The pressure cooker and I have never been friends. I was raised by a Mom that was afraid that the pressure cooker would blow us all up if we used it! Now, back in the old days of pressure cooking that was a true worry! I remember my Mom using her pressure canner one time! She canned green beans back in 1977 or 1978! We lived in Weston, Oregon and I was in high school. She had a really nice, new Presto Harvest Gold pressure canner. It worked great! She put it in the box and we moved to Juneau, Alaska, Vancouver, Washington...I got married...the pressure canner continued to move to Montana, Utah, Northern Washington, Olympia, Washington and finally back to Vancouver. When my parents decided to move to Idaho.....I was gifted the Presto Harvest Gold pressure canner. It sat in the box until my friend, Diana Wooldridge taught me how to can grape juice. She cans all the time and is NOT afraid. She is fearless! I am jealous. I did some green beans last summer in the Presto. What a LOT of work....for a few bottles of beans!
My Mother-in-law, Colleen, showed me the wonders of pressure cooking on the stove. She makes roasts, chicken and other good stuff. It is such a timesaver! So....I decided it was time for me to be brave and try! I got a Presto pressure cooker....an older one...and started to use it! I learned to like the swish-swish of the regulator. I could do stew meat in a flash. Chicken, rice, potatoes for mashed in minutes! Awesome!
I graduated to a Kuhn-Rikon pressure cooker and left behind the swish! I lost the the regulator...but gained a modern, safe pressure cooker! I still had to monitor it on the stove, but it worked great!
Until....I met....the Cuisinart ELECTRIC countertop Pressure cooker! TaDa! Can I have a little Heavenly choir music! I LOVE IT! I can set it and walk away! I can cook beans right out of the #10 can without soaking them! (Because, let's face it...who remembers to soak the beans until it's too late) I can do stew meat, chicken, pork taco meat, rice, potatoes! It has a timer, shuts itself off, and keeps the food warm! Could there be a more perfect convenience? I bought it at Costco for $69.99! It saves up to 70% in time and because you cook the food so quickly, you keep the nutrition. And you save energy! What more could you ask for?
