Pressure cooker size

For me, the purpose of reducing my stock (which has plenty of veg and fresh herbs and onion with the skin for color in it, a la Ina Garten) is that I can store more of it in the freezer and add some water to the desired concentration depending on the recipe I’m using it for.

Do it. The risk is very very low. Do you drive a car? Far more dangerous. I use an ancient Presto, 4 qt., to make beans at least once a week. Just leave headroom and add some oil to dimish foam formation. Such a great, quick way to make tasty beans quickly!

Hi, Rainy:

You should be fine size-wise. I have an 8Q, but 10 should give you more room to guard against foaming.

As others have mentioned, you can use the PC simply as a pressure vessel, and place a bowl with your food and liquid inside the PC.

Aloha,
Kaleo

It would be really nice to be able to cook two different kind of beans at one time by using it as a pressure vessel. I will not mess around with that until I do a few batches the most simple way. I ended up getting the 10qt. Hopefully it will arrive today. Comments here were very helpful in getting me to finally get around to buying one. Thank you.

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Overblown? Not really. Note I didn’t say NOT to do it - I only mentioned that there is a concern that needs to be addressed. More headroom for beans is better.

Yes, I drive a car. Carefully.

Lots of people jump out of airplanes and are fine - because they use their parachute and use it properly. Jumping out of a plane without a parachute is Not Recommended.

And cooking beans in a pressure cooker without being aware of the potential problems caused by foaming and acting appropriately to address those issues would be very much like jumping out of an airplane without a parachute.

OK, that’s a bit of hyperbole - its more like jumping out of an airplane without being properly trained in the use of your parachute. You might be ok - but then again, you might not.

I’ve had a pressure cooker blow its top (well, shoot its rocker weight off, more like a rocket than a rocker) and its an ugly ugly situation, even if you ignore the whole cleaning-turkey-barley-soup-residue-off-your-10’-ceilings issue. Thus, I am more than slightly reluctant to test the patience of a pressure cooker. I will most likely eventually breakdown and go ahead and try beans in a PC - a LARGE PC - as I mentioned, but I’m not anxious to do it any time soon, LOL!

It is always better to Be Aware and act accordingly than to bull ahead and trust to luck. YMMV, but mine doesn’t, LOL!

For the record I’ve cooked a pound of beans in my 6qt. ePC with zero problems, many times. As I understand it, today’s stovetop PCs are much safer and more reliable than their older siblings with the same safety features as electric models. Perhaps a model without the jiggler weight would work better for you?

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I have a Fagor 6 qt stove top. Works well and when I over loaded with beans it spit horizontally, (no jiggle weight), until I could get it to the sink to cool it off. Ceiling is still clean. You do this one time. Love my PC and use it often

Just adding my voice to those who have already advocated cooking beans in the pressure cooker, because in my opinion it’s one of the best uses for this appliance. I’ve often made a pound of beans in my 5-quart Kuhn Rikon or a half pound in my 3.3-quart Magefesa, and have never had any problems. I pre-soak the beans, make sure the water comes at least 2" over them in the cooker, add a tablespoon of oil, and keep an eye on the pressure gauge. As easy as can be, and so much better than canned beans. None of my pressure cookers are the rocking-weight type, but I wouldn’t hesitate to use one for this purpose. Cooks all over the world have been doing it for many decades.

Anybody here using an Instant Pot? Electric pressure cooker that can do browing, pressure cooking and slow cooking.

My daughter wanted a slow cooker. I talked her out of it and plan to buy her an Instant Pot. Who needs a unitasker. If I got another thing to go on our counter top my wife will shoot me so I’ll keep using my stove top PC

Hi Scubadoo,

I’ve owned my Instant Pot since early March and am really surprised at how much I like and use it. I’ve made such diverse things as rice, ribs, beans, steel cut oats, mashed potatoes, Bolognese sauce, beef tips, carnitas and cheesecake to name a few. It handles them all with ease and browns beautifully. The Bolognese was still a lot of work, but it did save a couple of hours on the back end.

I haven’t tried slow cooking anything yet, although now that soup season is approaching, I’m feeling the urge. There’s this black bean soup… but in all honesty, I’ve only used a slow cooker once since buying it, and that was to cook up some shredded chicken for tacos in my small 2qt slow cooker.

Duffy

Though most of the Instant Pot’s Amazon reviews are positive, there are a fair number of complaints about abysmal customer service from the manufacturer when the thing dies, which happens pretty early on, according to these unhappy buyers.

Yes, there are some negative reviews, 4% of the almost 4200 posted. It think that’s not a bad number for an electric appliance. Still, for anyone whose unit broke, it’s a 100% failure rate, which is no fun at all.

You’re right that CS gets poor marks. My experience was positive, but I wasn’t writing about a broken or malfunctioning unit, which is a whole different animal.

I admit to being a cheerleader for IP, but realize that it’s got a lot of electronics that can sometimes go bad. It’s the nature of today’s appliances.

How are you liking your 10qt Fagor PC? I just purchased a 10qt and 6qt on clearance. Thinking about returning the 6qt to save space. Do you ever wish you had a smaller PC?

Also, official recommendations now instruct to only use a large pressure canner (not cooker) for low acid canning. So, I was not as excited about the large pressure cooker when I got home and started reading.

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I am happy I got the larger size but to be honest I have not used it much beyond beans, stock and the occasional corned beef. It seems like recipes for making beans take longer in my pot than the recipe states. That might be because my pot is bigger than the recipe calls for so I guess it depends on how you will use it.

I keep intending to experiment more with it but I just end up resorting to my usual way of doing things out of habit. Even beans most of the time. It’s been three years already? Jeez, maybe this will inspire me to play with it more. Use it or lose it. I have never canned with it. Really you need a different PC for that. I am happy I did not buy a more expensive one since I think I am not a pressure cooker person. I am never in much of a hurry and I think canning is just a silly fantasy for me. During summertime when my garden is full of canning potential the last thing I want to do is go inside and can.

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I truly appreciate your honest answer.

Today I found my favorite use for the 10qt Fagor: Pressure steaming Thai sticky rice. This way, I dont have to flip the rice over or mist with water during steaming. Also, the 10qt is large enough that my multi tier bamboo basket easily sits on top of a stainless steel steamer basket with room to spare. And I don’t have to steam under pressure; this is worth the cost alone to have such a perfect regular steaming setup.

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I have this 2-in-1 set and am obsessed: https://www.fagoramerica.com/cookware/pressure_cookers/duo_line/duo_combi_2_in_1_5_piece_set
Between the two pots I’m covered, whether for a big pot of beans, stock, or a smaller batch of brown rice, chicken braise, etc. Love this tool much more than I expected. Ms. Vicky’s Big Book of Pressure Cooking has been a great reference as well.