Pressure Cooker v. Slow Cooker: Steel Cut Oats Edition

Now, obviously, you don't really need either of these things to make steel cut oats. They cook perfectly fine, albeit slowly, on the stove top. But because it does take so long, I thought I'd try using both the pressure cooker and the slow cooker to see which turned out better. My verdict: pressure cooker. Using the pressure cooker, my oatmeal came out basically the same as if I had cooked it over the stove. The only downside to the pressure cooker (besides the fact that it's scary) is that it doesn't actually save you that much time. Between getting it up to pressure, cooking the oats, and then letting it depressurize, I think it took ~30 minutes. Traditional cooking methods take ~45 minutes, although it also requires a lot more stirring. I made a large batch the night before I wanted to eat it, and then refrigerated it. I had leftovers throughout the week, but I didn't get that fresh off the stove taste on the first day, since even pressure cooking in the morning takes too much time. With the slow cooker, on the other hand, you can put your oats in before bed and then have them ready when you wake up. Unfortunately, they didn't really cook properly. There was a weird layer of what we decided was starch, and the texture was really rubbery. When reheating throughout the week, I had to add a lot more liquid than with the pressure cooked oats. There was also something off about the taste. I would have to say that with steel cut oats, pressure cooking is the way to go.

Oven Thermometer

Unless you're a professional chef, you're oven is probably not properly calibrated. Rather than spend a lot of money to get that checked, you can spend $10 and get an oven thermometer. This post is brought to you by the turkey debacle from Thanksgiving, 2008, when we couldn't figure out why the turkey still wasn't finished cooking. I didn't have an oven thermometer at that time. Turns out, when I was living in Irvine, the oven in my condo ran about 50 degrees cool, which meant that if I wanted it at 350F, I'd have to set it to 400F. My oven thermometer helped me figure this out. Mine just hangs on the rack, and I can check it when I'm using the oven and adjust accordingly. Very useful.

Adventures in Pressure Cooking

The first time I ever encountered a pressure cooker I was in graduate school. So I was at least 22 years old. I suppose I had heard of them before, but I had no idea what they looked like, or how they really worked. I was at my grandmother's house for one of our "Monday Night Dinners," and I tried to open the lid on a pot to see what was in it. Both my grandmother and my uncle started yelling, "Don't open that!" And since then, I've been mildly afraid of the pressure cooker. Despite knowing this, my mom decided to buy me one for Christmas. Monday night, we forgot to soak beans overnight to put in the slow cooker (a Hannukkah present which I'm sure will be discussed). I decided to soak them during the day, and then use the pressure cooker. I read all about how to use the pressure cooker on the internet, and read the directions that came with the pressure cooker thoroughly. That was a bit difficult, since they were poorly translated from German (Keep non-adults and persons away from the pressure cooker). I also have an electric stove, so according to the internet, you have to get it up to pressure on one cooktop on high and then transfer it to another on low, since electric stoves don't change temperature easily (electric stoves are the worst). From start to finish, the whole process took about 30 minutes (not including the soaking). It took a few minutes to get up to pressure, then I kept it on the heat for ~10 minutes, and then 10-15 minutes for it to decompress. The results were pretty good, but I don't think they were consistent. Most of the beans were soft, although there a were a few that I thought were on the firm side. Maybe a few more minutes on heat? Other things to try in the future: steel cut oats and risotto.

An Ode to the Sandwich Press

Sandwiches are all over the blogosphere this week, thanks to one woman's quest for an engagement ring. Now, the debate as to whether she's a marraige-obssessed harpy kowtowing to regressive gender politics or a business savvy woman who's blatant ploy to grab a book deal is transparently obvious is outside the purview of this blog. However, sandwiches themselves are totally on topic!

I normally eat sandwiches for lunch every day, and have since elementary school. They're easy to make, and have endless variations. Sometimes I get fancy and eat cheese and fruit for lunch, but I love a good sandwich. And since I've been working from home, I get to use my sandwich press! I didn't use it that much in Boston, since my kitchen was tiny, but now I have tons of counter space and the press sits prominently on the counter, rather than on the bottom shelf of my kitchen rack. I feel like the simple act of pressing the sandwich really elevates it. The sandwich press can also be used as an impromptu grill. I've made hamburgers on it, and last week grilled some corn up. It's so versatile!

The Rice Cooker

I used to not like the rice cooker. I actually burnt rice trying to cook rice in it, so I was suspicious. Instead, I used a pot and boiled my rice in the pot. However, I have finally figured out how to use a rice cooker successfully, and it is now one of the most used items in my kitchen. The one i have also has a steamer basket, which makes steaming things a snap. The downside, however, is that to get the rice cooker to work, you have to use at minimum one scoop of rice, which is about three servings. That's where I was getting tripped up before, because I was trying to make one serving of rice, which doesn't really work. If you only want one serving of rice, use a pot. However, if you have space, invest in a rice cooker! It means that watching the rice is one less thing you'll have to worry about while cooking.