Tips for pressure cooking

The idea of cooking at pressure is to save time and fuel. Normal cooking keeps the housewife tied down to the kitchen. In pressure cooking there is also the additional advantage of saving food value and flavour: since the cooker is tightly closed throughout the cooking process. Certain foods which take a long time to cook in normal conditions, like tough meat, etc. become soft quickly by pressure cooking.

To test if your cooker is in order, boil two or three cups of water in it and let it come to pressure. If it takes about 05 minutes to produce the hissing sound, on strong heat, the gasket and safety valve are in good conditon.

The gasket and fuse should occasionally be smeared with oil to keep it soft. Stretch the gasket a little before you put it on to the lid, so that it will fit well and will not permit steam to escape. The gasket has to be cleaned with a wet cloth to remove any food particle that stuck to it. Do not keep tight fitting lids on vessels kept inside the cooker. Cleaning of the lid should be done carefully to avoid extra stretching of the gasket.

Rough handling will cause dents in the rim and thus spoil the cooker. While cleaning the lid take care that the vent is open and not clogged with food particles.