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-   -   Does anyone else use a pressure cooker? (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/diningbuzz/1508880-does-anyone-else-use-pressure-cooker.html)

ePressureCooker Oct 5, 2013 8:56 am


Originally Posted by uk1 (Post 21557447)
Many thanks. Should I basically make the complete lamb stew first, and then when cool put it in the suet - or must i just part cook it?

Thanks!

Well, I don't know how long it would cook in the oven after being assembled, but generally speaking, you'd want to prepare the lamb stew most of the way, but not all, beforehand. If its fully cooked when it goes in, it might be overcooked when it comes out.

HIDDY Oct 5, 2013 9:09 am


Originally Posted by uk1 (Post 21557537)

I don't know whether anyone else can picture and taste this but the idea seems to work in my head. Any views appreciated.

Interesting idea.....

Why would you want to make it in a pressure cooker?

braslvr Oct 5, 2013 9:46 am


Originally Posted by LapLap (Post 21556774)
[B]I'd personally be very interested in learning which other countries besides Spain have a high usage of pressure cookers in people's homes.

Everyone I know in Brazil uses one almost every single day.

ePressureCooker Oct 5, 2013 11:15 am


Originally Posted by HIDDY (Post 21558294)
Interesting idea.....

Why would you want to make it in a pressure cooker?

For at least the stew portion of the dish, a pressure cooker does wonders. First, you can cook it faster, using less energy. Second, a pressure cooker will tenderize meat like nothing else does, and I've also found its excellent for rendering fat out of the meat, which can either be removed, or used to flavor the rest of the dish. Moreover, its excellent at gellatinizing connective tissues, which means increased flavor. The pressure cooker can coax flavors out of dishes I can never get through conventional means.


Originally Posted by uk1 (Post 21557537)
.... can I also bounce another idea of FT'ers?

I experiment a lot!

I'm thinking of making my first meat pudding in the following way.

I'm thinking of doing a sort of mild Lamb and Sweet Potato Curry (may substitute carrot to preserve a bit of bite as the sweet potato will mush ....) with some coconut milk and sugar - and then put that cooked mix fairly dry into a suet pastry that I made in the normal way but also have mixed some slowly braised and caramelised red onion in with. So a sort of mild lamb curry in a caramelised red onion suet pudding crust.

I don't know whether anyone else can picture and taste this but the idea seems to work in my head. Any views appreciated.

I missed this part earlier, so let me just add, both carrot and sweet potato can turn quite soft if its cooked long enough to cook the lamb stew meat. What you may want to do if that's an issue for you is to cook either carrots or sweet potato (or both) separately, by themselves, and add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar to the cooking water for the carrots/sweet potatoes. Vinegar will help strengthen the pectin bonds in the carrots/sweet potatoes, helping them retain their shape and stiffness, and you won't taste it in the final product.

uk1 Oct 5, 2013 12:02 pm


Originally Posted by ePressureCooker (Post 21558838)
I missed this part earlier, so let me just add, both carrot and sweet potato can turn quite soft if its cooked long enough to cook the lamb stew meat. What you may want to do if that's an issue for you is to cook either carrots or sweet potato (or both) separately, by themselves, and add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar to the cooking water for the carrots/sweet potatoes. Vinegar will help strengthen the pectin bonds in the carrots/sweet potatoes, helping them retain their shape and stiffness, and you won't taste it in the final product.

You are being very patient with me - which I really appreciate. For some reason my Tefal 5 had no recipe book at all - just some basic instructions. It seems to have two pressures 5 and 12 I believe.

Could you give me some suggestions with my first Giant Lamb Curry Dumpling re timings. I expect it to be experimental so please don't be shy. For simplicity I'm leaving sweet potato and carrot out - so it will be lamb and sliced red onion - so think of it as lamb in suet dumpling pastry pudding 'ish.

My main motivation for my new pressure cooker explorations is that I love the flavour of cheaper cuts but want to improve texture which I think this approach will give me. I make a lot of lamb and beef curries for example. Sous vide over softens.

Any help appreciated.

duniawala Oct 5, 2013 12:03 pm


Originally Posted by LapLap (Post 21556774)
...........
I'd personally be very interested in learning which other countries besides Spain have a high usage of pressure cookers in people's homes. ......

Used extensively in South Asia (India, Pakistan etc.). Specifically for lentils and meat dishes.

LapLap Oct 5, 2013 12:33 pm


Originally Posted by uk1 (Post 21557182)
To clarify - you mean to make the bread with the stock or eat with it ie soup?

Make the bread separately and have it with soup.

I do occasionally use the pressure to make bread. It's a great way to cook and soften rye grains. They take nearly an hour to cook and it's better to post-soak them overnight (they don't get any softer in the bread whilst being baked). Much, much quicker with a pressure cooker.

Djlawman Oct 5, 2013 1:24 pm

Two words -- Pot Roast!

sbams Oct 5, 2013 2:31 pm

Just to balance the replies a little: no I don't use a pressure cooker ;)

relberger Oct 5, 2013 3:03 pm


Originally Posted by LapLap (Post 21556774)
I'd personally be very interested in learning which other countries besides Spain have a high usage of pressure cookers in people's homes. It's not an obvious question and requires a fair amount of local knowledge. From the cuisine, I would have thought South Korea would be a contender (and I am sure they are worth their considerable weight in gold in North Korean cities where energy for cooking can't be depended on - for similar reasons I've considered taking the pressure cooker out camping)

they seemed to be relatively common in HK when I lived there. We had one. Even though our 2-bedroom was only about 500 square feet ;)

kettle1 Oct 5, 2013 3:06 pm

If you travel. Bring 2 pressure cookers. Check one and bring the other as a carry on. :p

ePressureCooker Oct 5, 2013 3:43 pm


Originally Posted by uk1 (Post 21558996)
You are being very patient with me - which I really appreciate. For some reason my Tefal 5 had no recipe book at all - just some basic instructions. It seems to have two pressures 5 and 12 I believe.

Could you give me some suggestions with my first Giant Lamb Curry Dumpling re timings. I expect it to be experimental so please don't be shy. For simplicity I'm leaving sweet potato and carrot out - so it will be lamb and sliced red onion - so think of it as lamb in suet dumpling pastry pudding 'ish.

No problem at all, happy to help. I love to "evangelize" the pressure cooker way of life. But to answer your question, I need to know what cut of lamb you're using (lamb shanks?) and how many pounds you have. (If you don't already know which cut you're using, as in, you haven't bought it yet, ideally, to get the most out of a pressure cooker, you'd want to select a cut that has a lot of connective tissues in it, so it'll create collagen, which will in turn improve the flavor. That means working muscles, like legs, shoulder, neck bones, etc.)

uk1 Oct 5, 2013 6:15 pm


Originally Posted by ePressureCooker (Post 21559847)
No problem at all, happy to help. I love to "evangelize" the pressure cooker way of life. But to answer your question, I need to know what cut of lamb you're using (lamb shanks?) and how many pounds you have. (If you don't already know which cut you're using, as in, you haven't bought it yet, ideally, to get the most out of a pressure cooker, you'd want to select a cut that has a lot of connective tissues in it, so it'll create collagen, which will in turn improve the flavor. That means working muscles, like legs, shoulder, neck bones, etc.)

Many thanks!

It will be around 500 gms of cubed leg.

So how long for the diced leg and onion please .... and then once cool and inh the suet pastry in a pudding bowl how long then please?

Thanks agin!

:)

ricski64 Oct 5, 2013 6:44 pm

Use ours for pork ribs as well. The compliments to the chef never end. I use it but my wife is deathly scared of the device. Our dogs find the appliance quite mesmerizing :D

HIDDY Oct 5, 2013 6:57 pm


Originally Posted by LapLap (Post 21556774)
[B]I'd personally be very interested in learning which other countries besides Spain have a high usage of pressure cookers in people's homes.

I seem to remember them being very popular in Caribbean cooking....can anyone confirm?

I don't think they're all that popular in the UK.....my mother used to use one to negative effect. In Argentina they don't seem to be very popular either.


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