Saving Money Under Pressure

I've loved this pressure cooking adventure from the minute I started it. Got myself an 8-quart Presto pressure cooker, along with a Fagor Futuro 4- and 6-quart combo and an antique Lagostina that had belonged to a coworker's mother. I love them all, especially the Presto. It's a workhorse, and definitely tough -- I've accidentally managed to fire it up dry, twice, and it's still ok. What's more -- the pressure valve has even survived a very exciting trip through the garbage disposal, and, though it might not be as pretty as it was, it still works fine. Now that's tough!! Pressure cooking has so much to recommend it: Fresh, homemade food with no "junk"; dinner on the table in minutes -- even if you forget to plan ahead; and, you just might find yourself eating an even wider variety of things! That's because it takes so little time to cook even things like beans, potatoes, artichokes, etc., that it's much easier to get them on the table. There's no doubt this approach would help you save money -- things cook in one-third the time, and using very little energy. And you can cook inexpensive things like beans, and cheap cuts of meat, and end up with a dinner worth writing home about, in short order!! Plus, we've found that we're far less dependent on packaged foods, or even, heaven forbid, the local drive-through. But I think the thing that's surprised me most is how it helps us avoid letting food go to waste. Awhile back, there was a lone artichoke in the veggie drawer that I came across while rummaging around for "salad stuff". One of the pressure cookers was already on the stove, with meatloaf cooking away in it. In "the old days", knowing it would take at least 30 minutes to cook, I would probably have put the 'choke back into the fridge, forgotten it again, and it would have ended up, eventually, in the compost bucket. Instead, I trimmed it up and tossed it into the other pressure cooker. And about fifteen minutes later, both the meatloaf and the choke were ready for the table. I'm no longer hesitant to buy or grow potatoes, either -- right now, I have gold, red (new), blue and sweet potatoes on hand. Last night, I cooked a handful of sweet potatoes -- peeled and warmed up a bit, they made an excellent breakfast! It's no problem at all to work potatoes and other things that take awhile to cook into the grand scheme of things, when they cook so quickly in the pressure cooker!! We've found our pressure cookers to be well worth the investment -- you can save money by eating cheaply, cooking quickly -- and avoiding waste!! Read more!

A Change for the Better

A change has come over our culinary lives, so slowly that we didn't really notice. But it has, and the effects are unmistakable.

I set out, about year and a half ago, to learn to preserve as much as possible of what we consume -- including meats, soups, prepared beans, etc. And, with the acquisition of a few well-chosen pieces of equipment, I have. And I thought I was doing just fine -- all of the prep work I've done will certainly serve us well in the future.

But what really surprised me is how much easier it makes our lives now. Planning for dinners some time in the future has also caused me to have things that can be quickly put together for any meal, and so better able to feed us, on a daily basis. And I recently started learning the fine art of pressure cooking, which has done wonders!!

So, as I've begun to buy things on sale and/or in bulk and can, freeze or dry them, we've gradually weeded out pretty much all commercially prepared foods. Not that we ever relied very heavily on them, but they were a part of our lives, to one degree or another. I didn't make a conscious effort to give them up -- it just sort of happened naturally. But there's a side effect, and one that I didn't anticipate, or even notice, until today. Particularly since I've begun to learn about pressure cooking, we really haven't eaten anything except what I've prepared. And today, after a rare visit to a local drive-through, I was shocked to realize that the aroma coming from the steaming bag the young man handed us didn't remotely smell like food to me. And when we opened it up at home and I tasted one of the fries, I was surprised at how disappointed I was. How many fast food meals have I eaten, without noticing?!

But now that we have a pressure cooker (well, ok -- 2. Or 3, if you count the pressure canner), I can very quickly get dinner on the table. And it's good, homemade stuff -- no chemicals, preservatives or artificial flavors to disguise the real flavor of the food. The only thing I need to remember is to add something for crunch. Any of a number of things will do: chopped nuts, raw or toasted sunflower seeds, even things like water chestnuts or crispy fried onions.

I never had any idea, when I set out on this adventure all those months ago, what a hugely positive impact it would have on the quality of the food we eat, every day!!

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Pressure Cooking: The Adventure Continues

How many times have I thought of something I'd like to make for dinner, but couldn't because I hadn't planned ahead and soaked the beans, thawed the chicken or done some other bit of indispensable prep work? These days, thanks to a kitchen marvel called a pressure cooker, it's no problem!! In fact, I've found this piece of equipment so useful that I've purchased a second one!!

The first cooker that I purchased was the familiar rocker-type, a 6-quart model (Presto), and I fell instantly in love with it. In fact, since it arrived, I haven't used the stove for regular cooking -- except for a dinner of fried rice, which definitely cannot be done in the pressure cooker. Today, a "new generation" cooker (8-quart, also a Presto), with a pressure release mechanism in the lid, arrived. And tonight, I used them both to cook dinner. The smaller one handled the artichokes, while I tossed together a Shrimp Bisque from Toula Patsalis's "The Pressure Cooker Cookbook" in the new one. Because the soup recipe is somewhat involved (several more steps than I would normally consider, but, hey -- I was celebrating my new piece of equipment!!), dinner took longer than it usually would when using a pressure cooker, but the results were well worth it!! I did substitute brown rice for the white, but otherwise I followed the recipe pretty carefully. Oh -- and instead of running cold water over it when the shrimp were cooked, I let the steam off with the release mechanism, so the shrimp were probably a little more done than they needed to be, but it still turned out very nice. And it was good to know that my husband was heading off to an evening meeting well fed.

I've been doing a bit of reading, and am intrigued by all the things you can cook, and the ways you can cook them, in a pressure cooker. You can, of course, put things like soups and beans directly into the cooker. But you can also prepare several different kinds of foods at the same time, if you put them into individual containers -- so long as they fit into the cooker with at least a half-inch to spare on all sides. You can stack them, too -- provided you don't fill the cooker more than 2/3 full. Small stainless steel bowls are ideal, and ovenproof casserole dishes and ramekins are second-best. The stainless heats up both quickly and evenly, while ceramic cookware heats unevenly and requires a little extra cooking time. What this means is that you can virtually cook a whole meal -- including dessert -- at the same time. Using a quick-release method will allow you to cook meats or beans, grains or potatoes and various veggies to perfection.

I had just a few small ovenproof cooking vessels, and decided I wanted to try to find some small stainless containers. So I headed for one of the larger thrift stores in my area. A walk down the aisle of their kitchen section turned up only a 2-cup, lidless Corningware casserole, which, of course, I grabbed. Disappointed that I hadn't found more, I was turning to leave when I noticed a woman rummaging through a bin I'd walked right by without noticing. I sidled up to the opposite end of it and started sifting through the mismatched pots and lids, serving trays, cookie sheets, etc. And, whaddya know -- hidden among the pots and pans were little silver jewels -- stainless steel serving bowls, probably former residents of some defunct resaurant, and not one priced more than $1!! So I scooped up all that I could find and made my way to the register. After a trip through the dishwasher, they'll be ready to be pressed into service.

Admittedly, I'm still learning to time things (which means things often end up either over- or under-cooked), but each time I cook this way, things come out a little better!

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The Joys of Pressure Cooking

What a cool adventure this pressure cooking is!! Besides the energy (and time) savings, it has really freed me up in terms of dinner preparation. In times past, I dreaded the idea of coming home and having to cook dinner. To be painfully honest, some days, it was just more than I could face.

In fact, in an effort to make dinner preparations easier to manage, I recently made up a spreadsheet with about 2 months' worth of dinners, complete with instructions like "thaw pork", or "soak beans", for the next day's meal. It does help, although I find that I usually only follow it for a few days at a time.

Enter the pressure cooker. Now, if I haven't planned ahead, I can toss in some frozen chicken or pork, (I cut it into bite-sized pieces before freezing, and pack in no more than half-pound packages), and add some sauce and a little water. If I don't have any rice cooked and haven't planned ahead for (homemade) garlic bread or the like, I might put the rack (came with the pressure cooker) on top, put in some quartered, seasoned potatoes (I make a foil "bowl", making sure there's clearance all the way around), and let 'er go. In a very short time (about 30 minutes), dinner is ready.

Dried beans are amazingly quick, too. Conventionally soaked or "speed soaked" (thanks, Lorna Sass!!), they cook in anywhere from 3 to 15 minutes. If you're speed soaking, the whole thing, soak to table, can be done in 30 - 40 minutes!

There are so many advantages to pressure cooking: Saves time, energy and nutrients; tenderizes inexpensive (tough) cuts of meat as well as the crockpot; takes about a third the time and uses about a third the energy of conventional cooking methods; cleanup is generally pretty easy -- because you're cooking with steam, things tend not to stick as they might with dry heat...

And an unexpected bonus is that it's actually opened up our daily dinner options. Even if I haven't planned head, I can still put virtually any meal that might be cooked on the stovetop, and even a lot of things that are usually cooked in the oven, on the table in record time. The key is that the dish must either have enough liquid in it to make the required steam, or it must be cooked in an ovenproof casserole or steel bowl (or canning jars!!) covered with foil, with water in the bottom of the cooker. For example, we recently attended a concert, and got home right around dinner time. On the drive home, I decided to cook beans. As soon as we walked in, I tossed a cup of beans into the cooker with 3 cups of water and brought it to pressure. About 40 minutes later, we were sitting down to a hot, homecooked meal that was much better (and healthier!) than the restaurant fare we would probably otherwise have had -- and we saved money, in the bargain! I can spot ribs on sale in the local paper, pick some up on my way home from work, and have a nice ribs & garlic mashed potato dinner on the table in less than 30 minutes from when I walk in the door. We haven't had occasion yet, but it's nice to know that, sometime when we're in the middle of a project and dinnertime is suddenly upon us, we can save the $25 or so we might otherwise have spent on a bucket of chicken, and have a nice hot, quickly home-cooked meal, instead.

And if it wasn't enough that you can cook a complete meal in one of these babies, you can also whip up a dessert, as well. DH is not a big dessert fan, so I've been perfecting the art of making custard for one. It's amazingly easy: Put 1/2 cup of milk, an egg, a little sweetener and a little vanilla in a small ramekin or canning jar (both work equally well), mix thoroughly and grate a little nutmeg on top. Put in the cooker with the required amount of water, turn on the heat & cook 8 minutes at high pressure. Quick release the pressure, take the ramekin out, and, viola -- custard for one!!

With so many advantages to this kind of cooking, I'm puzzled when folks, as they typically do, show only polite interest!! Maybe it's because of the reputation these cookers once had, or because it would mean an initial extra expense. But modern pressure cookers are very safe when used according to the manufacturers' directions, and experience has shown me that the time and money these amazing things save quickly more than makes up for the initial expense -- even if one were to purchase one of the more expensive models, with all the bells and whistles!!


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