The Rolling Stones album, Sucking in the Seventies, brings back many vivid and beloved memories—the Kiss Army, blacklight posters, Pinky Tuscadero and ELO 45s to name a few. But for whatever reason, the vision of mom’s old pressure cooker perched atop the stove, its top whistling and spitting like an evil Chitty Chitty Bang Bang ranks up there too. Fond recollections aside, there’s no way that contraption could find its way into your kitchen today given how litigious we’ve become… But I digress.
According to The Oxford English Dictionary, the first commercial pressure cooker debuted in the United States at the New York World's Fair in 1939. It's defined as “a saucepan with a locking lid that creates within intense steam heat to cook foods in a shorter period of time than a conventional saucepan.” This process not only tenderizes tough foods, but also keeps flavor and nutrients within, producing a tastier, healthier meal in a third of the time.
Today, pressure cooker makers have gone to great lengths to minimize the fear factor that was inherent with those old rigs. New models are user-friendly, hi-tech marvels. Safety valves exist to prevent them from exploding. There’s no whistling, instruction books abound, max-fill liquid lines mark the insides of pots and pressure indicator lights let cooks know when the heat is on. Some units are even designed specifically for microwaves. Yikes. Even we’re not going there.
Retro-chic points aside, the focus clearly has shifted to what handy gadgets they are when used to full effect. They consume less energy than conventional cooking methods, making them environmentally friendly. They also help you save money because turning tough, less pricey cuts of meat into rich, delicious meals continues to be their stock in trade—even more so now because chefs have gotten involved. In the old days, a pressure cooker meant beans, goulash, pea soup or … more beans. These days, pressure cookbooks line bookstore shelves (er, Amazon pages), offering amazing creations.
How does risotto with winter vegetables, Caribbean-style oxtails, garlic-ginger baby back ribs and Moroccan lamb tagine with raisins and almonds sound? What if we told you each recipe had a cooking time of less than an hour? And, that you could make the best chicken stock on the planet in under an hour? Thought so.
