"------can I cook small amounts in an 8 qt cooker, or will it take forever to build pressure? ---"

Can't help you with induction questions. I have gas (I mean the stove, LOL!).

You can cook any small amount of food in any size pressure cooker. Fill your pressure cooker with an inch of water, then just put your food in a smaller pot to go inside the pressure cooker.

dcarch

I have the Fagor Splendid multi set (8 qt pc, 4 qt 'saute pan'-shaped pc, lid fits both). I'm at work, away from the kitchen right now, but according to Fagor the 8 qt PC takes a 10 inch gasket, so it should be fine. I'll measure this accurately later for you, but DEFINITELY go with a 8 qt PC if you have the storage space for one. There are a lot of times where you want the extra capacity to cook ahead: soups, chili, broth, etc.

I have a 6 qt pc as well, and although I've never timed them, I don't notice any appreciable difference in getting them up to pressure. I suppose it might take a minute or two to pressurize that extra 2 quarts of volume, but it certainly isn't a great deal of difference--certainly not enough to keep from getting the advantages of an 8 qt cooker.

As far as recipes, here are a couple of tried and true recipes for the PC. For other ideas, check out missvickie.com or hippressurecooking.com.

Pressure-Cooked Chuck Pot Roast

Chuck roast, 3 to 4 pounds
2 cups onions, finely chopped
1 cup carrots, finely chopped
1 cup celery, finely chopped)
1 cup chicken broth (if you have some good quality beef broth, use it, but most commercial beef broth isn’t very good)
1 large can of mushroom stems & pieces (optional)
Black pepper
1 or 2 bay leaves (optional)

In the pressure cooker, put about a cup of chicken broth, one bay leaf, a generous grinding of black pepper and roughly half the onion, celery, mushrooms and carrot.

Trim excess fat off the outside of the chuck roast, but don’t be too aggressive--you want to leave some for flavor. If you want to, sear the chuck roast on high heat in a frying pan (that’s optional--it’ll still taste good if you don’t do that).

Put the pot roast in the cooker. It’s okay if it comes up the side of the cooker a little bit. Grind some more black pepper on the top of the roast, then put in the rest of the carrot/celery/onion mushroom mixture on top of the roast an another bay leaf. Attach the pressure lid and bring the cooker up to pressure on high heat. Once it gets to pressure, cut back the heat to where it’s just keeping the pressure on high.

Now, don’t do anything for a while. After some time (roughly 45 minutes for a 3 pound chuck roast, 50 or 55 minutes for a 4 pounder), turn off the heat. Don’t vent the pressure, but rather allow the pressure to come down by itself. It’ll probably take at least 15 minutes to do so. During this time, you might want to make a batch of rice or couscous or noodles to catch the juices.

Once the pressure is down, remove the lid. Remove the roast to a platter. The juices in the pot will be delicious with no other treatment, but if you wanted to get fancy and strain them you could. Slice the pot roast, putting the slices back in the juices to keep them moist. Serve with rice and the pot juices.

If you want to be adventurous, add about a half a can of anchovies, chopped, to the mix; smear the pot roast with the chopped anchovies before cooking it. The anchovies will dissolve when cooking. Don't worry, it won't be fishy at all, but will add a huge boost in flavor. Yum.

* * *

Curry in a Hurry

This recipe from Lorna Sass’s Pressure Perfect is a quick and easy way to make a pretty tasty curry. You can make it with chicken, beef, lamb or pork, and vary the hotness by using mild or hot curry paste. 2 tablespoons of mild curry paste makes a pleasant-but-wimpy curry; 4 tablespoons of mild paste makes it pleasantly zingy; 4 tablespoons of hot curry paste makes it very hot, near my limit of tolerance (and I really like hot food). I generally use 2 tablespoons of hot and 2 tablespoons of mild curry paste. This is a recipe that’s ridiculously easy yet produces delicious food. If you don’t want to mess with the yogurt, peas and cilantro, don’t bother--the dish will still be very tasty, but the sauce won’t be as rich or velvety-smooth. ( I personally don’t like cilantro, so I don’t use it.) The recipe calls for 3 pounds of bone-in chicken; I find it easier to use about 2 or 2.5 pounds of boneless skinless chicken thighs. --Once you get the pressure cooker up to pressure, make a pot of rice. By the time the rice is done, so is this.

1 cup water
4 tablespoons Patak’s Mild Curry Paste
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
3 pounds bone-in skinless chicken thighs or breasts, or 2-2.5 lbs boneless skinless thighs, or 2 lbs. other meat
(see chart below)
1 cup plain yogurt
1 ½ cup frozen peas
3 tablespoons cilantro, chopped (optional)

Pour the water into a 4-qt or larger pressure cooker and blend in the curry paste. Place on high heat and add the onion and meat of your choice.
Lock the lid in place. Over high heat bring up to high pressure. Reduce the heat just enough to maintain high pressure and cook for the time indicated in the chart. Turn off the heat. Allow the pressure to come down naturally. (If cooking chicken, release any remaining pressure after 4 minutes.) Remove the lid, tilting it away from you to allow steam to escape. If the chicken or meat isn’t tender, cover again and simmer until done.
If necessary, skim off the fat that rises to the surface or degrease the broth in a fat separator. Blend the yogurt into 1 cup of the broth. Stir the peas into the curry and simmer until they are defrosted, about 1 minute. Turn off the heat and stir the yogurt mixture into the curry. Stir in the cilantro and salt to taste. Serve in bowls over rice.

Meat choices and Cooking times

Chicken (see notes above) 8 minutes high pressure, 4 minutes of natural release, then quick release

Beef (boneless chuck, 1” cubes) 8 minutes high pressure, then natural release

Pork shoulder (1” cubes) 8 minutes high pressure, then natural release

Lamb (boneless, 1” cubes) 12 minutes high pressure, then natural release

If using beef, pork or lamb, trim off excess fat and cut the meat into approximately 1” cubes before cooking..

This post was edited by arley on Wed, Oct 30, 13 at 10:40

Just measured the Fagor Splendid 8 qt which was part of the multi set: the disc is 8 3/4 inches in diameter, but tapers to a contact surface of about 8 1/2 inches. It works great on every induction hob I've tried it on.

Does seem odd, though, that your induction hob doesn't adjust for smaller pots; I'm not doubting you, but I've never heard of one that didn't. What brand is this, so I can avoid it in the future?

If you've won the lottery, you might consider the Kuhn Rikon 30330; it's a 5.25 quart braiser, with a nominal diameter of 11 inches. Pricey, though; MSRP is $400, and they're never discounted much.

The kuhn Rikon 12 and 8 liter stockpot style pressure cookers also have a nominal diameter of 11 inches, but they're even pricier; $420 for the 8 qt and $450 for the 12 liter. I have a 6 qt KR, and I love it--very well made.

The link is to a table of KR dimensions. There are at least a few that would work for you.

Here is a link that might be useful: dimensions of KR pressure cookers

This post was edited by arley on Wed, Oct 30, 13 at 13:08

I think you could use the PC on a medium hob. It might take a little longer to get to pressure, but only a couple minutes.

I will try to remember to measure my Kuhn Rikon bases tonight.

My Magefesa looks wide, but the actual disc that contacts the induction hob is only 7". My Kuhn-Rikon was the anniversary-risotto one from several years ago, which I do not recommend because it basically stopped working after six months, and the "support" I got form K-R was both expensive (more parts) and utterly worthless (didn't work), is just under 8". I'm only mentioning these as "rule outs." You may want to check out Fissler, which I have not measured, but saw at a local store and they look quite nice. My recollection is that the disc was not significantly narrower than the pot on the one I saw.

This post was edited by kitchendetective on Wed, Oct 30, 13 at 18:21

My 7 qt KR cooker has a base 7.5" in diameter

Question--Why do you want to use a PC on your largest hob?? That may be a dumb question because I don't know anything about induction cooking...but I do know that once I get my PC up to pressure on my gas cooker, it requires very little energy to maintain pressure. And, truthfully, it doesn't take all that high of a burner, nor all that long to get it up to pressure.

I use a PC a lot for cooking rice...much of the time for stir fries. In that scenario, I would want the largest hob for the wok so, IMO, committing PC to the largest burner would be a mistake.

And yes, you want an 8 qt cooker. Kids don't stay little forever. And, PCers excel at making things like beans and stews which are great as leftovers. Cornbread and beans one day, refried beans another. I've managed to get by with a 6 qt for several years but latched onto an 8 qt this summer when I found it (in next to new condition) at a rummage sale.

Have taken to leaving a pressure canner in the kitchen year round, even. It's useful for making large amounts of chicken stock under pressure and then for canning in if I'm short on freezer space.

Thanks to all of you! The recipes look delicious, and I appreciate everyone who measured for me! I'm afraid that overall diameter as reported on the websites often has nothing to do with the diameter of the contact surface. The Kuhn-Rikons are nice looking so it's a shame they won't work, at least not on my big hob. I haven't seen a Fissler locally so far but maybe I can find one to measure before springing for it.

Wanting to use the largest burner on my induction range is just personal preference -- no worries for anyone wanting to avoid it; it's a model that's no longer in production (I bought it as a closeout floor sample). The biggest hob takes pans ranging from 9-13" diameter and is in the front. There is a medium-sized hob in the back and two small ones, one front and one back. I don't have a lot of pans that will work on that large hob, so when I buy a big pot, I like it to fit on the largest burner just to increase the number of things I can use there. Also I prefer to have the pressure cooker in the front so it's easier to brown or saute whatever I'm starting with. It won't kill me if I can't put a pressure cooker there, though. It's funny, I never cooked rice in my old pressure cooker. My kids don't much like rice for whatever reason, and we don't stir-fry (well, we do in a way, but not what someone who owns a wok would recognize as stir fry :) ). Of course beans and things like that would be fine on a back burner. So would boiled peanuts, which I want to find out if I can make in a pressure cooker, because we love them and they take forever.

Thanks again for all your help!

FWIW, received a note from Amazon to the effect that Fissler Vitaquicks have a 9" diameter contact with hob. Will see if I can find further info and edit post accordingly. Okay, the note referred to the 4qt. and 8qt. sizes. They are made in Germany, so I wonder if they really use quart measurements, though.

This post was edited by kitchendetective on Thu, Oct 31, 13 at 22:22

Great, thank you very much! Yes, you have to wonder if they were careful with the metric/English conversion but it sounds very promising!

According to the Fissler site, the 8.0 liter cooker = 8.5 qt; the 6.0 liter = 6.4 qt. 10.2'' and 8.7'', respectively. But nothing on the actual burner contact diameter.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Fissler Store

Well, that answers the question of whether I'd want the smaller cooker. I've emailed Fissler USA to ask if they can tell me the contact diameter of the 8L. I'd rather buy a less expensive one, but the only other one that looks likely is the Fagor Chef and I have a feeling that its two short handles would be harder to manage (on a pressure cooker) than the traditional one long and one short.

This is strictly a personal preference, but I have a PC with two short handles (Kuhn Rikon 3043) and pc's with a long and short handle (Fagor Splendid); I prefer the one with two short handles. Less likely to bump into the handle while cooking, and less awkward to store. Plus, the way I use the PC is to bring it to pressure on a front burner then slide it to the back on a lower setting. While the handles do get warm, you'll probably be opening the PC with oven mitts anyway to protect from steam. Just my $.02

May I ask you another question about the short handles, arley? I have in mind the grip needed to get the lid off. With my old cooker this took a certain amount of force, and the long handle added torque (or leverage?). Because of thumb arthritis I will probably have trouble with gripping and twisting later on, and I was thinking that a pressure cooker with two short handles might need more hand/thumb strength than one with a long handle -- or rather, would need a pincer grip using both thumbs at the same time. Is this really the case or am I imagining things? (Sorry for the TMI -- I am too young for this but jars have already become a problem, or were until I got a jar opener that actually works.)

That is a valid concern, and I can't judge how much force it takes; but it's pretty easy on the KR. Right hand grabs right handle and thumb pushes away the top handle while grabbing the lower handle with the four fingers; left hand grabs the left top handle with four fingers and pushes the bottom away with the thumb.

But if you are already having problems, it may be prudent to get the longer handled ones.

If you are prone to having those jabbing pains in your thumbs that are characteristic of arthritic thumbs, the motion required to open the Kuhn-Rikon will trigger that. There are K-Rs that have longer handles, though. That still leaves the base measurement issue, though.

Incidentally, if you email the source below, I bet they'd measure for you. They have been responsive to my questions about other items.

Here is a link that might be useful: Kuhn-Rikon 7 qt. example

"-------I have in mind the grip needed to get the lid off. With my old cooker this took a certain amount of force, -----"

Give the following a try:

1. Replace the large gasket seal from rubber to silicone rubber.

2. Always clean the rim very well.

3. Brush the rim with cooking oil before you close the lid.

dcarch

Arley, kd, and dcarch, thanks very much for the advice! I suppose I'll only know if it's a problem by trying, but probably I should stick with the long handle. I wouldn't be using a pressure cooker as often as I open jars, but no need to aggravate it if I don't have to. Of course if I manage things right, I'll have the kids trained up to do the cooking by the time it gets really bothersome. :) DH will probably use it too. DCarch, those are very good suggestions. I may email Kuhn Rikon; the one of theirs that I found in a store measured too small but it would work on my medium hob. Incidentally, they're who made my jar opener that works so well.

I emailed Fissler and they responded quickly with bottom diameter, which is indeed 9" on the 8L. Of course the most expensive one would be the one that fits. :) I'll just have to decide if it's worth the extra cost to be able to use it on the big hob.

FWIW, I was amazed at how easy my stubby handle 8 Qt. Mirror was to open. I was thinking that it might be really difficult. But it isn't. In fact, it's a lot easier to open than my vintage Presto with the long handles.

I suspect the reason might be because of the different gasket design. The old Presto uses one of those flat, washer like gaskets; the Mirror uses, for lack of a better description, one of those 'hinged' type gaskets...a lot thicker but the hinged design makes it springier--has more 'give'. And, it's the original factory gasket, not even a silicone one.

A bonus is that the stubby handles make it a lot easier to store. So, I wouldn't automatically discount the short handle versions. I was pleasantly surprised with how easy it is to open.

Thanks, ci_lantro; I'll have to find one like yours and test it out. I also saw a Calphalon pressure cooker in a video and its top is completely different; it has buttons that activate clamps, so there's no gripping or twisting at all. It only comes in 6 qt, but it looks like it would be great for arthritic hands. (It's also on the expensive side considering that it doesn't come with a steamer insert or trivet.)

The diameter of this Presto is 10.5 inches (15.5 inches including handles) and the price is attractive. I dug thru all the Q & A's and found that it will work on induction.

Here is a link that might be useful: Presto 8 qt @ Amazon

Thank you, ci_lantro, that's very kind of you to look! I did order the Fissler this morning. I can't believe I spent that much on a pressure cooker (actually I got the set with the 8L and 4L) -- but then I said the same about the Vitamix, and I haven't regretted buying that. Oh well, I rarely buy shoes or clothes so there we go. The Presto is a very nice price, you're right! It would be interesting to measure the bottom disc. My old one was about that same diameter at the top but its disc was only 8 inches. If I had more storage space I'd probably end up with multiples (the Fisslers stack so that already uses less room than my old one, which was also actually a set of two).

In case anyone with an arthritic relative (or who has arthritis themselves) is interested, I did find the Calphalon in a store and it looks very nifty, with that one-handed operation. I could tell that it would be too small a capacity for us, though. (However, for my parents...)