Thread: pressure cooker - recommendations, please!

Anyone in love with a particular brand/sized pressure cooker? I have jars of dry beans but can't seem to make the time to be still for 2 hours while they cook on the stove. I am ready to make my first foray into the let's-not-wait-hours-and-hours-for-a-pot-of-fresh-beans world and have heard pc's make them in about 20 minutes(!).

Canned beans are convenient, but add up especially as I buy organic made by Eden bc they use kombu seaweed in their preparation...which then leads me to my next question: can the beans still be cooked with kombu in a pc? Does the kombu need to be a smaller size, given the rapid cooking?

Are flavors intensified by the pressure cooking or does seasoning remain the same? Any other tips?

Gratitude to all who read and respond.

I have one from QVC and it is really nice. I did buy the cook book too. Love PCing but have not tried beans. Sorry I don't know anything about cooking with Kombu.

This really should be in Off Topic.

I'm also on the lookout for a new one. We have one from France that lasted 11 years using it almost every week- love it!
I think sometimes the flavors are intensified because you don't have to use nearly as much water.
Regarding your question about the seaweed and beans: I think you would need to cook the beans to about 95% doneness and then add the seaweed before cooking it together for a couple of minutes, otherwise the seaweed would become overcooked.

Bea: My reason for posting here was that (in my mind) cooking in general falls under Health and Nutrition.

kamaracini and carpediem: Thank you very much for the advice!

For cooking, I use a stainless steel Presto brand 4 quart size. For canning, I have a giant one that holds 14 quart jars.

We have a WMF (I think it's a 4-quart .. maybe a 3.5?) and it has totally revolutionized our cooking! I love it.

We do tons of indian dishes with various kinds of lentils, as well as potatoes and soup. You can definitely add other things to your beans when you cook them!

I don't know if the flavor is intensified but dried beans are so much tastier than canned ones. Allegedly, pressure cooking seals in nutrients, so it stands to reason that it also helps to intensify flavor.

OOH thanks for starting this thread! I've been on the lookout for a couple months. I've been eating a mostly Macrobiotic diet and it calls for pressure cooking many things. I've read reviews and some of them are soooo pricey. I have heard good things about the Presto 4qt brand for cooking beans and grains. Check amazon for reviews. I think that's the one I am going to ask Santa for. It's about $60 I think...

I've got these Adzuki beans and have been waiting to cook them. Stove top just doesn't cut it.

On qvc.com is one by cooks essentials. I have it and its awesome. You can also use a crock pot for slow cooking

Presto has been the all time favorite. Just be sure to adhere to safety issues (especially if you have young children), as it can be very scary and dangerous. I make those red skinned potatoes in 20 minutes, and also carrots in 8 min. I am in the market for a larger pc to do some canning/preserving and was looking for advice in that Dept. if anybody knows something helpful. Healthy meals do take longer to prepare, but I am all about organic natural foods with no chemicals.

Lizzy, I was planning on the Presto brand, but shied away because of safety issues. The negative reiviews said it could explode???

My kids are 11 and 16 but I'M afraid to use it :-D