PRESSURE COOKER TIMING FOR NIGERIAN FOODS

My easy to use pressure cooker.

Pressure cookers have made the cooking of cow leg, cow tail and stock fish so much fun. So much time is saved unlike when we used to boil cow leg the previous day in preparation for cooking .

With  a pressure cooker, you cannot check or taste to see if cooking is done. Before you
cook portor-portor beans, it’s best to know the correct timing .

Even food as tough as cow leg can turn into pudding or correct mud if not properly timed.

 

MY FIRST EXPERIENCE WITH PRESSURE COOKERS

The first time I used a pressure cooker, should have taken pictures to show how my beans porridge turned into drinking garri kind of. Sha, One thing I liked about that beans though was that mere looking won’t reveal it’s over cooked. The bean seeds still looked intact, unbroken and beautiful but don’t be deceived, nothing to chew.

Once a spoon touches to scoop, all the round looking seeds just crumble like melting ice. Some liked it though but me? No, I like soft beans o, not portor portor. Let me at least chew a little before swallowing after all it’s not like I’m drinking tea. Here is how I quick cook my beans in a pressure cooker

TIMING NIGERIAN FOOD IN PRESSURE COOKERS ALSO DEPENDS ON THE STRENGTH OF THE BURNERS (STOVE)  SOME ARE  HOTTER THAN OTHERS

One unique thing about cooking with a pressure cooker is, the burners also determine how long it takes. My burners are old school, small and don’t really fire up noisily like your type of cooker.

When I cook with newer brand cookers or one with large burners, timing is reduced. The timing I’m sharing here is based on how I cook with my kpako white cooker you all know.

Bear in mind that pressure cookers cook food in about one third of the time for conventional cooking.
Except for stock fish, cow head, cow tail, and maybe tough beef, other Nigerian foods do not really take time to cook,so, when you use,a pressure cooker and cooking time is divided by three.

IMPORTANCE OF USING A PRESSURE COOKER IN THE KITCHEN

You see that cooking becomes much more fun, as,you use,that time for other profitable things. In this time and age, no one has any excuse for spending long hours in the kitchen cooking what?

I don’t,know how others do it but my timing starts when the pressure cooker begins to whistle. Below is the correct timing when you chose a pressure,cooker:

NIGERIAN FOOD:           TIMING:
Beans.                                 15 minutes
Cow head.                          20 minutes
Cow tail.                             20 minutes
Cow leg.                              20 minutes
Stock fish.                           15 minutes
Yam.                                     9 minutes
Unrepentant plantain.     10 minutes
Corn.                                    20 minutes
Rice                                      12 minutes

NOTE : when pressure cooking, your water level should be very low especially for yam and rice. A rice cooker should even take care of rice but if you just want quick pressure cooking, then reduce the water level.

The two most important parts of a pressure cooker for me are the pressure regulator and the gasket. Never  lose them else your pressure cooker becomes as slow cooking as any other pot,

When I cook porridge, there is no way one can open during cooking to add ingredients so, I put everything in the pot, I mean everything but locking and placing on the cooker. The first time I cooked beans porridge in a pressure cooker, I was worried it might not turn out tasty but wrong, it turned out great.

If I want to, I can pressure cook even egusi soup and Ogbono soups but not vegetable soup anyways. I cooked beans and corn meal and cooking was really quick and easy.

PRESSURE COOKER BRANDS TOO ARE DIFFERENT SOME ARE HOTTER AND COOK FASTER THAN OTHERS

Anyway, these days cooking beans corn meal is easy with sweet corn being sold in stores all year round.
How fast you cook may also depend on what type of Pressure cooker you have

TIPS FOR COOKING WITH A PRESSURE COOKER:

Never fill the pressure cooker more than half with liquid.
Don’t try to force open the lid when pressure is still in there. Wait for it to cool or place hot point under the tap and let cold water run over it.

Once you raise the valve or hit a little without hearing any more whistling sound, then it’s ok to open the pot. Anyway, the way pressure cookers are made these days, once it clicks, nothing can open that lid until pressure has escaped.If you are too scared to use  pressure cookers,then you  cheat yourself because those accidents you imagine don’t happen with newer brands.

Until you understand your pressure cooker, always cook for 1/3 normal cooking time and check for doneness.

If after checking you are not satisfied, it can be clicked again and placed on heat for a few more minutes. Alternatively, you use the normal conventional lid or another pot to complete cooking until you are satisfied.
Cooking with a pressure cooker saves you a lot of time.