I'm trying out my pressure cooker for the first time today. I'm currently making dried pinto beans and ham hocks. All the recipes call for about 55 mins of high pressure, but I soaked mine overnight (closer to 24 hours) so I am assuming a shorter time. Any ideas on how long I should cook them? Thank you!
Make sure that you do not fill the pot more than half way. the beans can foam up and block the pressure safety valve/release.
Since the soaking usually reduces the cooking time in half I would start there. You can always bring it back up to pressure and cook longer if needed.
Try looking at this chart -- http://missvickie.com/howto/beans/how...
it is a chart for cooking *already soaked* beans in a pressure cooker.
I pressure cook pinto beans often. I like to quick soak them - bring to boil then set aside for an hour. Pressure cook them with half a peeled onion, ham hock, about 6 C water and no salt. Bring to high pressure then turn them down to medium pressure for 15 minutes. While they cook I prepare a soffits with onion, garlic, red and green peppers, half a jalapeño, oregano, salt and pepper. Add this to cooked beans and boil the mixture for 15 minutes. I think they are perfect this way.
CI has done some research ( I know, there is controversy on these boards about CI's testing methods, etc., but I find many of their ideas to be spot-on. Take it all with a grain of, er, salt!) and found that salting beans actually makes them tender to the middle, better seasoned at the finish, and NOT tough on the outside.
Basically, do a 'quick brine' of your beans before cooking, then cook them up.
If cooking in a pressure cooker, be sure to follow instructions for your model, or cook on lowest pressure setting to avoid blown-out beans!
Love Charlties sofrito above - sounds delish!
There are a million ways to cook beans apparently. I do a presoak for several hours, and then pressure cook them for about 15 minutes to see how well they are cooking. I cooked pintos a couple of weeks ago, and I tested them after 15 minutes (timed from the beans coming to pressure) and then pressure cooked them for a few minutes more, to get them as done as I wanted. If you chill the cooked beans overnight they will be firmer than if you eat them shortly after cooking them.
I hope you were happy with your pinto beans. I hope you enjoy using your new PC.
I'd love to hear how your beans turned out.
I recommend presoaking (with or without salt, I prefer no salt) the beans, draining and then cooking pinto beans between 4 and 6 minutes at pressure with a natural pressure release. I think that at 15 minutes they would be falling apart and too mushy for my liking.
You can always put them back on the heat but you can't make them less done. I guess that you could always turn them into Spicy Pinto Bean Dip if you needed to.
It's great to see so many more people pressure cooking these days. I have been teaching people how to do this for 15 years and maybe the time has finally come when more people will pressure cook regularly.
Many good answers but none addressed whether the ham hock will be cooked in the time the beans cook... if it was there I missed it.
That was my first concern as well. I would start by browning the meat in the pressure cooker (lid off). Followed by cooking the meat under pressure, then add the pre soaked beans and return to pressure to finish
The ham hock will be cooked that's for sure. I put a bay leaf in with the beans. The thing to remember about pressure cookers is they are REALLY REALLY dangerous if you don't follow the instructions to the letter. Another poster mentioned putting a bit of oil in with the beans. I agree. Never overfill the P.C. Half way filled is stretching it IMO. I'd try filling a bit less than half way. Keep an eye/ear on the PC. If you notice the amount of steam escaping is lessening you know the PC is getting low on water. Actually by then it's almost too late. Quickly but VERY carefully move the PC into the sink. DON'T run cold water over it. And don't release the steam valve. Just let it cool down on it's own. In half an hour or so lift the steam valve and if no steam comes out fill the sink with warm water. Then remove the top half. You only need to go through this once or twice before you get the right amount of water to use down. Lastly, I assume you've got the PC on a burner full wack. Once the steam starts coming out reduce the heat till you're still getting plenty of steam. PC's are an excellent way to cook some foods like beans. I'd use a smoked pork hock for the extra flavor but you don't need to 'brown' it beforehand. Fifty five minutes in a PC and you'll barely recognize the pork hock anyway. LOL
I think it depends on the kind of PC you use, Puffin. My brand-new Kuhn-Rikon recommends a cold-water release, and I use one all the time with great success. The new models have multiple safety mechanisms, and I think that the really, really dangerous part has largely subsided- as long as you're present in the kitchen and throw an eye in that direction from time to time, you're all set. I use mine while making dinner and keeping an eye on the toddler in the kitchen, no worries.
I cannot find a recipe that says what pressure setting to use for a specific recipe! All the recipes say is, high pressure, or build to pressure. What pressure??? I've been trying to cook ham and beans and have had to begin the process 3 times now.
I just got an 8 qt Power Cooker. The owners manual is of NO use. Default cook time is 30 min. I can not decrease or increase time. It always goes back to default time. Can anyone help me?
I found the owner's manual at the Walmart site. Check page 8, there's an explanation of how to use the Cook Time button. Sadly, it only seems to change in 5-minute increments. Makes me wonder how you'll cook things that cook in 6 minutes, or 7, like hard-cooked eggs and risotto. Most things I cook are set for more precise timing than 5-minute increments will allow.
Good luck with it.
I love adding cooked beans to soups and chilli of course but I found cooking them at suggested timing makes them too mushy when added to soup and chilli where they are cooked more. So with most beans I soak overnight, the cook at high pressure for no more than 10 minutes, quick release and when they cool, I package 2 cups in zip lock bags and freeze. I have about 4 variety of beans in freezer right now.
Hello,
I've been planning to get an Instant Pot IP-DUO60 7-in-1 Pressure Cooker. Does anyone have any experience with this machine? Is it worth the money?
Thanks.
https://www.chowhound.com/post/pressu... https://writemyessaytoday.net/ https://www.chowhound.com/post/pressu...
Hi RandyBonnette,
I have it (along with the smaller 3QT Duo Mini) and use it every week. I've owned mine for 4½ years and have given the same model as gifts to my niece and mother. I saw little use for a pressure cooker before buying it, because I wasn't into batch cooking or leftovers, didn't eat a lot of beans, and we're only a family of two. It was only after conversing with other Chowhounds that I took the leap and tried it. Mine is the 1st generation with the attached power cord, but it's never failed me in 4 years.
I absolutely think it's worth it, because IMO it hits the sweet spot between size, features and price. If your family is more than 4 people, you'll probably be happier with the 8QT, but even for a family of 2 like mine, the 6QT is the best. I use my 3QT more often (still not into batch cooking), but If I could only have one, I'd choose the 6QT for it's versatility. It's small enough that I can cook 1 cup of rice without needing to use the pot-in-pot method, but large enough to hold 5 pounds of potatoes for Thanksgiving. It's also better than the Mini for pot-in-pot cooking, because it has more headroom and more pans/bowls fit in it.
I've considered upgrading to one of the newer models but the one I have works so well, doing everything I could ask of it, that I just haven't felt the need. The newer ones have some nice features, but nothing I think is necessary.
Duffy
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