Has anyone got a pressure cooker?

[Fluffycloudland77]

I'm thinking of getting one, just for doing potatos because I cook vegetables in the oven.

Are they any good? Radio 4 did a piece on them a while ago and I've been thinking about getting one.

Is a pressure cooker the same as a slow cooker?

We have one and use it for bolognese, chilli, stews, mince, soup, etc. How would you use it for potatoes?

No, a pressure cooks things faster at a higher pressure whereas slow cookers cook things slowly (hence the name)

I use mine for soups and the christmas pudding.

I use mine for , soups, potatoes, stews, risotto , mind you have just got a Kenwood cooking schef so its been put aside a bit !

I use mine a lot for braising beef, gammon joints etc. My mum used to 'boil' lovely potaoes in hers but I've never bothered.

powerhoop just for boiling them for mashing or roasting.

Are they a lot faster?

We've recently bought a pressure cooker and DP did potatoes in them the other day. But to be honest it was like boiling them, for some reason the pressure didn't build up so much. If you're only going to use it for potatoes, I'm not sure I'd bother.

We also did an amazing stew last week. Meat was lovely and tender.

It's a little bit quicker and they come out more 'waxy' and don't fall apart at all or get watery.

I wouldnt get it just for potatoes as they dont take that long anyway. Use it for things that would take a long time to cook e.g stews, meat sauces, soups, pulses, etc as it definitely speeds their cooking time up.

It won't be faster for spuds. The cooking time will be reduced but there's still the heating up/reaching pressure and cooling down/reducing pressure to take into account.

Recent thread about pressure cooker tips here

Ooh I love mine for potatoes it's very good and cooks them really well. Takes about12 mins once it comes to pressure (4 mins maybe). I don't bother letting it cool down just turn off the gas and open it after a minute
My mum used to run hers under the tap but I don't know why
Great for soup too which I make all the time.