I love when youtube cooks show the mistakes and the testing and we all get to learn. But I got be honest, I probably won't be making this one, lol. Thanks Cecil. Edit to add that I'll be making your simplified Doro Wat tomorrow and I'm excited to try it!
I get most of my pressure cooker recipes from Pressureluck Cooking's youtube channel (and cookbooks). He never puts milk into the pressure cooker until after pressure cooking. So his mac & cheese puts stock, macaroni, and butter in for the pressure cooking cycle, then opens it and adds grated parmesan and shredded cheddar at the end and just stirs and lets the carryover heat melt the cheese. At that point you can add seasoning, hot sauce, milk/cream as desired. His favorite trick is to add garlic and herb boursin cheese. It comes out better than frozen or box mix, but not as good as a real stovetop recipe starting with a roux and cheese sauce. And that's what I find across the board on his recipes. They're all fast and easy imitation recipes that are great to be able to do in one pot and walk away from. They're not as good as a full recipe, but better than what I'd normally do at home for a fast dinner.
Thanks for taking the bullet for us and discovering the problems with this recipe. I love pressure cookers. I can get falling-apart soft lamb in 30 minutes. So much healthier and eco friendly than hours on a gas stove. Keep em coming!
I make savory steel cut oats in my pressure cooker. Flaxseeds, oats, frozen spinach and cook. When finish, add salt, pepper, Trader Joe’s Unami seasoning and their Swiss Gruyère Blend. Throw 2 eggs on too. I prefer runny, but scrambled works too. My favorite fall/winter breakfast.
My wife makes really good cheesecakes in our pressure cooker (they're best without crusts). I like to make Mexican Rice which is a little tricky and has gotten burned once before. I learned I need to be careful about mixing in the tomato sauce. Not sure that would work for the pressure cooker. Thank you for acknowledging that not everyone has the ability to spend the whole time over the stove to make that perfect dish.
Mine is generally only ever used for beans, which I taught my Haitian housekeeper how to do. She'll make a pound and then freeze them in quart bags which pretty much is a daily item where I'm at. Rice, beans, meat.. I'll occasionally make Manhattan clam chowder or soups in general, Italian beef or chilli as well. Pasta is a hard no for me.
We use the pressure cooker for so much. We supplement the dogs food with real protein like chicken breast and it’s great for big batches of that. It’s great for corn on the cob and country style ribs. My wife tends to want to use it for everything but there are some things where the traditional methods are just plain better. When you add the fact that the product is not quite as good to the extra clean up, it’s a no brainer for me. My friends use it as a rice cooker but I get perfect rice every time on the stovetop. They’re great appliances but sometimes just not the right tool for the job.
That's the problem with books that want to claim they can do anything. My instant pot has like 8 functions though so I will keep trying new things to see if I missed anything it could be surprisingly good at.
I use my pressure cooker for my vegetables. I add a cup of water and throw in all my veggies. In 10 minutes I have a perfect mashed vegetables with a great stock for a gravy. I normally make it with fried chicken and chips, and use that like a dipping sauce for my fried items, it is fantastic and makes my fried meal a little healthier.
I was given an Instant Pot and I want to learn to do more with it. I use the cold start method to make yoghurt from powdered milk. It’s delicious on its own and I enjoy experimenting with different toppings. I also like making yoghurt cake but haven’t tried cooking it in the Instant Pot yet.
As always an awesome video. I really enjoyed the analysis. That is something that I don't hear in the same way from anyone else. I tried a similar recipe in my pressure cooker when I first bought it. What I remember is that, to me, subjectively, it felt like more work than cooking it on the stove. Objectively that probably wasn't true, but it felt like extra effort. I suspect with repetition that would change, but I don't know.
great videos. I'll be here every Friday for the new ones. We've had some good luck with one pot spaghetti in my pressure cooker. Only flaw was a few of the noodles fused into strands and had to be seperated, but was easy and tasted good & I don't think my ancestors have disowned me.
I make a weekday spaghetti (well, rotini) in my instapot and I got the recipe off the kitchn website. My own little tweak on the recipe is, I love to add chorizo instead of the hamburger that it calls for. Sometimes, I will get a hot spicy Italian sausage and take that out of the casing to sear instead.
Love the video! As a budding home chef it’s really helping me get a feel for how the process would be for each recipe or technique you demonstrate. If it’s not too much trouble, could you add conversion in Celsius and Litres to future videos? It would help me follow along a lot better :) Looking forward to your next creations either way!
My partner and I ended up killing an Instant Pot through poor use, so this was very helpful. Also, I want to eat that mac and cheese because it looks delicious.
I will take the bone side from a rib roast and pressure cook it with some beef broth until the meat falls off the bone. Then I’ll add rice with a little more broth and cream of mushroom soup. Yummy! Easy, simple, & delish beef and rice!
I think there's a reason professional/industrial cooks largely use these things for stock and braising like you do. I think the flaw of the pasta dishes is that pasta just doesn't take long enough to cook to justify it. Like a 1 pot recipe would probably be as good, and take as much time. Pennes al dente time is like 10-11 minutes, so between heat up and what not, what's the point? I haven't tried a lot of dishes other than braising, but i can't see myself trying many others, the roll of the dice on if it works or if you waste food is just not worth it for me. Glad to see you testing this stuff though. If you do find a good one i'd be curious to try it.
Stove top Mac and cheese is so simple. Making that in a pressure cooker is just a no go. You can do mac n cheese in about 10 minutes on the stove. And I don't mean boxed.
What does 'broken' sauce mean? +1 for cat. I usually use the pressure cooker for making pinto beans when I'm in the mood or for wild rice. My family hates wild rice, so I use the pressure cooker to make pinto beans. I actually never thought to use it for making broth. Thanks for the idea, that is going to help a lot.
A sauce breaks when it is no longer emulsified. The fat separates from the liquid. It’s very easy to do with something like a coconut curry. If you add the coconut milk too early it essentially overcooks and drives off too much water and losing the fat/water ratio that keeps a sauce “together”. You can very easily see the oily parts separated from the rest of the sauce.
broken sauce loses its emulsification so it loses its velvety texture. When it does that the melted cheese is not completely mixed with the milk and broth. IT wasn't broken but occasionally it tasted grained.
2:20 - Percentages of temperatures don't make any sense to me. If 212°F → 240°F is an increase of 28°F and that's 13%, then 100°C → 116°C is an increase of 16°C and that's 16%, and 373 K → 389 K is an increase of 16 K and that's 4%. For percentages to make sense here, they would have to be the same regardless of unit. They aren't because there's no universal zero for temperature like there is with length, mass, currency, and quantity. This also applies to phrases like "twice as hot".
Multiply your percentage of F by 5/9 to get a percentage in C, or multiply your C percentage by 9/5. The scales are different so the percentages will be too.
hey, Cecil, I have a weird question: in the intro bit, around 0:10, it shows you sprinkling something (salt, maybe?) on something with your hand lifted up to about eye level. is there any reason for that? it seems like your control would be better if you had your hand lower?
You do that so you can sprinkle salt over a larger area more evenly. If you salt closer it is more concentrated in on small spot and you can overseason.
Im sure it is nothing mind blowing, but we've used our pressure cooker to make mashed potatoes and they came out so much fluffier since the potatoes were steamed and not boiled.
I made mac and cheese in a pressure cooker once and found the pasta was a bit rubbery. IMHO you don't have complete control over preferred doneness. Currently my favorite thing to make in the pressure cooker is chicken tacos.
Dumb question from a non pressure cooker person: could you line the pot with foil to save yourself from scrubbing? If not the whole thing how about just the bottom?
For me, it doesn't seem as fun, either. The pot is fine, because if cooking isn't fun, then why? at all? I do use the pressure cooker for beans, when I forgot to put them on early. But I also have a stove top pressure cooker that I think might blow up. I don't know. Use a cast iron pot, have fun, put it in the oven on low when you don't wanna pay too much attention. Doesn't seem like more work to have fun cooking something.
True, but lots of people don't cook for fun they do it out of necessity. I could see doing this and walking away from it if you have a lot of other things to do (like look after little ones).
I loved that you pursued the answer as to the "why" of the burn setting - that was super helpful!
For real!
Also loved the explanation of why the pressure cooker works the way it does.
I love when youtube cooks show the mistakes and the testing and we all get to learn. But I got be honest, I probably won't be making this one, lol. Thanks Cecil. Edit to add that I'll be making your simplified Doro Wat tomorrow and I'm excited to try it!
Hope it turns out good!
He’s not kidding at how good these things are at making rice. Perfect Basmati every time!
Thank you for showing the mistakes.
I'm loving your comparison videos. The format helps show your personality more too!
Hi Cecil. I know you from such shows as Citation Needed and Gladys the Groovy Mule
I get most of my pressure cooker recipes from Pressureluck Cooking's youtube channel (and cookbooks). He never puts milk into the pressure cooker until after pressure cooking. So his mac & cheese puts stock, macaroni, and butter in for the pressure cooking cycle, then opens it and adds grated parmesan and shredded cheddar at the end and just stirs and lets the carryover heat melt the cheese. At that point you can add seasoning, hot sauce, milk/cream as desired. His favorite trick is to add garlic and herb boursin cheese. It comes out better than frozen or box mix, but not as good as a real stovetop recipe starting with a roux and cheese sauce. And that's what I find across the board on his recipes. They're all fast and easy imitation recipes that are great to be able to do in one pot and walk away from. They're not as good as a full recipe, but better than what I'd normally do at home for a fast dinner.
Also, for pasta, he always warns to pour the pasta in last and slightly tap it down but DO NOT stir or it will get to the bottom and burn.
Thanks for taking the bullet for us and discovering the problems with this recipe. I love pressure cookers. I can get falling-apart soft lamb in 30 minutes. So much healthier and eco friendly than hours on a gas stove. Keep em coming!
I make savory steel cut oats in my pressure cooker. Flaxseeds, oats, frozen spinach and cook. When finish, add salt, pepper, Trader Joe’s Unami seasoning and their Swiss Gruyère Blend. Throw 2 eggs on too. I prefer runny, but scrambled works too. My favorite fall/winter breakfast.
That sounds amazing!
My wife makes really good cheesecakes in our pressure cooker (they're best without crusts). I like to make Mexican Rice which is a little tricky and has gotten burned once before. I learned I need to be careful about mixing in the tomato sauce. Not sure that would work for the pressure cooker.
Thank you for acknowledging that not everyone has the ability to spend the whole time over the stove to make that perfect dish.
Cheesecake is next I think!
Mine is generally only ever used for beans, which I taught my Haitian housekeeper how to do. She'll make a pound and then freeze them in quart bags which pretty much is a daily item where I'm at. Rice, beans, meat.. I'll occasionally make Manhattan clam chowder or soups in general, Italian beef or chilli as well. Pasta is a hard no for me.
I love my pressure cooker for pot roasts, broths and stews. I’ll stick to the stove for my Mac and cheese
That's been my experience too.
We use the pressure cooker for so much. We supplement the dogs food with real protein like chicken breast and it’s great for big batches of that. It’s great for corn on the cob and country style ribs. My wife tends to want to use it for everything but there are some things where the traditional methods are just plain better. When you add the fact that the product is not quite as good to the extra clean up, it’s a no brainer for me. My friends use it as a rice cooker but I get perfect rice every time on the stovetop. They’re great appliances but sometimes just not the right tool for the job.
That's the problem with books that want to claim they can do anything. My instant pot has like 8 functions though so I will keep trying new things to see if I missed anything it could be surprisingly good at.
Cecil, I'd love to see you track down an old Microwave Cookbook from the 80s-90s and try some of the recipes.
I may have one! I'll look through my stuff.
I use my pressure cooker for my vegetables. I add a cup of water and throw in all my veggies. In 10 minutes I have a perfect mashed vegetables with a great stock for a gravy. I normally make it with fried chicken and chips, and use that like a dipping sauce for my fried items, it is fantastic and makes my fried meal a little healthier.
I was given an Instant Pot and I want to learn to do more with it. I use the cold start method to make yoghurt from powdered milk. It’s delicious on its own and I enjoy experimenting with different toppings. I also like making yoghurt cake but haven’t tried cooking it in the Instant Pot yet.
As always an awesome video. I really enjoyed the analysis. That is something that I don't hear in the same way from anyone else.
I tried a similar recipe in my pressure cooker when I first bought it. What I remember is that, to me, subjectively, it felt like more work than cooking it on the stove. Objectively that probably wasn't true, but it felt like extra effort. I suspect with repetition that would change, but I don't know.
Love the new format. Keep it coming 🙂
great videos. I'll be here every Friday for the new ones.
We've had some good luck with one pot spaghetti in my pressure cooker. Only flaw was a few of the noodles fused into strands and had to be seperated, but was easy and tasted good & I don't think my ancestors have disowned me.
I make a weekday spaghetti (well, rotini) in my instapot and I got the recipe off the kitchn website. My own little tweak on the recipe is, I love to add chorizo instead of the hamburger that it calls for. Sometimes, I will get a hot spicy Italian sausage and take that out of the casing to sear instead.
Sounds great.
Love the video! As a budding home chef it’s really helping me get a feel for how the process would be for each recipe or technique you demonstrate.
If it’s not too much trouble, could you add conversion in Celsius and Litres to future videos? It would help me follow along a lot better :)
Looking forward to your next creations either way!
I'll try to remember! It's hard because we live in the past here.
My partner and I ended up killing an Instant Pot through poor use, so this was very helpful. Also, I want to eat that mac and cheese because it looks delicious.
I will take the bone side from a rib roast and pressure cook it with some beef broth until the meat falls off the bone. Then I’ll add rice with a little more broth and cream of mushroom soup. Yummy! Easy, simple, & delish beef and rice!
I think there's a reason professional/industrial cooks largely use these things for stock and braising like you do. I think the flaw of the pasta dishes is that pasta just doesn't take long enough to cook to justify it. Like a 1 pot recipe would probably be as good, and take as much time. Pennes al dente time is like 10-11 minutes, so between heat up and what not, what's the point? I haven't tried a lot of dishes other than braising, but i can't see myself trying many others, the roll of the dice on if it works or if you waste food is just not worth it for me. Glad to see you testing this stuff though. If you do find a good one i'd be curious to try it.
There are a lot of these recipes that make me scratch my head. I will keep working my way through the book.
Loving the new episodes!
I do love the protein+ chickpea pasta line too. But very nice video
Stove top Mac and cheese is so simple. Making that in a pressure cooker is just a no go. You can do mac n cheese in about 10 minutes on the stove. And I don't mean boxed.
Clever idea, whoever came up with it, but it doesn't seem very practical for most. Still, great video, as always!
What does 'broken' sauce mean? +1 for cat. I usually use the pressure cooker for making pinto beans when I'm in the mood or for wild rice. My family hates wild rice, so I use the pressure cooker to make pinto beans. I actually never thought to use it for making broth. Thanks for the idea, that is going to help a lot.
Pinto beans sounds perfect.
A sauce breaks when it is no longer emulsified. The fat separates from the liquid. It’s very easy to do with something like a coconut curry. If you add the coconut milk too early it essentially overcooks and drives off too much water and losing the fat/water ratio that keeps a sauce “together”. You can very easily see the oily parts separated from the rest of the sauce.
broken sauce loses its emulsification so it loses its velvety texture. When it does that the melted cheese is not completely mixed with the milk and broth. IT wasn't broken but occasionally it tasted grained.
How about pressure cooker risotto - not quite as good as stove top, but decent and low effort
This is on the list to make! I have always made it traditionally.
2:20 - Percentages of temperatures don't make any sense to me.
If 212°F → 240°F is an increase of 28°F and that's 13%,
then 100°C → 116°C is an increase of 16°C and that's 16%,
and 373 K → 389 K is an increase of 16 K and that's 4%.
For percentages to make sense here, they would have to be the same regardless of unit. They aren't because there's no universal zero for temperature like there is with length, mass, currency, and quantity. This also applies to phrases like "twice as hot".
Multiply your percentage of F by 5/9 to get a percentage in C, or multiply your C percentage by 9/5. The scales are different so the percentages will be too.
hey, Cecil, I have a weird question: in the intro bit, around 0:10, it shows you sprinkling something (salt, maybe?) on something with your hand lifted up to about eye level. is there any reason for that? it seems like your control would be better if you had your hand lower?
You do that so you can sprinkle salt over a larger area more evenly. If you salt closer it is more concentrated in on small spot and you can overseason.
@@SeasonLiberally
awesome! that makes sense.
thank you very much!!
Interesting.....
Im sure it is nothing mind blowing, but we've used our pressure cooker to make mashed potatoes and they came out so much fluffier since the potatoes were steamed and not boiled.
This is also on the list to do eventually.
I made mac and cheese in a pressure cooker once and found the pasta was a bit rubbery. IMHO you don't have complete control over preferred doneness. Currently my favorite thing to make in the pressure cooker is chicken tacos.
Since it's good at the braising, how about making short rib chili in it?
Yes. That would be a perfect use of it.
@SeasonLiberally I'm gonna have to find room for one in my truck, then. I found one model with a built-in air fryer.
I live at 8000ft. We're always adjusting
Dumb question from a non pressure cooker person: could you line the pot with foil to save yourself from scrubbing?
If not the whole thing how about just the bottom?
Oh, god...your face just as you said "Let's see how it turns out."
That is all that I have seen so far, but that face says "this will not end well."
Am I that transparent!? 😀
Besides all kinds of soups, I make chicken biryani in my pressure cooker.
I kept watching your co-host.
She’s my supervisor.
I have a much much simpler instant pot Mac and cheese recipe that works for basic Mac and cheese
For me, it doesn't seem as fun, either. The pot is fine, because if cooking isn't fun, then why? at all? I do use the pressure cooker for beans, when I forgot to put them on early. But I also have a stove top pressure cooker that I think might blow up. I don't know. Use a cast iron pot, have fun, put it in the oven on low when you don't wanna pay too much attention. Doesn't seem like more work to have fun cooking something.
True, but lots of people don't cook for fun they do it out of necessity. I could see doing this and walking away from it if you have a lot of other things to do (like look after little ones).