Thread: Re: slow cooker/pressure cooker? Difference?

On Sep 16, 1:03*pm, dsi1 <d...@eternal-september.invalid> wrote:
> On 9/16/2012 9:23 AM, Janet Bostwick wrote:
>
> > I'm confused. *I see now that electric pressure cookers have a 'slow
> > cooker' feature. *Why? *Isn't a pressure cooker simply another way of
> > doing what a slow cooker does, only faster? *I've always had a
> > pressure cooker, it was part of my life growing up. *I only tried once
> > to use a slow cooker. *I really don't understand why one would want
> > both. *Is there really a difference in results? *Is there anyone here
> > who has/uses both?
> > Janet US
>
> The reason they exist is because it's cheap to make this appliance a
> multi-function device. The slow cooker is for when you want to cook a
> dish without paying it much attention. The pressure cooker is fast but
> you have to be around to tend it.
>
> Recently, I've been using my oven as a slow cooker by using temperatures
> below 250 degrees. Putting stuff in the oven and forgetting about it has
> a lot of appeal for me.

I'm against kitchen appliance proliferation, so anything that does
double duty is a plus. My current slow cooker is a crockery liner for
a cooker/deep fryer. So I made soups, stews, Buffalo wings, and fries,
in the same appliance.

On 9/16/2012 10:36 AM, spamtrap1888 wrote:
>
> I'm against kitchen appliance proliferation, so anything that does
> double duty is a plus. My current slow cooker is a crockery liner for
> a cooker/deep fryer. So I made soups, stews, Buffalo wings, and fries,
> in the same appliance.
>

I've been trying to figure out how to prepare meals using a rice cooker,
panini maker, and a drip coffee maker. Something you could set up in a
room with 120V outlets. That would be a neat thing. I believe that you
can cook a whole chicken breast simply by dropping it in a rice cooker
while cooking the rice. I've made corn bread, instant ramen and mashed
potatoes in the cooker - also rice occasionally. :-)

dsi1 wrote:
>
> On 9/16/2012 10:36 AM, spamtrap1888 wrote:
> >
> > I'm against kitchen appliance proliferation, so anything that does
> > double duty is a plus. My current slow cooker is a crockery liner for
> > a cooker/deep fryer. So I made soups, stews, Buffalo wings, and fries,
> > in the same appliance.
> >
>
> I've been trying to figure out how to prepare meals using a rice cooker,
> panini maker, and a drip coffee maker. Something you could set up in a
> room with 120V outlets. That would be a neat thing. I believe that you
> can cook a whole chicken breast simply by dropping it in a rice cooker
> while cooking the rice. I've made corn bread, instant ramen and mashed
> potatoes in the cooker - also rice occasionally. :-)

Rice cooker dinner:

Dice an onion and put in the rice cooker
Put six rice cooker cups of brown rice in the rice cooker over the
onions
Thick slice half a pound of mushrooms and put on top of the rice
Put six boneless skinless chicken thighs on top of the mushrooms
Add 8 rice cooker cups of chicken and/or vegetable broth to the rice
cooker
Close up, press the brown rice button and ignore for 1h30 or so.

Obviously you can adapt this overall concept a lot and add in matchstick
cut carrots, diced celery or whatever else sounds good. The idea of
putting the onions on the bottom is to help toast / caramelize them a
bit.

On Sep 16, 12:55*pm, "Pete C." <aux3.DO...@snet.net> wrote:
> dsi1 wrote:
>
> > On 9/16/2012 10:36 AM, spamtrap1888 wrote:
>
> > > I'm against kitchen appliance proliferation, so anything that does
> > > double duty is a plus. My current slow cooker is a crockery liner for
> > > a cooker/deep fryer. So I made soups, stews, Buffalo wings, and fries,
> > > in the same appliance.
>
> > I've been trying to figure out how to prepare meals using a rice cooker,
> > panini maker, and a drip coffee maker. Something you could set up in a
> > room with 120V outlets. That would be a neat thing. I believe that you
> > can cook a whole chicken breast simply by dropping it in a rice cooker
> > while cooking the rice. I've made corn bread, instant ramen and mashed
> > potatoes in the cooker - also rice occasionally. :-)
>
> Rice cooker dinner:
>
> Dice an onion and put in the rice cooker
> Put six rice cooker cups of brown rice in the rice cooker over the
> onions
> Thick slice half a pound of mushrooms and put on top of the rice
> Put six boneless skinless chicken thighs on top of the mushrooms
> Add 8 rice cooker cups of chicken and/or vegetable broth to the rice
> cooker
> Close up, press the brown rice button and ignore for 1h30 or so.
>
> Obviously you can adapt this overall concept a lot and add in matchstick
> cut carrots, diced celery or whatever else sounds good. The idea of
> putting the onions on the bottom is to help toast / caramelize them a
> bit.

Thanks for the recipe. I have to scale it down for my small cooker. I
like the idea of flipping a switch and ignoring it till it's ready to
eat - a lot!

On Sun, 16 Sep 2012 12:17:18 -1000, dsi1
<[email protected]> wrote:

>On 9/16/2012 10:36 AM, spamtrap1888 wrote:
>>
>> I'm against kitchen appliance proliferation, so anything that does
>> double duty is a plus. My current slow cooker is a crockery liner for
>> a cooker/deep fryer. So I made soups, stews, Buffalo wings, and fries,
>> in the same appliance.
>>
>
>I've been trying to figure out how to prepare meals using a rice cooker,
>panini maker, and a drip coffee maker. Something you could set up in a
>room with 120V outlets. That would be a neat thing. I believe that you
>can cook a whole chicken breast simply by dropping it in a rice cooker
>while cooking the rice. I've made corn bread, instant ramen and mashed
>potatoes in the cooker - also rice occasionally. :-)

I like all phases of cooking. I've never used my pressure cooker to
prepare an entire meal. My pressure cooker is a tool used to help
prepare -- cooking soup bones and meat for stock, cooking beans and
beets, cooking stew meat after browning for a tender stew -- that kind
of thing. I can't imagine throwing everything in a pot to cook
without regard to different cooking times and browning and so forth.
Janet US

"dsi1" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:k35bao$7jn$[email protected]..
> On 9/16/2012 9:23 AM, Janet Bostwick wrote:
>> I'm confused. I see now that electric pressure cookers have a 'slow
>> cooker' feature. Why? Isn't a pressure cooker simply another way of
>> doing what a slow cooker does, only faster? I've always had a
>> pressure cooker, it was part of my life growing up. I only tried once
>> to use a slow cooker. I really don't understand why one would want
>> both. Is there really a difference in results? Is there anyone here
>> who has/uses both?
>> Janet US
>>
>
> The reason they exist is because it's cheap to make this appliance a
> multi-function device. The slow cooker is for when you want to cook a dish
> without paying it much attention. The pressure cooker is fast but you have
> to be around to tend it.
>
> Recently, I've been using my oven as a slow cooker by using temperatures
> below 250 degrees. Putting stuff in the oven and forgetting about it has a
> lot of appeal for me.

Sometimes I imagine that my oven is a time machine for cooking food.


W. Pooh (AKA Winnie P.)

spamtrap1888 wrote:
> On Sep 16, 1:03 pm, dsi1 <d...@eternal-september.invalid> wrote:
>> On 9/16/2012 9:23 AM, Janet Bostwick wrote:
>>
>>> I'm confused. I see now that electric pressure cookers have a 'slow
>>> cooker' feature. Why? Isn't a pressure cooker simply another way of
>>> doing what a slow cooker does, only faster? I've always had a
>>> pressure cooker, it was part of my life growing up. I only tried
>>> once to use a slow cooker. I really don't understand why one would
>>> want both. Is there really a difference in results? Is there anyone
>>> here who has/uses both?
>>> Janet US
>>
>> The reason they exist is because it's cheap to make this appliance a
>> multi-function device. The slow cooker is for when you want to cook a
>> dish without paying it much attention. The pressure cooker is fast
>> but you have to be around to tend it.
>>
>> Recently, I've been using my oven as a slow cooker by using
>> temperatures below 250 degrees. Putting stuff in the oven and
>> forgetting about it has a lot of appeal for me.
>
> I'm against kitchen appliance proliferation, so anything that does
> double duty is a plus. My current slow cooker is a crockery liner for
> a cooker/deep fryer. So I made soups, stews, Buffalo wings, and fries,
> in the same appliance.

I call mine "Jim Dandy".


W. Pooh (AKA Winnie P.)

dsi1 wrote:
> On 9/16/2012 10:36 AM, spamtrap1888 wrote:
>>
>> I'm against kitchen appliance proliferation, so anything that does
>> double duty is a plus. My current slow cooker is a crockery liner for
>> a cooker/deep fryer. So I made soups, stews, Buffalo wings, and
>> fries, in the same appliance.
>>
>
> I've been trying to figure out how to prepare meals using a rice
> cooker, panini maker, and a drip coffee maker. Something you could
> set up in a room with 120V outlets. That would be a neat thing. I
> believe that you can cook a whole chicken breast simply by dropping
> it in a rice cooker while cooking the rice. I've made corn bread,
> instant ramen and mashed potatoes in the cooker - also rice
> occasionally. :-)

You could buy a ricer and use it to rice the potatoes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potato_ricer


W. Pooh (AKA Winnie P.)

On Sep 16, 3:17*pm, dsi1 <d...@eternal-september.invalid> wrote:
> On 9/16/2012 10:36 AM, spamtrap1888 wrote:
>
>
>
> > I'm against kitchen appliance proliferation, so anything that does
> > double duty is a plus. My current slow cooker is a crockery liner for
> > a cooker/deep fryer. So I made soups, stews, Buffalo wings, and fries,
> > in the same appliance.
>
> I've been trying to figure out how to prepare meals using a rice cooker,
> panini maker, and a drip coffee maker. Something you could set up in a
> room with 120V outlets. That would be a neat thing. I believe that you
> can cook a whole chicken breast simply by dropping it in a rice cooker
> while cooking the rice. I've made corn bread, instant ramen and mashed
> potatoes in the cooker - also rice occasionally. :-)

If the panini maker works like a George Foreman grill, you can cook
chicken breasts, hamburgers, etc. in it.

On Sep 16, 4:41*pm, "Christopher M." <nospam_flibb...@floo.com> wrote:
> "dsi1" <d...@eternal-september.invalid> wrote in message
>
> news:k35bao$7jn$[email protected]..
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > On 9/16/2012 9:23 AM, Janet Bostwick wrote:
> >> I'm confused. *I see now that electric pressure cookers have a 'slow
> >> cooker' feature. *Why? *Isn't a pressure cooker simply another wayof
> >> doing what a slow cooker does, only faster? *I've always had a
> >> pressure cooker, it was part of my life growing up. *I only tried once
> >> to use a slow cooker. *I really don't understand why one would want
> >> both. *Is there really a difference in results? *Is there anyone here
> >> who has/uses both?
> >> Janet US
>
> > The reason they exist is because it's cheap to make this appliance a
> > multi-function device. The slow cooker is for when you want to cook a dish
> > without paying it much attention. The pressure cooker is fast but you have
> > to be around to tend it.
>
> > Recently, I've been using my oven as a slow cooker by using temperatures
> > below 250 degrees. Putting stuff in the oven and forgetting about it has a
> > lot of appeal for me.
>
> Sometimes I imagine that my oven is a time machine for cooking food.
>
> W. Pooh (AKA Winnie P.)

When you cook like I do it is. It takes five minutes to put the rice
and chicken together. I plug it in and forty minutes later, I got
spicy curry chicken rice. I'm happy as a clam.

On Sep 16, 6:55*pm, spamtrap1888 <spamtrap1...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Sep 16, 3:17*pm, dsi1 <d...@eternal-september.invalid> wrote:
>
> > On 9/16/2012 10:36 AM, spamtrap1888 wrote:
>
> > > I'm against kitchen appliance proliferation, so anything that does
> > > double duty is a plus. My current slow cooker is a crockery liner for
> > > a cooker/deep fryer. So I made soups, stews, Buffalo wings, and fries,
> > > in the same appliance.
>
> > I've been trying to figure out how to prepare meals using a rice cooker,
> > panini maker, and a drip coffee maker. Something you could set up in a
> > room with 120V outlets. That would be a neat thing. I believe that you
> > can cook a whole chicken breast simply by dropping it in a rice cooker
> > while cooking the rice. I've made corn bread, instant ramen and mashed
> > potatoes in the cooker - also rice occasionally. :-)
>
> If the panini maker works like a George Foreman grill, you can cook
> chicken breasts, hamburgers, etc. in it.

The idea is the same but the GF grill has serious design problems.
The hinge on the side does not accommodate thick foods and tends to
compress foods on one side. There's no temperature control on most
models and the plates don't get hot enough.

A good and useful panini maker will have large plates of sufficient
wattage and a temperature control. It will also have a floating plate
design with a hinge in the middle. I got my son a small George Foreman
grill. He uses it to cook chicken.

dsi1 <[email protected]> wrote:
-snip-
>
>The idea is the same but the GF grill has serious design problems.
>The hinge on the side does not accommodate thick foods and tends to
>compress foods on one side. There's no temperature control on most
>models and the plates don't get hot enough.

Just FWIW- GF makes many different models. Mine has temp control, a
flexible hinge, holds 2 lbs of pounded chicken breasts at a time, and
has waffle and ?cake? irons. It also tilts so the grease runs out
if you want it to-- but you can flatten it for waffles.
http://www.amazon.com/George-Foreman...dp/B000A7W4Z2/

[the first one I bough was $50- the second was $20 at an estate
sale-- never been used]

>
>A good and useful panini maker will have large plates of sufficient
>wattage and a temperature control. It will also have a floating plate
>design with a hinge in the middle. I got my son a small George Foreman
>grill. He uses it to cook chicken.

I do chicken [mostly for the dog], waffles, 'panini's'. I probably
use it 2-3 times a week.

Jim

dsi1 <[email protected]> wrote:

> When you cook like I do it is. It takes five minutes to put
> the rice and chicken together. I plug it in and forty
> minutes later, I got spicy curry chicken rice. I'm happy as
> a clam.



I like TJ's curried yellowfin tuna fish packet combined with
TJ's precooked frozen brown rice (nukes in three minutes).

I'm happy as a clam in 10 minutes and zero cleanup.

Andy
I'm not lazy. I'm an efficiency expert!

On 9/17/2012 4:51 AM, dsi1 wrote:
> On Sep 16, 4:41 pm, "Christopher M." <nospam_flibb...@floo.com> wrote:
>> "dsi1" <d...@eternal-september.invalid> wrote in message
>>
>> news:k35bao$7jn$[email protected]..
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>> On 9/16/2012 9:23 AM, Janet Bostwick wrote:
>>>> I'm confused. I see now that electric pressure cookers have a 'slow
>>>> cooker' feature. Why? Isn't a pressure cooker simply another way of
>>>> doing what a slow cooker does, only faster? I've always had a
>>>> pressure cooker, it was part of my life growing up. I only tried once
>>>> to use a slow cooker. I really don't understand why one would want
>>>> both. Is there really a difference in results? Is there anyone here
>>>> who has/uses both?
>>>> Janet US
>>
>>> The reason they exist is because it's cheap to make this appliance a
>>> multi-function device. The slow cooker is for when you want to cook a dish
>>> without paying it much attention. The pressure cooker is fast but you have
>>> to be around to tend it.
>>
>>> Recently, I've been using my oven as a slow cooker by using temperatures
>>> below 250 degrees. Putting stuff in the oven and forgetting about it has a
>>> lot of appeal for me.
>>
>> Sometimes I imagine that my oven is a time machine for cooking food.
>>
>> W. Pooh (AKA Winnie P.)
>
> When you cook like I do it is. It takes five minutes to put the rice
> and chicken together. I plug it in and forty minutes later, I got
> spicy curry chicken rice. I'm happy as a clam.
>

I assume you are using curry powder or paste? Since its a slow cooker
prep do you fry it first? I have tried but don't care for the taste when
curry powder is added as an ingredient and not cooked.

On Mon, 17 Sep 2012 02:08:01 -0700 (PDT), dsi1 <[email protected]>
wrote:

>On Sep 16, 6:55*pm, spamtrap1888 <spamtrap1...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Sep 16, 3:17*pm, dsi1 <d...@eternal-september.invalid> wrote:
>>
>> > On 9/16/2012 10:36 AM, spamtrap1888 wrote:
>>
>> > > I'm against kitchen appliance proliferation, so anything that does
>> > > double duty is a plus. My current slow cooker is a crockery liner for
>> > > a cooker/deep fryer. So I made soups, stews, Buffalo wings, and fries,
>> > > in the same appliance.
>>
>> > I've been trying to figure out how to prepare meals using a rice cooker,
>> > panini maker, and a drip coffee maker. Something you could set up in a
>> > room with 120V outlets. That would be a neat thing. I believe that you
>> > can cook a whole chicken breast simply by dropping it in a rice cooker
>> > while cooking the rice. I've made corn bread, instant ramen and mashed
>> > potatoes in the cooker - also rice occasionally. :-)
>>
>> If the panini maker works like a George Foreman grill, you can cook
>> chicken breasts, hamburgers, etc. in it.
>
>The idea is the same but the GF grill has serious design problems.
>The hinge on the side does not accommodate thick foods and tends to
>compress foods on one side. There's no temperature control on most
>models and the plates don't get hot enough.
>
>A good and useful panini maker will have large plates of sufficient
>wattage and a temperature control. It will also have a floating plate
>design with a hinge in the middle. I got my son a small George Foreman
>grill. He uses it to cook chicken.

A George Foreman grill tends to steam cook food. Did you ever notice
that the grill lines on the food in the pictures do no go in the same
direction as the bars on the grill? They are branding them with a
special iron in the back room before they take the pictures.
Janet US

On Mon, 17 Sep 2012 07:15:16 -0400, Jim Elbrecht <[email protected]>
wrote:
snip
>
>Just FWIW- GF makes many different models. Mine has temp control, a
>flexible hinge, holds 2 lbs of pounded chicken breasts at a time, and
>has waffle and ?cake? irons. It also tilts so the grease runs out
>if you want it to-- but you can flatten it for waffles.
>http://www.amazon.com/George-Foreman...dp/B000A7W4Z2/
snip

>
>Jim

Yeah, so does mine. I've tried for two years to give it away at
garage sales. This year it is scheduled for the Salvation Army.
It doesn't get hot enough no matter how long you pre-heat.
Janet US

"Janet Bostwick" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]..
> On Sun, 16 Sep 2012 12:17:18 -1000, dsi1
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>On 9/16/2012 10:36 AM, spamtrap1888 wrote:
>>>
>>> I'm against kitchen appliance proliferation, so anything that does
>>> double duty is a plus. My current slow cooker is a crockery liner for
>>> a cooker/deep fryer. So I made soups, stews, Buffalo wings, and fries,
>>> in the same appliance.
>>>
>>
>>I've been trying to figure out how to prepare meals using a rice cooker,
>>panini maker, and a drip coffee maker. Something you could set up in a
>>room with 120V outlets. That would be a neat thing. I believe that you
>>can cook a whole chicken breast simply by dropping it in a rice cooker
>>while cooking the rice. I've made corn bread, instant ramen and mashed
>>potatoes in the cooker - also rice occasionally. :-)
>
> I like all phases of cooking. I've never used my pressure cooker to
> prepare an entire meal. My pressure cooker is a tool used to help
> prepare -- cooking soup bones and meat for stock, cooking beans and
> beets, cooking stew meat after browning for a tender stew -- that kind
> of thing. I can't imagine throwing everything in a pot to cook
> without regard to different cooking times and browning and so forth.
> Janet US

Ditto!

--
--

http://www.shop.helpforheroes.org.uk/

On Mon, 17 Sep 2012 07:41:12 -0600, Janet Bostwick
<[email protected]> wrote:

>On Mon, 17 Sep 2012 07:15:16 -0400, Jim Elbrecht <[email protected]>
>wrote:
>snip
>>
>>Just FWIW- GF makes many different models. Mine has temp control, a
>>flexible hinge, holds 2 lbs of pounded chicken breasts at a time, and
>>has waffle and ?cake? irons. It also tilts so the grease runs out
>>if you want it to-- but you can flatten it for waffles.
>>http://www.amazon.com/George-Foreman...dp/B000A7W4Z2/
>snip
>
>>
>>Jim
>
>Yeah, so does mine. I've tried for two years to give it away at
>garage sales. This year it is scheduled for the Salvation Army.
>It doesn't get hot enough no matter how long you pre-heat.

I think yours is broken, then. [or mine is] I never use more than
3/4 heat, and get grill marks on everything.

I never preheat. I pound 2lbs of chicken to 1/2"-3/4" thick. Set
just past 50% heat- cook 6min, flip, and do 6 more. A couple times
a week for several years.

Waffles are at 3/4 heat- and brown perfectly.

Jim

dsi1 wrote:
>
> I've been trying to figure out how to prepare meals using a rice cooker,
> panini maker, and a drip coffee maker. Something you could set up in a
> room with 120V outlets. That would be a neat thing. I believe that you
> can cook a whole chicken breast simply by dropping it in a rice cooker
> while cooking the rice. I've made corn bread, instant ramen and mashed
> potatoes in the cooker - also rice occasionally. :-)

As the rice cooker is really just a thermostat run heater is works fine
to steam cook almost anything. I've steam veggies in mine at times. it
would be a lot of work to figure out how to use it with other cooking
methods.

A few years I tralled for work. I'd take a rice cooker, a slow cooker
and an electric skillet. I could cook most stuff with those items.
Similar in concept to your list but better general purpose choices. A
real kitchen is easier but when you're there and that's what you've got
it does work.