Top 10 Pressure Cooking Tricks That Will Change The Way You Cook
The World (to every single human who doesn’t cook): Why don’t you cook? Cooking is fun and easy. You should enjoy cooking. Look around, everybody cooks and it’s not a big deal.
Family (on hearing those words): (Death stare mode activated)
Poor Me: I don’t cook. I don’t know to cook. I will never cook and I will never learn to cook. Well, I actually forgot to tell you this, I also hate cooking! And to all those who say, cooking is easy and to all those who cook with ease, here I tell you, “Aww, you must be very skilful. I wish become like you someday.” (Argh, argh and argh! I can’t take this anymore)
Just so you know I hate cooking because it is difficult, a hectic process and time consuming. To all the wonderful people reading this let me tell you something, with just your love cooking is highly impossible.
Strangely, this lockdown gave me time and perseverance to find ways to cook and it did work well for me. I would like to share those tips and tricks with you and I hope it works for you too.
"Top 10 Pressure Cooking Tricks That Will Change The Way You Cook"
Upgrade Your Knowledge:
Years ago, when someone meant cooking, it was all about one pressure cooker and then came the electric cooker with just a power on and off button. But gone are those days and now it is all about the smart and multifunctional electric pressure cookers. The more the advancement, the more are the buttons, modes and features.
Getting to know about the different options will give you an idea as to what can be cooked. Pressure cook, slow cook, saute, pressure level, timer, start, cancel are the most common options. (Truth - except the start and cancel the rest sounds a little higher to my level!)
Let’s make it simple, know your product!
- Every dish requires different cooking process. And clearly, you need a preset option for those to happen. So know the different buttons and know why there are different buttons in the product.
- Know about the additional items that comes with the product for be it the gloves or the spatula, they are clearly given for exclusive use.
Geek Robocook has 13 preset menus of your favourite Indian dishes.
Read To Know:
Every product comes with an instruction manual. They give you those for a reason and it sure does help one a lot. So read!
- The Do’s and Don’ts – Half your cooking troubles vanish when you get to know ‘how to use’ and ‘how not to use’ the product.
- Troubleshooting – What better than have a book that is ready to tell you what wrong you did and is also ready to give you a solution for that?
- Precautions – You need to protect yourself, those around you and the product. If not for the first one, you do have to take steps for the safety of the other two.
- Maintenance – It’s an electrical appliance. Let’s not take risk practicing our various cleaning techniques.
Familiarise With The Product,
- To avoid your soup turn into a jelly and rice turn into porridge
- To keep you and your close ones alive and of course, keep the product safe from your cooking
Geek Robocook has a multilayered safety mechanism proving to be the best.
Time For A Trial Run:
So you are cooking, something goes wrong, what do you do? Well, I blame the cooker first! I hope you do that too and even if you don’t I am sure that somewhere deep down you do feel that (Please say yes!). What do we do for that?
Start with a water test,
- To ensure the product works well and avoid blaming it
- To feel comfortable using the product
- To know how to proceed with the functioning
- To not get alarmed when the pressure rises and the steam releases
Geek Robocook has a digital timer to help you keep track of the cooking.
Follow A Recipe:
I do know that real cooking is following your heart and is an art that goes beyond a standard recipe. But then what do you do when you have trouble with cooking? And what do you do when you follow your heart and cook in an electric cooker and find it hard to taste during the cooking process?
The cooker needs time for pressure to build, steam to release and a cooking time has to be followed. That is exactly why I prefer to follow a recipe. You may not be an amazing cook but you can be someone who can follow a recipe and make the perfect dish.
Start With Easy Ones:
Waiting to shape your cooking skills and upgrade from being a beginner cook to a master cook? You need practice and time to master your cooking skills. The best way is not to try out the most difficult dishes and destroying not just the dish but also your happy spirit of cooking.
Plan And Use:
Cooking is fun but it sure does need some concentration. In an electric pressure cooker, you close the lid, seal the valve for pressure and so you cannot open the lid to mix your preferred kind of ingredients half way through the cooking process.
- Always avoid confusions
- Be prepared with everything you need.
- Get all your ingredients ready at the right quantity before you begin to cook.
Always Add Liquid:
According to Science and definitely not me, the pressure cooker follows a mechanism which cooks food only when water is added. The water increases the temperature, builds and compresses the pressure and creates enough steam to cook the food.
Avoid Double Trouble:
There is always a rule when you follow a rule.
Rule 1: Add water
Rule 2: Do not overdo it
Stick to the measurement. Crossing the maximum measurement level in the electric cooker pot will lead to risk factors.
- Fill 1/3rd of the pot with water for foods that absorb water and increase in size (like rice)
- Fill 2/3rd of the pot with water for liquid dishes.
- Do not fill more than 2/3rd of the cooker’s capacity.
- Always allow space for steaming.
Geek Robocook comes with a removable stainless steel pot which lets you easily measure.
Pressure Release Method:
Venting out the pressure in a cooker is significant and it has to be done in different ways based on the food that you cook. You have two major options and the choice is yours.
- Quick Release - You switch from sealed to vent and let the steam out. This can be used for foods (like meat) that require right cooking time and has to be removed immediately once the cooking is done.
- Natural Release - You let the pressure go down on its own time. This can be used for foods (like rice and eggs) that don’t lose its consistency or flavour, despite crossing its cooking time.
- Do not release pressure while the cooking process is on.
Geek Robocook includes both automatic pressure and manual release options.
‘No’ To Cooking All Foods At The Same Time:
The all in one electric cooker is top rated but that just means you have an intelligent pressure cooker with advanced technology. Yet it is ill advised to add all ingredients together at once to the cooker as meat, vegetables and rice cook at different time intervals. So, to get a dish with multiple ingredients on your plate,
- Start with the ones that need high time to cook (like chicken)
- Let the pressure release and then add the remaining food (like vegetables) for the final cooking to be done.
- Always add dairy or cornstarch to your dish only after the steam is let out.
Geek Robocook comes with a capacity of 5L and 8L and has space to support more quantity.
Special Note:
For someone like me, who once tried boiling rice in a pressure cooker and ended up spilling water, rice everywhere (That was in fact the end of the pressure cooker!), automatic electric pressure cookers came to the rescue.
I made up my mind, went step by step with the product (since it was new) and with my cooking lessons (since I had to eat good food eventually). For after all, to change the way you cook is all about the ‘read, know, prepare and take baby steps’ method.
P.S. I still dislike cooking, but I can cook now!
Geek Robocook is a smart instant pot cooker best suited for your homes.
December 30, 2020
John