Ideas for a pressure cooker

[ronaldo]

My pressure cooker experience has been stunted because of a bad purchase. I bought one about 12 years ago that was a royal pain to seal, would seemed to be sealed even when it wasn't, and required that the entire unit be cool before attempting to reattach the lid. So after several frustrating experiences it got sent to the wasteland of kitchen gadgets (also know as the pantry). I hear it had a torrid affair with the food dehydrator.

Until...

We eat beans a couple of times a month at least. I consider them to be very important to our nutrition but the smell of beans cooking for 9+ hours in the ole crockpot (I knew that thing was good for something) wears on me. Plus it means they are always for dinner and never for lunch (unless reheated). I want to be able to wake up in the morning and decide to have beans for lunch without presoaking them overnight and making me nearly vomit after a marathon of cooking.

Enter the new pressure cooker. I took no chances and no prisoners. I got a fancy schmancy electric model that has an onboard computer and will shoot lasers at your enemies.


What are some practical dishes that are better/easier in a pressure cooker? Or did I just spend a small fortune on a bean cooker? I bought a couple of cookbooks but I need practical experience. I don't need ideas for things that can be cooked in it but things that should be cooked in it. You know, like beans.

[ariastar]

It's summer. Stick the crock pot on the back patio or something and keep the heat outside.

Also I've cooked beans just fine without soaking overnight by rapidly boiling for a few minutes and then turning it down.

[ronaldo]

Originally Posted by ariastar

It's summer. Stick the crock pot on the back patio or something and keep the heat outside.

Also I've cooked beans just fine without soaking overnight by rapidly boiling for a few minutes and then turning it down.

I already own the new pressure cooker which is why I am soliciting ideas for it. I cooked beans in it this weekend but the suggested times were not enough.

Oh and I do realize that I can make stocks and broths in it. I am looking for PC recipes that work well.

[trunolimit]

Aren't beans toxic when slow cooked?

We soak beans with salt the night before in the warmest tap water. The next day we wash the beans and then cook them in fresh water. They then cook in a fraction of the time.

Potatoes and tomatoes were once thought to be poisonous also.

[trunolimit]

In my research of crock pots I read the wiki and it read "Raw kidney beans, and some other beans, contain the toxin phytohaemagglutinin, which is destroyed by boiling for at least ten minutes, but not by the lower temperatures of a slow cooker, so dry beans must be boiled prior to slow cooking to avoid poisoning. Even a few beans can be toxic, and beans can be as much as five times more toxic if cooked at 175°F (80°C) than if eaten raw, so adequate pre-boiling is vital. Cases of poisoning by slow-cooked beans have been published in the UK; poisoning has occurred in the USA but has not been formally reported."