I was lucky enough this year to get a few things that I really wanted for Christmas...an immersion blender that I have so far used to make milk shakes (once), and a pressure cooker that I have used numerous times and don't know how I lived without it for so long.
If you've never used a pressure cooker, be prepared for your culinary life to change. I literally cooked potatoes from rock hard to smashable soft in a total of 5 minutes. I added a little milk, butter, salt, and pepper and had mashed potatoes on the table in less time than it took me to sear the steak I was cooking. When there's a hungry toddler and a hungry husband staring at you from the table, the faster the better!
When shopping for a pressure cooker there are a few things you need to keep in mind:
1- Size: Think about what you're hoping to cook in the pressure cooker, how many people you'll be feeding, and read the info on the box (or the user manual if you can get to it) to see if they make any recommendations first. You don't want to buy one only to get it home and realize that you can't cook the amount of food you wanted to because you can only fill it so full.
2- Price: There are a whole variety of pressure cookers out there at all different price points. The price is sometimes connected to the features or actual components of the cooker (mine, for example, came with an attachable strainer so I could hold the cooker with two hands and drain it at the same time), but sometimes the price is more driven by the brand name. I have a Presto cooker that cost about $26 at a local discount store. They seem to be making a come back, so if you keep an eye out you're sure to spot a deal.
3- Features: As I mentioned already, different cookers come with different features (multiple pressure release valves, the attachable strainer, different pressure regulators), so again think about what you make most that could be sped up by cooking it using the pressure cooker and see if any of the features will make that easier for you. The strainer is great for when I make beans, potatoes, and a whole variety of other foods.
When you get it home, follow the manufacturer's instructions for washing it and preparing it for use, and then just make something. Cut up some vegetables, pull out some chicken, or open a bag of beans and (again, following the instructions provided by the manufacturer), try it out. I waited at least a few weeks before breaking mine open because I was a little intimidated not having used one before. It was S.O. E.A.S.Y!! After the first time I was hooked.
Here are some of my favorite pressure cooker recipes...do you have any recipes that did (or didn't) work well when cooked under pressure?
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