In the past my solution to this has been to use a lot of boxes, cans and mixes of one sort or another to make a quick meal or the ever popular going out to dinner. However a couple of years ago I started trying to cook healthier, with less prepared/processed foods and that means more time in the kitchen doing what I hate.
So my dream when I got this pressure cooker was that I would be able to come home, throw some ingredients in the pot, let it cook 20-40 min and have a healthy, from scratch dinner to eat. So far that has not happened at all, I've used it four times just after I got it with varying success and it's been gathering dust for the last couple of months.
I got this Elite 6-qt 12 setting pressure cooker about 4 months ago and I'm struggling with learning to use it. The settings are Beef/Meat, Chicken, Vegetables/Fish, Soup/Stew, Bean/Chili, White Rice, Potatoes, are all the preset cooking times. There's also Steam, Saute, Slow Cooker and Pressure Cooking Time where you set the pot for whatever time you want. Finally it has a Delay Timer so you can set it to start later on and the Warm setting where it automatically goes once it's done with whatever preset you've set it at. My question is, does the White Rice setting work on Brown Rice?
- Keep the user manual close by. I have mine stashed behind some canisters right there on the counter so I can easily grab it to check usage of it. I imagine after using it a lot I won't need it any more but to start with you'll want it close by.
- An important thing beginners need to remember is that altho it cooks in as little as 5 min depending on what you're cooking, it takes a few minutes to build up pressure to the point that it actually begins cooking. It's not very long, I'd guess about 7-8 min. I haven't actually timed it but that's what it seems like.
- Getting the lid on was tricky for me, the only thing that seemed to help was when I got on my knees by the counter so it was at eye level with the thing. Somehow that helped me see when it was all the way on evenly. Maybe it also had to do with the prayer of patience that I said while on my knees.
- The third time I used it I couldn't get it to build pressure so it would start cooking. After trying it about 5 times I finally noticed that the seal on the lid was loose on one side. From now on I plan on checking that before I put the lid on to be sure it's in place.
I can't think of any other starting tips right now. Finding recipes for something else besides soups and stews has been a challenge. I'm fairly picky so a lot of recipes that I see just do not sound good to me at all. I don't really want to make soups/stews so I've had a hard time finding anything else. The first thing I made was chicken but I can't remember what I put in to season it with. It didn't cook through. I had to cook it three times on the chicken setting to get it cooked all the way through. I think maybe I put to much chicken in the pot but I can't remember now how many pieces I had put in it.
The second thing I cooked in it was a pork loin roast which cooked fine but was pretty bland. I ended up shredding it and tossing it in some BBQ sauce and it was fine. It was probably bland because I didn't add enough seasoning to cook it with. I can't remember now exactly what I cooked it with. The third thing I cooked was chili which was fine but didn't really turn out any different than when I do it on the stove top. Also it was a pain because I had to cook the hamburger first. The whole point of having this is that I want to put everything in the one pot and have it all cook up together.
As you can see I don't remember what I've cooked very well so this blog is a place for me to track the recipes that I make, how they turn out and any other tips or tricks that come up while I learn to use this thing. I want to use it once every couple of weeks till I get a list of great recipes to choose from and then I hope to use it once or twice a week.
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