Pressure Cooker Question

I'm looking at buying a pressure cooker soon, but I had a question on size. I have seen @chris and others recommend the 12qt size. Would this size still work if I wanted to make a small amount of grain? Say cooking a cup of rice or barley. Can I run such a large pot with that little product in it effectively, or do I need a smaller cooker for making a few portions of grain?

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Laura_Pazzaglia_Simmarano_77236

Brandon, bigger pressure cookers need more time to reach pressure and more liquid to get there. Whether you can pressure cook one cup of grain directly in the cooker depends on the grain (it's grain to liquid ratio) and the minimum amount of liquid such a big cooker needs to reach pressure.

For example, if you were to get a 12qt that needs 1 1/2 -2cups of water to reach pressure it would be tricky to get perfectly fluffy white rice from a cup of dry (grain to water ratio for jasmine rice is 1:1 and basmati rice is 1:1.5).

HOWEVER, you can always pressure cook grains bain marie in a heat-proof container (http://bit.ly/17GlpUA). I've tested many grains with this method including perlated barley and - of course - all kinds of rice. Check this recipe for step-by-step photos on how to do it - I put a curry in the base to bring the cooker to pressure but you can use plain 'ol water as well.

Pressure Cooked Chickpea Curry with Brown Rice Recipe
http://www.hippressurecooking.com/pressure-cooked-chickpea-curry-with-brown-rice-one-pot-meal/

Ciao,

L

Laura_Pazzaglia_Simmarano_77236

P.S. Even though the method is called pressure cooker bain marie the container should be on a steamer basket, or trivet, not paritally submerged in the water as in conventional bain marie.

grant

You can absolutely cook very small amounts of product in a larger pressure cookers. Don't forget water expands by a factor of 1600 when turning to steam so the difference in starting volume is minuscule. We often cook 100g of grain in a single layer in the pressure cooker in 16 minutes, every grain is perfect that way. The 8qt and the 12qt that we recommend are both great. The 12qt is certainly built to last with a very heavy bottom and thicker walls.

Brandon_610

Thanks for the advice. I will take a look at those two cookers.