Reading threads on here got me interested in pressure cooking - especially for stock-making and braises. I already have a 6-quart PC that I've only used for legumes, but it's not wide enough for whole cuts of meat. Before investing in another PC for pot roasts and such, I wanted to know more, so I got Pressure Perfect by Lorna Sass. It's been mentioned a lot on this board.

At the beginning of the book, she instructs: "The high heat in the cooker mutes the flavor of ground spices, dried and fresh herbs, and chopped fresh garlic. To maximize flavor, use whole spices in cooking and add herbs and ground spices after pressure release. When you need to cook ground spices ... use about 30% more ... Keep in mind that the taste of granulated or powdered garlic survives much better under pessure than the taste of fresh garlic. If you have a preference for fresh garlic, remember that whole cloves contribute more flavor than chopped."

Before reading this, I'd heard nothing but upsides about the effects of pressure cooking on flavor. But no garlic? Really? That's kind of a big deal. I glanced through the recipes and she stands by that rule. According to the index, only 6 out of 200+ recipes contain garlic, and the ones I looked up use garlic powder or whole cloves instead of chopped.

But it's hard to take Lorna Sass at her word on this. She seems averse to cooking aromatics at the bottom of the pot before adding liquids. I assume it's a timesaving thing - like how she doesn't brown meat, although she mentions that it would improve flavor. So if sauteing garlic were a good way to incorporate it into a pressure cooker recipe, I feel like she'd skip that step anyway.

Is this a real limitation? How do you work around it?

I'm getting into Middle Eastern food and upgrading my cookware in general. Right now I don't have a good way to cook couscous (and no easy way to rig up a colander).

Looking at couscoussiers online has me doubting the specialization of these simple steamers. Is there anything a couscoussier does that a steamer piece with small enough holes would not do just as well?

I'm looking at this stackable steamer (and the saucepot to match). Is it not ideal for the job?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000GT8...

Hi there.

I need a clay pot for Chinese dishes. Traditionally that's a sand pot, but I don't care about that. All of these clay pots are designed for cooking over gas/flame, and from my perspective seem equally well-suited for Chinese cooking.

Please help me understand the practical differences. According to what I've read, sand pots and donabe are usually glazed internally but externally porous, and La Chamba earthenware is unglazed.

Also, unlike sand pots which are soaked before initial use, neither donabe nor La Chamba pots benefit from a preparatory soak. In fact, it seems that donabe are prone to cracking if the exterior isn't dry.

Those differences seem insignificant in the cooking process, but it makes me wonder if sand pots are more specialized than they appear.

Right now I'm leaning towards a donabe or a chamba pot over the sand pot simply because they seem to be reputedly higher quality than the Chinese clay pots I've found online, and I like how they look.

Over the past six months, I've been learning to cook Chinese on two cheap 14" carbon steel woks, one round and one flat, using a chuan.

The round was too heavy to toss in due to its crappy wooden handles, so I upgraded to a much lighter 'pao' wok with a flat bottom. But I only made the switch from round to flat so that I could use the stovetop in addition to the butane burner that I do all of my serious cooking on. Unfortunately, the flat bottom wok isn't flat enough to use on the range for anything at all.

Having tried both, I prefer the round shape, so I'm onto a third one.

Today I ordered a 12" hand hammered Yamada. AFAIK, it's a traditional Peking pan shape. This will be the first wok I've owned that's appropriate for the hoak style of cooking.

Problem is, I can't seem to find a really good hoak short enough for a 12" wok. The best I've seen is probably the Eastman Outdoors 37222 Spoon, but I can't find many reviews or specs on it. One reviewer complained that the handle is 14" - rightfully saying that it's much too short for the 18 and 22 inch woks they bundle it with, but it looks like quality.

What else is out there?