I didn’t want to hijack the other thread, but I was considering one of these recently but there seem to be a lot of choices. I recently had a pot roast that was made in one that was phenomenal.

So really I have a few questions.

1 - What brands do you like? Brands to stay away from? Any must have features?
2 - what size do I need? Just a family of 3, our daughter is only 4. I would want to do pot roast for sure, no idea what else I can do with it. We do have company often.
3 - What all do you cook in it? I currently have a cheap rice maker from Costco I use weekly. I am assuming this would replace that? Cook rice better, or do I need to keep my Aroma?

Thanks for the insights. My wife and I both usually work until 6 or later, so speeding up the cooking process or automating it would be great.

Thanks!

I have a Fagor. I think it's a 6 quart. I think Fagor and Rapida are the same company.

Use your rice cooker for rice. Pressure cooking rice will likely result in porridge.

I use my pressure cooker for braising what would otherwise be inedibly tough cuts of beef for stew.

I'll also use it to speed up production of oxtail soup.

Mom made baked beans in the pressure cooker.

I like heavy duty stuff, and I mostly use a pressure cooker for canning. Therefore, I like the All American cookers. They are awesome.

They have a Chef's line for smaller cookers as well.

I think it's overkill to use a pressure cooker to cook rice. As I understand it, pressure cooker is so that the food will cook at a higher temperature and you get more tender meat.

If you look at your rice cooker, it just vents to the atmosphere and it just automates cooking rice so you don't have to hover over it.

i have had Presto 01370 8-Quart Stainless Steel Pressure Cooker the since 2011 https://www.amazon.com/Presto-...XXZJ6QK1DYBZKDM39FK9

i use it mostly for potatoes for mashed and it makes the best corn on the cob and a corned beef dinner is excellent

Please forgive the thread drift. We’ve used a regular pressure cooker for nearly 50 years and will hardly use one any more. Here is why...
Fagor works, but the Instant Pot works much better. We bought an 8qt. Fagor a few months ago and haven’t used it as much as we thought we would. We recently bought a 6qt. Instant Pot and we are using the heck out of it. It is much easier to use and will do so much more. Check out a few YouTube videos. Plus you don’t have to monitor it like a regular pressure cooker. The keep warm mode is a really nice feature. It will keep the food warm for up to 10 hours. Your dinner can be done and waiting for you when you get home.
Costco has the 6qt. Size for a tad over $100. BTW, if you decide to get an I-Pot, order the glass lid for the inner pot. You won’t have to transfer the food into another container to store it in the fridge.

Instant Pot is all the rage right now.

We have a 6qt instant pot that is a couple of years old. It works really well and you can make a wide variety of dishes in it.

6Qt is enough food for 3 people including a 25 year old male but there are times I wish it was bigger. I would suggest the 8qt.

The newest instant pots have all the bells and whistles including automated pressure valve and set a start time.

We have a Nesco. All digital and it came from Amazon for not that much money. We use it all the time and it works great.

I think an electric pressure cooker like an InstaPot would be best if you want to do actual cooking. If you’re looking at food preservation, get whatever size AllAmerican will work for you. Made in USA, near indestructible, with no rubber seals - you’ll pass it down to your grandkids.

Standard pressure cookers are not recommended for canning as they don't generally have pressure gauges. Otherwise you can't tell if it's been held at the correct pressure for the needed time. Electric units are never recommended for canning.

I have a smaller cooker, and a 22 quart T-Fal canner.

It was a rare day in my mother’s kitchen when her 4-qt Mirro Matic pressure cooker (the one with the jiggling weight) wasn’t in use. Usually several times a day. Soups, dry beans, potatoes, roasts, on and on.

When I started life as a single guy, I got one too, and used it until I could no longer buy gaskets for it. Then I reluctantly bought a 4-qt Fagor as the best available alternative. But I soon realized that the Fagor was a better utensil – stainless steel, so easier to maintain. I’ve used it several times a week, for several years. And I’m still on the original gasket.

The Instant Pot is popular these days, but I don’t think that it would fit in my cupboards, and counter space is too valuable to leave it out. And I don’t want to have to relearn the timings that I’ve developed for the Fagor.

Pipesmoker, I felt the same way, but ours is so handy and has taken over so many cooking duties we MADE room for it.

I've got a forty year old Italian Stainless Steel... AETERNUM. Works great every time, simple design, timeless classic.

Thank you guys! I won’t be canning, so that is not a concern.

I do see recipes for different items that show cook time, but then other reviews show that the cook time doesn’t include the 20 minutes to get to temperature or the 10+ min to release the pressure. Seems everyone is calculating these things differently, might take some trial and error.

Guess I'm a bit out of touch. Never have used a pressure cooker and don't can food.

I have a couple year old Aroma ARC-616SB Rice cooker / steamer / slow cooker which has proved bullet proof for rice, oatmeal, etc. at a much cheaper price than the Zojirushi models.

Also on hand is an antique Dazey Chef's Pot which after probably 30 years continues to deliver the goods.

This applies to instant pot.

There is a spin up time to come to pressure.

After cook time there is what is called:
Quick Release - manually release the steam pressure

Natural Release - let it sit until the pressure comes down naturally to release the valve

Sometimes a mix. 10 minutes NR then a QR.

Hunks of meat benefit from a NR. Most other foods use a period of time then a QR.

Certain shorter recipes can be accomplished in the same time on a regular stove.

You can make fall off the bone baby back ribs in less than an hour in a pressure cooker.

The closest I got to a pressure cooker was a trip to KFC.

An Instant Pot is the pressure cooker you want these days. You won't be sorry.

quote:

3 - What all do you cook in it? I currently have a cheap rice maker from Costco I use weekly. I am assuming this would replace that? Cook rice better, or do I need to keep my Aroma

I would keep the rice cooker. That way you can simultaneously cook rice and your entree.