Yucky soft everything- pressure cooker!

[Poppy]

My mother in law cooks virtually everything in a pressure cooker. It makes vegetables into baby food and I doubt there are any vitamins left in it at all. BUT...am I right? Why were pressure cookers in fashion once and why AREN'T they now? Do we know something we didn't back then or what?! She keeps trying to get me to buy one because she thinks it's the way her son likes food- he's a nice boy and wouldn't want to slag off his mother's food but I happen to know her likes steamed vegetables with a bit of bite and stews cooked for a many hours in a Le Crueset rather than zapped in a rattling old pan! What do you all think? What are pressure cookers all about- I'm a bit clueless! Poppy x

[banjosister]

Hey Poppy,

Ahh bless, I'm guessing you're young then lol

Pressure cookers are great, you can do spuds really quickly, obviously mother in law cooks them for too long!

They are good for doing things that need slow cooking.

Great for Christmas puds too, if you make your own.

Bb xx

[figure]

I use my pressure all the time for cooking almost everything I cook on the stove. It would be a dead and boring kitchen without it.

[heathfield]

A pressure cooker can save up to 70% on the cooking time, making a big saving on fuel costs. It allows veg to retain more of the vitamins and minerals than boiling them in an open pot. If you like your veg still crunchy, just cook them for less time than your mother-in-law does. The higher temperatures in the pressure cooker will also help to tenderise meat in stews, etc.
It takes a bit of practice to get things just right, but it's worth it in the end.

[winebuyer]

There is definitely some sort of "old people/vegetables" thing going on.

Old people (ie. even older than me!) always cook vegetables until they fall apart when you touch them. My particular un-favourite is my mother-in-law's cauliflower. As you pick it up on your fork, if falls through the prongs (yes, I know, it's "tines"). Yuck.

She will also cook lamb for hours, until it's an incinerated grey lump, and then take it out and say "Do you think it needs a bit longer?" Aaaaaaaaahhhhhh. Quick, call the food police!!

[winebuyer]

Mine thinks that "rare" means that there's not much left !!

[bensmum]

Has she out the sprouts on yet noknowledge?
My mother in law used to use a pressure cooker but ,like many of her generation, cooked it until it was soggy.

[gallapunk]

My Gran used to do the pressure cooker think for everything: chuck meat & veg in, boil it into a stew and then say it was lovely. It was not; it was a plate of totally unseasoned, watery crap.

There's probably a right way to use them without destorying the food, but if it's to save time and energy, then don't we have the same thing with a microwave?

[gallapunk]

Oops, my gran used to do the pressure cooker 'thing', not 'think'.

[winebuyer]

gallapunk ... we all do the pressure cooker "think" ...

... we all "think" that pressure cookers turn your food into slop.

So you were right the first time !!!

[figure]

gallapunk - In my opinion there are no comparisons in cooking between a pressure cooker and a microwave. And a pressure cooker can do much more cooking than a microwave.

[Ice.Maiden]

I must admit that I rarely use our pressure cooker, and even rarer do I use the microwave. I don't see anything wrong at all in cooking vegetables in a saucepan, and they NEVER come out as slop. Think it's just a case of personal choice, and so long as the food's edible, it doesn't really matter.

[jack daniels]

I would be lost without my pressure cooker! I have a big one for cooking meat and a smaller one for doing pulses.
If used correctly food is done in a fraction of the time and you can enjoy vegetables still whole! lol
I cook Indain meat (lamb, beef) curries in the cooker, release the steam after 15 mins and then add the potatoes for a further 2 mins and there you have a lovely curry with the potatoes still whole!
I start with frying the onions and spices to ending with a lovely meal - all started in the cooker - less washing up too!

[Poppy]

Thanks everyone for your responses. I have gleaned that, used properly, a pressure cooker can be a great addition to any kitchen (I like the curry idea very much) but I think I'll give it a miss and stick to steaming and my le creuset casserole.

As much as anything else I'm actually afraid of my mother in law's pressure cooker as it rattles and hisses and I always find myself covering my eyes when I walk past it in case it shoots something metal at me (like wise I find myself covering my mouth when I eat the contents!)

Poppy x