Pressure Cooker - How Big? / Small?

[David_Old_Jersey]

I am guessing in America their is no demand for use in household cooking...........so as my market would only be Marine, I would have to.........double the price....or add a Zero on the end  ;D

I am sure one of the UK online retailers would deliver to the US - or even a T-Fal retailer could special order?

[Delezynski]

We may try to find a set some place. We went to T-Fal, but they said not in the USA or Mexico.

Our problem is we are cruising Mexico for some time. So can't purchase in the USA and getting a specialty item like that here is very hard.

But we now know it is out there!

Greg

[Auspicious]

I have a 4 litre Kuhn-Rikon PC that I like a lot. It has been a great buy, but I certainly wouldn't go any smaller, even cooking for one. In preparation for passages and even harbor-hopping I do a lot of cooking ahead (a practice I recommend) and find the 4 litre size borders on too small.

I'm shopping for a pressure canner now so I can put more things up without refrigeration and for longer shelf life. For canning, height to clear a quart jar seems to be more important than volume, but you do need to have a place to keep it.

[CapnK]

Time for a new cooker for me, looking around I came across this one, it seems like a good deal - stainless, tri-metal bonded bottom, modern valves & safety mechanisms, for a bit under $50, 4qts:

Ingrid Hoffman Simply Delicioso Stainless Steel Pressure Cooker

[Porter Wayfare]

I am a devoted pressure cooker person.  One thing I have had to learn--twice--is that the gasket in the lid does not float.  A couple of times I have had to dive for it after absentmindedly swishing the lid in the water to rinse it off. 

[Captain Smollett]

Size?

Based on our experiences, I'd say 4 qt minimum for a couple.

We have a kit that included a 4 qt and a 6 qt.  We use the 4 qt often enough, but the 6 as well for a family of four. 

Couple of thoughts:

With a bonded bottom, heating "dry" is a big no-no (*).  That means no "dry" baking (no gasket, using the p-cooker as a dutch oven essentially), so baking bread, cheesecake and other goodies requires lid-on, under pressure cooking with an inner vessel.

THIS is what makes the 6 qt indispensable - the extra room to add a bowl, spring-form pan, etc.

(*) Not sure about the 'tri-metal bond' mentioned earlier in the thread...ours is a steel-aluminum bond I'd assume is NOT 'tri" metal. Manufacturer explicitly advises against 'dry' heating.

[CharlieJ]

Dave-

You may find quarts to be too much food. Laura originally canned meats for us in pint jars ,then went to HALF pints. That turned out to be just about the right quantity for two, with other stuff in a meal. And of course, if you need a larger quantity, you can open two.

The pressure cooker aboard Tehani will hold five 1/2 pint jars.

She did 27 half pints of  various meats while we were anchored in Boot Key Harbor, waiting weather to cross to the Bahamas.

Of course now I'm in the market again myself- that cooker stayed aboard Tehani. I'm looking to go stainless.

[Porter Wayfare]

We don't bother with ice or cooling.  We take things that just keep by themselves--rice, beans, potatoes.  A pressure cooker is perfect for that kind of stuff. 

Here's a trick I've learned to save propane:  I put the stuff that takes a long time to cook (like beans or wild rice, for instance) into the pot and run the pressure all the way up.  Then I shut off the heat and go do other stuff.  As long as there's pressure things are still cooking.  When I get back around to it, I run the pressure all the way up again--shut off the heat again and wait.  I do it a third time for beans and rice--two is enough for buckwheat.  When the pressure's gone down this last time I open the lid, check to see that there's still some water, and put stuff like carrots and onions and potatoes in--they don't take so long to cook.  I run the pressure up one more time--shut off the heat--and when the pressure goes down it's ready to eat.  Besides saving propane, part of the reason for doing it this way is, as has been mentioned above, you really don't want to boil it dry.  It's easy to get distracted over the 30 or 45 minutes a pressure cooker is going and if you forget it's easy to boil it dry.

[CapnK]

Apologies - I should have pointed out that I was necro'ing a thread from several years ago, trying to keep a topic cohesive with a tidbit of some recent, and possibly beneficient, info for other, newer sailFarers who weren't here back then. :)

John - I ran through this thread, and then paid a quick visit to Miss Vickies PC site, where she recc'ed the multi-metal bottom, checking to see if what that PC offered was "good stuff". That said - she is talking about pressure cooking, not *baking* - so you and your manufacturer may well be, and prolly are, right on. I'll have to look into that some more, even though I don't think I'll be baking in the PC, ya never know what might come of boredom and experimentation... :)

[Captain Smollett]

Keeping the terminolgy straight...we are using "baking" as dry baking. You can produce baked goods via "pressure baking." It works very well and has the p-cooker advatage of lowering cooking timez. For both breadand cheesecake, I halve the "normal" baking time.

Added just for clarity and completeness.   ;)

[CharlieJ]

For dry baking, Laura used a clay flower pot tray- like a saucer, turned upside down, under the pan for cake, bread, whatever. Held the bottom of the pan up off the direct bottom so the very bottom didn't burn.

[Captain Smollett]

Charlie, did your pcooker have a bonded bottom? That method may still be a problem (I don't know) with bonded bottom plates. The issue is that with no liquid in cooker, bonding gets too hot and breaks down.

It seems moot to me though, since I've not had any prblem 'baking' under pressure.

[CharlieJ]

Nope- none of them do. All are older cookers. The one I have here is a Mirro aluminum. The one on Tehani is a plain stainless.

[Auspicious]

Capn K - if you tolerate Facebook you might look at https://www.facebook.com/groups/153367078130501/ . PCs on boats.

I'm not a big fan of Miss Vickie. Her stuff just doesn't work for me. Lorna Sass all the way!

[CapnK]

Thanks for the heads up, Dave!  8)

[Chappy]

I have owned a few and find that you will want to spend the money and buy a good one like a Fagor. I have a small one on the boat now ( it's just me) but wish I brought the larger one with me as almost every meal I make is more than a single serving.