36 replies to this topic

[MarkBC]

Use it carefully. That is, never open it to look inside and see how your meal is progressing until the pressure inside the cooker is down to atmospheric pressure.

Pressure cookers have interlocks preventing them being opened when there is (gauge) pressure inside.

If somebody disables the interlock then they may learn why it's wrong to disable interlocks.

[EdoHart]

OK, I'll give you that... You're a cool dog in a cool hat. I still don't trust your advice, 'cause you got a tail. Just sayin'.

What you don't know about me is that I don't have a tail. It was bobbed before I was 6 weeks old. I can't swat flys away from my fanny, and that is literally a pain in the bumkiss.

I rarely have to tell my master (what a joke it is to call him master, because I have him wrapped around my little dew claw) that it is time to move so that I can get away from the flies and other biting bothers.

Pressure cookers have interlocks preventing them being opened when there is still (gauge) pressure inside.

If somebody disables the interlock then they may learn why it's wrong to disable interlocks.

I did not know that there were interlocks in pressure cookers.

About twice a year I like to camp in the Inyo Mountains between 7-9,000 feet. I never considered a pressure cooker before, but this thread has given me pause (not paws)...

[Barko1]

When you say it like that is sounds just weird. At least this dog looks good in hats.

Here is my new step-dog in his hat

[EdoHart]

Here is my new step-dog in his hat

I'm afraid we may have drifted from the original topic of this thread (caused in no small part to me), but this is a very good looking dog wearing a hat.

[MarkBC]

I did not know that there were interlocks in pressure cookers.

Yep, they do!
Here's a look at the underside of the rim of the lid of my new pressure-cooker:


When there's pressure inside the pot, the pin (silver surrounded by white gasket) is pushed up, which activates some mechanism that prevents the lid from being rotated and opened. My Mom's 50-year old pressure cooker (lid) also has an interlock which is mechanically simpler (probably better) but has the same approach: Pressure pushes a pin up which prevents the lid from being turned and unlocked when there's pressure inside.

About twice a year I like to camp in the Inyo Mountains between 7-9,000 feet. I never considered a pressure cooker before, but this thread has given me pause (not paws)...

Exactly! I knew this wasn't a silly idea...

[EdoHart]

[snipe]
Exactly! I knew this wasn't a silly idea...
[/quote]The question I have is:
How does one adjust the cooking time for noodles, beens or steamed vegetables, using a pressure cooker at given altitudes? I'm an OK cook as long as I can sample the food to see how the various ingredients are progressing, but that requires opening the pot often, which precludes the use of a pressure cooker.

[MarkBC]

The question I have is:
How does one adjust the cooking time for noodles, beens or steamed vegetables, using a pressure cooker at given altitudes? I'm an OK cook as long as I can sample the food to see how the various ingredients are progressing, but that requires opening the pot often, which precludes the use of a pressure cooker.

I'm not an expert with the pressure cooker -- I just bought my first one this month.
But I am experienced at web searches , and I found this:
Pressure Cooking at High Altitudes

First of all, you need to be using a recipe specific to cooking whatever in a pressure cooker in the first place (at low altitude). Turning to the source of all knowledge and wisdom, the Internet, turns up this:
The ULTIMATE Pressure Cooker Cooking Time Chart

Then apply the rule of thumb from the "high altitude" link: "For every 1000 ft above 2000 ft elevation, increase the cooking time by 5%" to the cooking time recommended from the "ultimate...chart" link. Example, if you're at 6000 feet: [(6000 - 2000)/1000] X 5% = Increase cooking time by 20% over what the "Ultimate Chart" recommends.

As I said, I'm not an expert at pressure cooking, but I have read that certain foods -- things that produce starchy foam or things that can boil up particulate matter, can be potentially hazardous in a pressure cooker. Apparently if the starch or whatever foams up enough it can plug the regulator vent -- the thing that regulates the pressure cooker internal pressure at 15psig -- and if it can't regulate itself it may blow. Actually, the pressure-relief plug should blow -- not the metal pot -- but it still sounds like something you'd want to avoid.