Doing it under pressure

[MauriceMynah]

Ok, this isn't a recipe but more a matter of equipment. First the history...

 

I had a pressure cooker on board my last boat, it was a stainless steel "Horwood Stella fast cooking system" to give it it's full title, and very good it was too. So good in fact, I bought another one for home use. All that was back in the mid 90s. These units were quite pricey at around £75 a time back then.

 

Midway through last year, one of those cookers developed a problem, the main saucepan section developed a small crack, just large enough to stop the unit from getting up to pressure.

 

I decided to try my luck and inform Horwood's  of the problem, sending pictures to illustrate and prove the issue. I have to say that their after-sales service goes above and beyond! After a short exchange of e-mails, I received a brand new pressure cooker but of a slightly different design as they hadn't been making the model I'd had for "quite some years"

 

Now, this is where the story really starts...

 

There are (or perhaps "were" ) two ways a pressure cooker can work, either ...

 

A. Once up to the required pressure the user turns down the gas until there is a constant but minimal amount of steam being released, or...

 

B. Once up to pressure no steam is released but the pressure is shown on an indicator, and is maintained by raising or lowering the heat source. (that is actually easier than it sounds).

 

and this is where the story really starts.

 

My original two cookers used the second system. This was perfect for boating as even in the coldest of weather conditions there were few or no condensation issues. The first system (A.) would cause noticeable condensation, something to be avoided in a boat.

 

Well my problem is this, (and this is where the story really starts.) The replacement cooker uses the first system (A.) and, as I have just explained, this isn't ideal for a boat, so I'm looking for one that uses the other system. I have tried to explain these two methods used, to various people who sell pressure cookers. They seem not to have heard about the "B" system and the more I explain it, the more they tend to look at me sideways, start sucking their thumbs and eventually run away and hide. The more helpful ones fetch the store manager and hide behind her.

 

I still have the second of the two cookers I bought in the 90s and that's what I'll use on the boat, but I preferred that system, so I want one for home too. Any ideas?

 

 

[Guest]

Hi MM

 

I'm amazed that the shops you've been into don't know about system B. We sell pressure cookers which work this way (although any pressure cooker will of course release steam if too great a pressure builds up inside).

 

I'll drop you a pm.

[MauriceMynah]

I'd be grateful for that Spider

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

I`ve never used a pressure cooker, but at home we always steam our veg, as it only uses one burner, and the food tastes as good as if it`s been boiled or simmered after being salted. With a steamer, you don`t salt it.  I`m glad to say Lightnings galley equipment includes a steamer, so while afloat, we still do home cooking.

[Bonzo]

Whichever type of pressure cooker you use they are great on a boat.

 

They are magic for heating up meat pies if you havn't an oven. Just put half an inch of water in the bottom, put the basket in upside down, wrap the pie(s) in foil, close and bring to 15 lbs pressure for five or so minutes and let cool naturally.

 

You get a nice hot pie but unfortunately the pastry is not crisp as it would be in an oven. Those little Fray Bentos meat puds should fair well in a pressure cooker too. Just remove the top and cover with foil to prevent large messy bangs! 

[Polly]

Sorry John, both mine work on system A and I just head for the cockpit to release the steam.

[SteveO]

We used to have a Prestige "Hi Dome" cooker which worked with a "floating" weight, which I guess is the same as John's Method A.  We now have a more modern Prestige device, which has no separate valve but instead maintains pressure by means of a cunning internal valve held down by a spring which seems more like Method B.

 

As far as I can see, despite the different ways that pressure is regulated, both work in the same basic way in that, for a given food item, the amount of steam you get out will surely depend on the amount of heat you put in.

 

Or am I missing something?

 

 

Steve

[Timbo]

Once upon a time, and this is where the story begins, I did my own cooking. Then my other half took over the cooking, and this is where the story really begins, and she used a pressure cooker for the veggies. So much under pressure were these veggies under that they not only broke down...but turned to mush.

 

Oi mush!

 

Now when tea was ready she would yodel from her porch...'Yodel ay hee hoo!' and 'Oi, yer dinner's ready' and I would frolic down the path of the secure unit where I live to retrieve my repast. Now this is where the story begins although slightly in the future from my repast. I was busily writing my memoirs...

 

FX: typewriter

...'Margaret Thatcher my part in her downfall...chapter The First. So I turned to Ted Heath and said "You're a cloud on my Morning you grinning idiot!"' 

 

...when my other half arrived in a state of distress, having lost the valve to her pressure cooker. Bless her! We've had no vegetables driven to the state of collapse ever since and I think I owe Jon at Wayford a pint for disposing of the evidence of my crimes in the skip!  Now this is where the story really begins!