I am not a big fan of electric pressure cookers but have only tried one before. I own it and ended up using it more as a heat source at cooking demonstrations instead of actually cooking in it. It's an older model that doesn't have a quick release function and it had a mediocre timer. It was NOT digital, as the new ones are. I hope going digital helps somewhat with the timing. This one also has a quick-release feature.
I've made rice for the first time in it. My observations:
It took almost 5 minutes to get to pressure. Cooking time for rice is set at 6 minutes. You then quick-release the pressure.
Time to check out my 4 quart Fagor Duo to see how it performs. A bit too much basmati rice for me but it's just for testing. My son really likes it so he'll be the beneficiary.
Here are the stats for the Duo 4-quart:
Took 1 minute 20 seconds to come to pressure. 3 minutes at pressure and 5 minutes natural pressure release.
The rice seems virtually the same and the rice in the stove-top cooker is ready in less time.
First experiment down. Stove top pressure cooker triumphs over electric. The pluses for the 3-in-1 -- the removable insert is easy to clean. For some, the fact that it's nonstick teflon will be a plus. I prefer the stainless steel myself.
Until I adjust to using the 3-in-1, I am likely to continue most of my cooking on the stove. But it will be good for testing recipes for my book The Veggie Queen Goes Green: Pressure Cooking Basics.
Watch for more on the 3-in-1 trials, triumphs and failures.
6 comments:
A few months ago I purchased the Cuisinart electric pressure cooker. I'm totally new to pressure cooking -- and I haven't tried much more than various bean and lentil dishes, split pea soup, etc. I think it works well enough -- but I've never compared to a stove-top.
Do you need a gas-range to use a stove-top PC? I only have a glass-top electric range -- and was led to believe that a stove-top PC wouldn't work so well on it.
I have used my pressure cooker on all kinds of ranges from butane and propane, to gas, electric and induction. They all seem to work just fine.
I have heard good things about the Cuisinart and want to get my hands on one. As I work on my next book -- the one about pressure cooking -- I am sure that I will get to try one out.
For now I will stick to the stove top cooker. I don't think that you'd have a problem.
Good luck and keep on PCing.
I just got the 3 in 1 pressure cooker. I actually used it only once as well; I used the slow cooker function to do brisket and beans.
What I failed to read in the manual is that the slow cooker is only "low" and so it always takes the longer time in a recipe to cook.
I was under pressure (no pun intended) to get the food done, for it was for a pot luck dinner. I then switched to pressure cooking to finish cooking it.
Again, I failed to read in the manual that the pressure cooker only goes to 9psi, not 15psi. The brisket cooked up after a couple times bringing it up to pressure.
The beans didn't really ever soften up, because we had to go....
I'll try it again sometime, but when it comes down to it, I use my 8QT Fagor pressure cooker religiously!
Any long-term feedback about the Fagor Electric Pressure Cooker or the Cuisinart? I like the idea of replacing my non-functional slow cooker as well as the browing capability, but it does seem a bit bleeding edge for me. And the various EPC units all look alike, as if they were all made in the same factory but with different controllers and trim....
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Gas range cookers
Word on the street, or at least on the Yahoo Pressure Cooking forum is that the new Fagor 3-in-1 cooker is going to be released soon. Truth is, I ... fpressurecookers.blogspot.com
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