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Author Topic: Pressure v slow cooker v normal oven  (Read 6674 times)

Fleecewife

  • Joined May 2010
  • South Lanarkshire
    • ScotHebs
Pressure v slow cooker v normal oven
« on: January 14, 2018, 11:46:39 pm »
Wow there's not much on this board is there!  I hope someone looks here sometimes.


So, do you use a pressure cooker, a slow cooker, or just your ordinary AGA or oven, or all?


I don't have an AGA although that's what I learned to cook on as a child, so I have an electric range cooker.  I do have a slow cooker but it's stuffed at the back of a cupboard somewhere and has barely been used. I have a microwave oven but I use it for thawing small things and warming a bean bag at night, no cooking.    With my sudden interest in dried beans, I decided a pressure cooker would be good to reduce cooking times, which would be ok in an AGA but not when using electricity. I had a pressure cooker when the family was at home, but haven't used it in 20 years, so I just bought one half price on the magic internet.


My question is, if you use a pressure cooker what else do you cook in it apart from beans and casseroles?    Does anyone have some good recipes to share?
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Backinwellies

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Re: Pressure v slow cooker v normal oven
« Reply #1 on: January 15, 2018, 07:45:39 am »
Love my slow cooker .......  throw almost anything in in the morning and as if by magic ..... delicious food for dinner :)
Especially good for tagine :)
Linda

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Perris

  • Joined Mar 2017
  • Gower
Re: Pressure v slow cooker v normal oven
« Reply #2 on: January 15, 2018, 08:05:41 am »
I'm with Linda on a slow cooker - after leaving it languishing at the back of a cupboard for decades I rediscovered it when pulled pork became all the rage; it does that very well indeed, along with any other slow roast or stew/casserole type dish, because the meat comes out tender while veg is not overcooked or mushy. We are also fans of Forman grills - halves the cooking time because both sides are done simultaneously. And a new arrival, the air fryer, also gets quite a lot of use in our house, for chips, croquets, oven-type anything with crispy coating, again quicker than a regular oven though it can't effectively hold more than 3 portions at a time. I use a microwave daily to heat milk for coffee (v quick and effective for that) and for steaming veg. I think the pressure cooker is at the back of a cupboard - perhaps a reply here will make me get it out again!

Louise Gaunt

  • Joined May 2011
Re: Pressure v slow cooker v normal oven
« Reply #3 on: January 15, 2018, 08:35:48 am »
I'm always a bit wary about using a pressure cooker, I think it is all the snorting and steaming they do! Just had a look on t'internet - there are recipes out there for cooking beans in a slow cooker. Kidney beans need 10 minute boil first to get rid of phytoagglutinein (I think that's what it is called!), then add pre soaked beans plus water plus any desired flavourings and cook for up to 8 hours on low, or until they reach the softness you would like. Beans cooked this way can then be frozen and used like tinned varieties. I cook big batches of chickpeas in the bottom oven of the Aga and then freeze them ready for adding to casseroles etc.

harmony

  • Joined Feb 2012
Re: Pressure v slow cooker v normal oven
« Reply #4 on: January 15, 2018, 09:01:56 am »
Not used a pressure cooker for years - since I pebble dashed the ceiling with rice! Use the slow cooker a lot. Just pop the meal in and leave it. Have a Rayburn - cooks roasts beautifully - never dries them out.  My OH likes to bake and he uses the electric oven for his bread and cakes.

Clarebelle

  • Joined Jan 2013
  • Orkney
Re: Pressure v slow cooker v normal oven
« Reply #5 on: January 15, 2018, 09:17:01 am »
I love my slow cooker, the internet is full of recipes to do in a slow cooker, including desserts and baking bread! I love to chuck everything in and just not worry about it for the rest of the day. I use my microwave for steaming veg and starting off jacket potatoes and for reheating leftovers. I used to have a family sized actifryer and absolutely loves it but I have had three and all broke within a year and can't really justify buying one again. Most of my cooking though is just done on a conventional electric oven, I have thought about trying a pressure cooker but can't quite get over imagining the food becoming nothing but a mushy colourless mess. I'm sure this isn't the case because then no one would ever use them!

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
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Re: Pressure v slow cooker v normal oven
« Reply #6 on: January 15, 2018, 09:23:50 am »
Pressure cookers also excel at puddings :)
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Dans

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Re: Pressure v slow cooker v normal oven
« Reply #7 on: January 15, 2018, 06:28:46 pm »
Terrified of pressure cookers here lol

We have an electric hob and oven we use a lot. I do most of my cooking on the hob, comes from watching my mum who didn't have a working oven until I was in my teens.

The microwave gets used for warming milk, defrosting food, nuking last night's left overs and wheat bags.

I was wary of the slow cooker, but started using it more last year. Main thing is a slow cooked roast chicken, slow cooked roast leg of mutton and of course pulled pork! I'm keen to try some new things in it though.I did try some chicken thighs with carrots and potatoes but it turned all quite mushy so I made up some stock and turned it into a soup!

My mum also gifted us a halogen cooker which I was very sceptical of. It got dusted off last Christmas when I had 8 adults and 2 under 2's to feed from my small 2 shelf oven and 4 hobs. It did a roast chicken pretty perfectly in a ridiculously short amount of time. I've since used it to do extra veg when we have a full oven roast and I could probably do more with.

I'm very tempted by and air fryer for our home grown home made chips as we currently go through too much oil but I haven't taken the plunge yet.

Dans
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Fleecewife

  • Joined May 2010
  • South Lanarkshire
    • ScotHebs
Re: Pressure v slow cooker v normal oven
« Reply #8 on: January 16, 2018, 12:09:17 am »
I've just had to look up an air fryer to see how it works!  Not heard of them before.  Our version of chips is small wedges of roastable homegrown potatoes, parboiled, tossed in a little sunflower oil and cooked at 200C for 30 mins in the oven  :yum:


I do slow cook all meat, but I do it in a le Creuset covered roaster in the oven, on low heat.  One of my sons lives near the le Creuset factory outlet so has found some excellent bargains, so I have several, lucky me  :) .  I so love meat which is so well cooked that it is moist but falls to bits.  The tiniest hint of pink or, argh, blood has me gagging (I don't know much parasitology, but just enough to be certain all food we eat is thoroughly cooked.)  The joints I cook tend to be quite large, and the slow cooker we have is quite small so maybe that's why I haven't found it useful.


I've been researching cooking pulses, including in a pressure cooker, online and from a book I have called something like 'the Science of Cookery'. I soak the beans overnight then tip out the soaking water, as it must contain the oligosaccarides that cause gas formation, and we couldn't have that  :eyelashes: Previously I have always done the 10 min fast boil to deal with the toxin (phytohaemagglutinin - I cheated and looked that up), but on thinking about it, I don't think that should be necessary in a pressure cooker.  As the temperature at which food is cooked in a pressure cooker is higher than at normal atmospheric pressure, by cooking at a higher temp, there should be no danger of the toxin not being eliminated - unless my logic has totally deserted me.  Any views?  The toxin damages the gut lining and causes severe vomiting and diarrhoea; it's apparently even worse if the beans are cooked at a low temp, so a temp high enough to destroy the toxin is essential.

My previous pressure cooker, bought in about 1974, used to make a most alarming hissing, and always seemed to be on the point of exploding, but it never did so I got used to it and my initial terror of the thing was soon lost.  The new one is so quiet that I thought I was doing it wrong, but the food cooked in the right time, so it must just be that they are now quiet and not scary at all. As long as timings are not exceeded the food should be perfectly cooked and not mushy, and retains all its nutrients apparently.  For stews and suchlike though I do love the crispy dark bits which form around the top of the cooking food in a normal oven, and are so full of flavour.

<< Pressure cookers also excel at puddings >>
In spite of my lack of waistline, we never eat puddings except a spoonful at Christmas, tempting though they are ;D

« Last Edit: January 16, 2018, 12:25:46 am by Fleecewife »
"Let's not talk about what we can do, but do what we can"

There is NO planet B - what are YOU doing to save our home?

Do something today that your future self will thank you for - plant a tree

 Love your soil - it's the lifeblood of your land.

Perris

  • Joined Mar 2017
  • Gower
Re: Pressure v slow cooker v normal oven
« Reply #9 on: January 16, 2018, 07:44:38 am »
Terrified of pressure cookers here lol

I'm very tempted by and air fryer for our home grown home made chips

I wouldn't get it for that - it's not very good at that; time consuming (you really need to cut your potatoes into equally sized fingers), and v small quantities at a time if you want them evenly done and crispy. However it does ready made frozen oven chips of all types much better than, and quicker than, the oven.

If you want to get one keep an eye on Amazon daily deals - periodically it appears at half price  :)

Bionic

  • Joined Dec 2010
  • Talley, Carmarthenshire
Re: Pressure v slow cooker v normal oven
« Reply #10 on: January 16, 2018, 08:14:34 am »
Terrified of pressure cookers here lol

I'm very tempted by and air fryer for our home grown home made chips as we currently go through too much oil but I haven't taken the plunge yet.

Dans


I'm terrified of pressure cookers too since mum had[size=78%] one explode when I was young. The dinner ended up all over the ceiling. [/size]
I have an actifry air fryer and always do my chips/wedges/sweet potatoes in it. They don't taste the same as those deep fried but if you are watching your weight they work well. You can cook other things in it too but, other than the things above, I have only cooked sausages and they cooked well.
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Alex_

  • Joined Jul 2016
Re: Pressure v slow cooker v normal oven
« Reply #11 on: January 16, 2018, 11:45:29 am »
We use our slow cooker about once a week it is great. We use it to make Mexican dishes such as the inside for tacos or toppings for nachos. I have also used the slow cooker to make soups, broth, steak ragu and a bunch of other things.

I have never used a pressure cooker but I have always wondered about getting one to preserve foods in jars.

Louise Gaunt

  • Joined May 2011
Re: Pressure v slow cooker v normal oven
« Reply #12 on: January 16, 2018, 01:10:45 pm »
I cook my Christmas puddings in the slow cooker- water in the bottom, stand plastic pudding bowl on a towel, cook on low until pudding is nice and dark. It is good for reheating on Christmas Day, as I can plug it in away from the kitchen and free up work space.

nutterly_uts

  • Joined Jul 2014
  • Jersey - for now :)
Re: Pressure v slow cooker v normal oven
« Reply #13 on: January 16, 2018, 11:48:39 pm »
Those of you who have kindles - amazon kindle best sellers can be filtered by free or paid and then by category and in the food one there is usually at least one or two slow cooker and pressure cooker books in the free section. Often not brilliant books but good for sparking ideas

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Best-Sellers-Kindle-Store-Food-Drink/zgbs/digital-text/362296031/ref=zg_bs_nav_kinc_2_341689031?_encoding=UTF8&tf=1

cloddopper

  • Joined Jun 2013
  • South Wales .Carmarthenshire. SA18
Re: Pressure v slow cooker v normal oven
« Reply #14 on: January 19, 2018, 12:10:41 pm »
We use the pressure cooked three or four time a month at least .  making stock with cooked chicken carcasses  after they have had the cooked flesh taken off .
It's great for doing mince .... once it's cooked add a pint or so water so the fat floats on top of the water them when it's cold put it in the fridge to solidify the fat then lift the slab of fat off ..  Fat free cooked mince is then seasoned , thickened & either some of it is served as mince & tatties there &, then as we'd make a bit batch  plus a big batch of pressure cooked potatoes . we'd use some of each to make individual frozen mince beef & potato pies .

 I've often used the small ( 7 litre ) pressure cooker to turn tomatoes in to puree or home made tomato sauce & freeze 150 ml portions  in Weck jars with cling film lids on them ( we use the big 42 pint pressure cooker to pressure can it in Weck jars if we make a big batch .

 Make soups galore using the fish  , chicken , ham or beef bone stocks as the base . I make total vegetarian soups & meat curries in it  as well .

The pressure cooker is used to cook ham joints  ,  make big batches of rice or sago pudding

 We use a cast iron casserole in the oven or on a low ring for some great slow cooked stews , curries  & pudddings

 We also use lidded Pyrex casserole dishes in the oven for sausage casseroles and  liver & bacon bakes , 
 These are also used without the lid for single species or mixed species fish bakes .
« Last Edit: January 22, 2018, 11:36:23 am by cloddopper »
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