Re: Stupid cooking tricks (was Re: Horrible cooking accident.)

In article <1132578949.964382.174510@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
"treeline12345@xxxxxxxxx" <treeline12345@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> OmManiPadmeOmelet wrote:
> > I had over-filled it.
> > I try to make sure that I never fill it more than 3/4 full.......
> >
> > Cheers!
> > --
> > Om.
> >
> > "My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-bitch." -Jack
> > Nicholson
>
> Really, with beans? All the instructions I have seen say to never fill
> it more than 2/3's full. And if using food that foams and clogs, like
> any beans or cereals, never fill more than 1/2 way full.

Stick with your instructions then. ;-)
I've only used it to cook chicken feet, rice, beans, yams, carrots,
beef/pork/poultry pot roasts and artichokes lately. Beans and pork at
3/4 full worked ok with me but that does not mean it was not risky. I
might drop it back to your levels!

>
> So you have not had problems then? How big is your pressure cooker?
> When I last looked at a Mirro cooker, the instructions said to never
> cook beans, cereals, and so on. Basically all the things I wanted to
> cook I could not cook.

It's a 5 quart presto.

>
> Now Presto used to say, in older manuals, before they modified their
> instructions:
>
> "Do not pressure cook applesauce, cranberries, rhubarb, pearl barley,
> cereals, pastas, grains, split peas, or soup mixes containing dried
> vegetables. These foods tend to foam, froth, and sputter and may block
> the vent pipe, overpressure plug, and air vent/cover lock." [older
> Presto manual from their big 18/23 quart cooker/canner.]

I've had no trouble with beans, and tend to put some pearl barley in the
bottom of pot roasts. I've also used it to cook rice, about 1/2 full.

>
> "Do not pressure cook soups containing barley, rice, noodles, macaroni
> products, split peas, or soup mixes with dried vegetables because they
> have a tendency to foam, froth, and sputter and could clog the vent
> pipe."
>
> "The canner should never be filled over 2/3 full. Many foods tend to
> expand when cooked. If the canner is filled over 2/3 full, it is
> possible for food to expand enough to plug the vent pipe, air
> vent/cover lock, and overpressure plug. If all of these devices were to
> become blocked, excess pressure would be unable to escape and would
> build up beyond safe control levels. Therefore, when cooking any food,
> do not let any portion extend above the 2/3 full level."
>
> That's a lot not to cook. But now they say, take a stainless steel
> bowl, not higher than 2/3's of the pressure cooker. Fill it not more
> than 1/2 full. Put aluminum foil over the top and pinch it tight and
> one can cook cereals and grains this way. This is something they found
> they could do because I guess a lot of people complained about the
> restrictions. Although people have cooked these forbidden foods in the
> pressure cooker.
>
> I gather the 2/3's limit is to keep the foods down with the pressure.
> If you go too high, the food expand instead of being pressed or
> pressured down. This is my wild guess. You need to keep a lid on things
> :)
>
> Since I am vegetarian mostly, not always, the very foods I want to cook
> can be problematic in a pressure cooker. I remember the pressure cooker
> being perfect for people who wanted quick meals with tough meats or
> just quick meals. Funny, it's faster than a microwave in this regard
> and it's what, from 1939 was the first Presto pressure cooker at the
> World's Fair?
>
--
Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-bitch." -Jack Nicholson
.

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