water to lentils by volume
• Do not pre-soak
• Cook with the specified water and time in table below
• 120g dried lentils makes 240g when cooked - which is the equivalent to a whole tin
• Release steam slowly - which should take about 10 mins

Black beans

• Soaked black beans takes 5 to 6 minutes to cook if the pressure is released slowly
• Soaked black beans takes about 9 minutes if pressure released quickly.
• Beans not soaked takes about 20 minutes with the pressure released quickly.
• Other smaller dried beans like navy or cannellini cook about the same as black beans

Red kidney beans

• Rince dry beans
• Soak overnight
• Cook as below

Chickpeas

• Rince dry chickpeas
• Soak overnight
• Cook as below

Pasta and pulses cooking times

Meats

Your pressure cooker will enable you to cook meat, even tougher cuts, in minutes rather than hours with really tender results.

The times in the recipes are a guide and will vary depending on quality, thickness and cut of meat and personal preference.

General Guidelines

Frozen Meat

• Never cook pork or poultry from frozen.

Minced Beef

• Partially thaw and separate into smaller pieces or brown the block of frozen meat in the open cooker over a low heat until it begins to thaw and separate.
• Add 300ml thin stock and chopped vegetables to the meat. Cook for 12 minutes. Release pressure quickly.
• After cooking, stir thoroughly and adjust consistency. Cubed steak and kidney, braising meat for puddings, pies, stews and casseroles
• Cut meat up into suitable sized pieces before freezing if to be cooked from frozen.
• Meats can be pre-browned from frozen in the open pan on a low heat setting to prevent excess spitting.
• Do not coat in seasoned flour, thicken gravy at end of cooking.
• Cook for 5 minutes longer than given in the recipe or chart, remember to add more water if necessary.
• Release pressure quickly.
• Thicken the sauce or gravy as required.

Joints

• Do not cook pork joints from frozen.
• When browning, keep the heat lower than usual to avoid spitting and cook until the outside flesh has softened.

Reheating frozen cooked stews and casseroles

• Add 300ml liquid to the frozen food.
• Cook for 10-15 minutes depending on the meat size and overall bulk.
• Reduce pressure quickly.
• Adjust consistency of sauce, gravy.

Stewing and braising

• Remember that the cooking time is determined by the size of the pieces of meat, not the amount, so the cooking time remains the same even if the quantities are changed.
• Meat and vegetables may be browned in hot fat in the open cooker on a low heat before adding the liquid to seal the meat and retain the natural juices and flavour. Cool the cooker slightly before adding the liquid. Remove any frying residues from the base with a wooden spoon.
• Do not coat the meat in seasoned flour before browning, thickeners eg blended flour and butter or cornflour should be added at the end of the cooking.
• Use a thin consistency of cooking liquid eg stock, wine, water. Soups and canned sauces may be used with and extra 150ml water blended in. This is important because you cannot stir the food during cooking, so thick liquids may 'catch' on the base of the cooker.

Joints of meats

• Never fill the body of the cooker more than 2 thirds full when all the ingredients and liquids have been added.
• Release the pressure quickly.
• Add thickenings, fresh or soured cream, at the end of cooking, in the open pan, stirring continuously. Boiling Suitable meats include bacon, gammon, tongue, brisket and silverside.
• Cook lean joints with just sufficient water to cover the thick part.
• Smoked joints
  • soak for at least 2 hours in cold water and then prepare as unsmoked joints.
• Unsmoked joints
  • Place the joint in the cooker with enough water to cover.
  • Bring to the boil in the open pan (takes about 20mins for a 1.4kg joint)
  • Drain off the liquid and remove the joint.
  • Add 750ml water
  • Takes about 10 mins to come back to the boil for a 1.4kg joint
  • Once cooked release the pressure quickly.
• Add 750ml water
• Remember not to fill the cooker more than half full.
• Bring the water to the boil in the open pan, skim well, add peppercorns, bay leaves and root vegetables.
• Cover, bring to pressure and cook for required time.
• Release the pressure quickly.

Boiling cooking times

Ways of serving the bacon/gammon

• Strip off the skin and either sprinkle with browned breadcrumbs and serve with a little of the cooking liquid hot or cold, or slice the joint thickly and use the cooking liquid for a sauce eg onion or parsley.
• The fat of a good quality joint eg gammon can be scored on a diamond pattern, spiked with cloves and sprinkled with brown sugar, stood in 300ml of cooking liquid or fruit juice in a baking tin and baked for 20-25 minutes in the oven set at 200C. Baste during cooking.

Points to remember when cooking brisket, silverside and tongue

Cooking tinned suet steak and kidney puddings

Pot Roasting

Joints should not weigh more than 1.5kg.

Wipe, trim and weigh the meat, calculate the cooking time from the chart, no need to thaw frozen joints.

Preparation of the joint

Salted joints must be pre-soaked for 3-4 hours to remove excess salts or covered with cold water, brought to the boil in the open pan and left to stand for s minutes, then discard the water.

Never fill the cooker more than half full when both the joint, liquid and vegetables for flavouring have been added.

Pot roasting cooking times