Cooking under pressure can turn a lean, often tough piece of meat into savory dinner that melts in your mouth. The results are similar to a crockpot, but much faster! Once you get the hang of pressure cooking, you can cook vegetables in minutes, beans and/or rice in 30 minutes, and a roast in about an hour.

Safety Precautions

The newer pressure cookers are a lot safer than the older designs of our mother's and grandmother's time. A lot of people are scared away from pressure cooking because of childhood memories or stories from relatives about kitchen explosions. The chances of that happening these days is much smaller, because the newer cookers won't even open if there is still pressure in them.

The two biggest concerns in pressure cooking are the gasket seal and the vent tube. Both need to be working properly in order to cook the food safely. The gasket is the rubber seal on the inside of the cooker lid. It needs to remain flush against the lid to seal correctly and bring the pressure up. You can do a visual check before putting the lid on and locking it down.

The vent tube is even more important. This is the tube in the center of cooker lid that vents the steam out. The small weight that jiggles back and forth goes on top of the vent tube (my kids call that thing "the jiggler"). If the vent tube gets clogged, then you can have trouble and even explosions. This is why you must add a little oil to beans when pressure cooking them- otherwise the skins will clog the vent tube. You can usually prevent any problems by checking the vent tube before you cook. Just hold the lid up to the light and looking through the vent tube to be sure it's clear. You can check that gasket at the same time.

Most of the time, pressure cooking won't be a problem, but you still need to use caution. Keeping your pressure cooker clean, particularly the lid, will also help immensely.

One final note: PLEASE read the manual that came with your pressure cooker before you cook anything in it and follow the safety instructions carefully. Small children should be kept away from the stove (no matter what you are cooking, but especially with pressure cookers).

Farberware FPR400 Programmable Pressure Cooker

Bring the Pressure Down

There is one more safety concern that has to be addressed- bringing the pressure down and opening the cooker. It's important to do this correctly. If you're impatient, you could get a burnt by the steam. The newer cookers won't even open if there is still pressure in them, which is good because they are less likely to explode.

There are two methods you can use to bring the pressure down:

1) Turn off the burner, and let the pressure come down naturally (will take about 15-20 minutes or more, depending on the size of the cooker and how long you were cooking). It takes longer, but if you have other things you are cooking, it's very convenient.

2) Carefully removing the cooker from the stove, putting it in the sink and running cool water over the top for 5-10 minutes. I use this method all of the time and have never had a problem.

Converting Recipes

Try your favorite crockpot recipes in your pressure cooker, but add 50-100% more water, depending on how long you are cooking the food. If you run out of water before the food is cooked, it will burn. Your pressure cooker manual will have sample recipes that you can build around, tips on how to convert standard recipes and recommended cooking charts.

Recipes for the Pressure Cooker
(Nitty Gritty Cookbooks)

For more information on buying, using, and cooking with pressure cookers, check out Presto's extensive website, full of product information, as well as recipes: Presto Pressure Cooking Institute

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About the Author
Kim Tilley, a tightwad at heart, is a wife, a mother of three active boys and the founding editor of Frugal-Moms.com. Frugal by force and later by choice, Kim cut her income by 60% to stay at home with her children and discovered that anyone can live better for less. Her work has appeared in print publications such as The Tightwad Gazette. In her free time, she entertains herself by chasing kids and finding ways to create something from nothing!