Pressure cookers - any recommendations?

[choosyfloosy]

we may get a pressure cooker for christmas

i find them quite scary but i bet dh would use it

do you have one? is it good?

No suggestions from me, but I'm curious about these. A friend was telling me about hers today - she says they are quite common in France where she lived for the past 7 years.

What exactly is the difference between a pressure cooker and slow cooker?

I don't have one but I know the Hawkins ones are very popular with relatives.

Earlybird pressure cookers cook things very qickly so are brilliant if you don't have much time or for things that take a long time too cook and hence they save on energy too.

I love my ancient Tefal but I don't think you can get it any more. Def wouldn't be without a pressure cooker! Like the look of this if I were getting a replacement.

Pressure cooker - cooks fast using steam. Great for tenderising meat or if you need something in a hurry. here
Slow cooker - cooks very slowly!

Hmm - well, you learn something new everyday! Somehow I had got to the ripe old age of 40 something never having heard of a pressure cooker.

Are there specialist cookery books for them like the ones for slow cookers? Is there a 'knack' to learning to use one? What sort of things would be cooked in them?

I use mine to cook soups and stews in - you can cook a meal for 4-6 people in about 10 minutes when it's under pressure... I do a cracking cauliflower soup in.

not so good for things like curries though where the slow tenderising of the meat counts.

I was given mine, and it was not from here, so I cannot comment on brands. But it is fab, I loooove it. I use is mostly to cook beans, though... It cooks large hard beans (without soaking) in 30-45 mins. Should cook soups and softer things than beans in a few minutes (Jamie Oliver does a pumpkin soup in 5 minutes in a pressure cooker). Saves a lot of time and energy (beans need to cook for hours in a normal pan). And it is always good fun to have it whistling away...

Snap.

As most people have said, it is fab for soups, stews, beans etc etc.

I was also given mine, it was an old one that wasn't being used any more, but if it ever packed in, I would certainly buy another.