Gourmet's Tips

Cooking At Pressure / Pressure Cooking.

The idea of cooking at pressure is to save time and fuel. Normal cooking keeps the housewife tied down to the kitchen. In pressure cooking there is also the additional advantage of saving food value and flavour; since the cooker is tightly closed throughout the cooking process, Certain foods which takes a long time to cook in normal conditions, like tough meat, etc. become soft quickly by pressure cooking.

To test if your cooker is in order, boil two or three cups of water in it
and let it come to pressure.If it takes about 5 minutes to produce the hissing sound,
on strong heat,the gasket and safety valve are in good condition.

The gasket and fuse should occasionally be smeared with oil to keep it soft.Stretch the gasket a little before you put it on to the lid, so that it will
fit well and will not permit steam to escape.The gasket has to be cleaned with a wet cloth to remove any food particles that stuck to it.Do not keep tight fitting lids
on vessels kept inside the cooker.Cleaning of the lid should be done carefully to
avoid extra stretching of the gasket.

Rough handling will cause dents in the rim and thus spoil the cooker.While cleaning the lid take care that the vent is open and not clogged with food particles.

Important Safeguards for Pressure Cooking

You Can get total satisfaction from your Pressure Cooker if you follow the simple instructions given below...

1. Read all instructions. In Particular, remember to follow the safety precautions and please do not tamper with the safety devices.

2. Do not place a do dry / empty cooker on a heat sources.

3. Do not fill cooker over 2/3 full. For rice and dried vegetables, which expand during cooking, do not fill cooker over 1/2 full.

4. Please avoid dried cooking of foods that tend to foam, froth or sputter. They may block the vent tube.

5. Always check vent tube before use. Hold lid up to light and look through vent tube to be certain it is open...

6. For proper closure, lid handle must be directly above body handle.

7. Do not open cooker until pressure has been reduced to zero and weight valve has been removed.

8. when there is still pressure in the cooker, do not remove the weight valve. Only if no stream escapes when the weight valve is tilted, weight valve is to be removed and lid is opened. The lid should not be forced off. Cool the cooker further if necessary.

9. CAUTION : For safe Pressure cooking, replace the metallic safety valve every time you replace a worn out gasket. In case, replace the metallic safety valve every year, otherwise it may not function at the time of need and cause damage,

10. Do not use cooker for other than intended use.