Combining a TMX with a pressure cooker

[bellesy]

I know I thought I'd never need another kitchen gadget after getting my TMX (and I use mine daily if not multiple times a day and adore it) but I'm a little bit taken with the idea of getting a pressure cooker.  Mainly because it's like a slow cooker on warp speed.

I've borrowed a few pressure cooker recipe books and by using both appliances, it should be amazingly fast to get delicious meals on the table.  Most stews and soup recipes look like they'd be quick to make if I chop onions/garlic/veges in the TMX, maybe saute in there as well, before adding that to the pressure cooker, and then putting in the meat and other ingredients. 

I'm excited about the possibilities!  Does anyone else use both appliances together and how do you find it?

[trudy]

Hi Bellsey,  I have a pressure cooker (telfal) and I love it.   Have never used it in combination with the TM but I suppose you could.  Goodluck  Trudy

[faffa_70]

I haven't used my pressure cooker in about 10 years  Mine is so large that it is even too big for our family of 7!!!! It weighs about 6kg and was my grandmothers 

[Cuilidh]

I also have a pressure cooker, but rarely use it now that I have the TMX - main reason being that it's another pot to scrub, when it is just as easy to cook everything in the TMX.  However, being a vegetarian, the pressure cooker does have a place when I am cooking dried beans as it is so much quicker, or else if I am brewing an extra large pot of soup, etc.

I have never made a meal combining TMX preparation / pressure cooking, but I see no reason why that can't be done.  Wonderful as the TMX is, it is a tool (one that I wouldn't be without, mind you) and each one of us utilises it the way that best suits our individual needs.

[faffa_70]

I think if mine was smaller I would probably use it a little more, especially for my beans etc. It is just too big and heavy and to try and wash it is a joke. I have to admit, that I have admired the new ones when I have been in the kitchen stores as they look so much user friendly...though don't know how much use it would get after DH killed me for buying one if I did lol

[cookie1]

I'm a woose and I'm scared of pressure cookers.

[judydawn]

Me too Cookie, ever since I took the lid off with that little knob thingy still on the top when I was a kid and I ended up with pearl barley chicken soup all over myself, the walls and the ceiling    Someone offered me a modern one a few years ago that they no longer used but I declined.

[Cuilidh]

When I purchased my pressure cooker a couple of years ago, JD and Cookie, I also was a bit wary because the older style ones were scary.  However, the new ones are much safer and less fraught with safety issues.  When I got it initially I was more than a little wary of it (and I still am a little, to be honest), but I use it with more confidence than I did when I had one of the older style ones - it helped that my DH purchased me a book "Pressure Cookers for Dummies".

[judydawn]

To put out a dummies book just proves there are lots of people out there who have a fear of/do not understand these cookers Cuilidh - Cookie, you and I are not alone by the sounds of it 

[trudy]

I had an older type but also didn't use it.  The new ones can't blow and the one I have a Tefal has a little timer that attaches and rings when it has reached pressure and then counts down the cooking time - Magic.  It also doesn't make the horriable noise that the older ones make.  I agree that you don' t  want too large a one.

[thermoheaven]

My friend has a pressure cooker and a tm. When i was over at her place, she cooked her chick peas in 15 minutes and the homous it made was really good, but I'm not sure whether i want to get a pressure cooker just yet.

[CreamPuff63]

I've had a pressure cooker for a few years, and I love it. The Telfal ones sounds really good, as mine is fairly manual and basic but I have never had a scary experience with it. I have about 5 recipes that I use it for, and they are just so delicious. You can have meat falling off the bone in 30 mins.

[JulieO]

Oh CreamPuffs, please don't tempt me!    I have an internet friend who has the 8 litre Tefal one (below) and she says it's fantastic.  Even though there's only her husband and herself she says it's a really good size.  Only the price has put me off getting one so far as I've not sampled food out of one and so am worried whether the food comes out as tasty as when I do it on the stove top.    Unfortunately I don't know anyone who has one so I can't borrow one and give a try. 

http://www.yourhomedepot.com.au/products/tefal/clipso-control-plus-pressure-cooker/pressure-cookers-amp-accessories

[baf65]

i have a Breville Fast Slow Cooker (pressure and slow cooker combined), its electric...love it...use my TM to chop the vegies etc and use the pressure cooker when im wanting to make curries or stews using cheaper meat cuts...as TM just doesnt cut it for me for those type of dishes

[Miranda]

I love my pressure cookers and they and the TMX are the two top kitchen appliances.

Here's what I wrote for the eGullet Forum topic on them.
http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?/topic/136745-pressure-cookers-2011/page__st__30

In a bit of a rush to get thesis that I edited to neighbour, so a quick, but long post. cheers Miranda


I’m something of a pressure cooker addict. I have, um, eight or is it nine of them. I don’t use the large ones much any more as I have trouble dealing with their weight when full, but totally agree for stocks etc. And for doing that turkey recipe from Mexico: the beautiful, where it is wrapped in spices, avocado leaves and co, cooked, then served sliced with an orange based dressing. {sorry, doing that from memory}.

So, I downsized to the small 2.5L, 3 L and 4.5L versions that are ideal for dinner. Curries, stews etc in one, and rice in the other. Not being one to follow instructions well, I now combine all of it in one cooker. Make sure you use the trivet in the bottom as pressure cookers go from nearly cooked to horribly burned in a flash.

For a curry or meat dishes, I mix the paste with nearly boiling water or stock [cuts down on cooking time] put in the rice and meat, hard veges like potatoes, carrots, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, bring to pressure, cook for five minutes, let cool, add fresh veges and herbs and eat. {yes, I know I lose flavour by not frying the paste, but I’m often not well enough to do that.]

For pasta, I ignore the instruction to say I shouldn’t, add pasta, boiling water or stock, olives, anchovies, tomato paste, if using, dried herbs, small amount of sugar [I’m told tomatoes need it!] mushrooms, etc etc. Bring to pressure, pay attention to how it is going and cook for two, no more than three minutes. Let cool down, then do further pasta things to it and eat. One gets that wonderful concentrated pasta water this way

For ‘risottos’, use the trivet and add rice and stock and whatever. I make a Japanese ‘risotto’ by adding different seaweeds, especially kombu, black sesame seeds, soy, ginger, dried shitake mushrooms, mirin etc. bring to pressure, cook for five minutes, let cool then add miso, fish, etc. Not great on the aesthetic side for a Japanese dish, but tastes good.

I even make up meals that Dexter the Airedale and I can share. This is where the Kuhn Rikon ‘frypan’ model is very useful. If I’m making, say, a Middle Eastern Tagine, I leave his side without too many spices and have them on my side of the pan.

So, I have:
Kuhn Rikon 2.5L fryer braiser–Excellent and such a great design
Silit set of 4.5L and 3L, and a 2.5L in yellow [!]. these are excellent and have a non-stick interior so even more points for that.
Scanpan 6L good, not great.
Magefesa a well-known Spanish brand, 6L and 8L very good for the price,
Fissler, two 3L and a 6L excellent as you would expect, but they no longer make the seals for the smaller ones, which partially explains why a few new smaller ones have followed me home.
I had some arcosteel cheapies with the weight on top. They always worked well. I have given them away to friends.

Hope this is of some help. And I hope you are not too horrified at some of the short cuts and compromises I take!