topic Emeril's Pressure Cooker What Am I Doing Wrong??? in Kitchen

Emeril's Pressure Cooker What Am I Doing Wrong???

luvboyds — Sun, 16 Mar 2014 16:38:17 GMT

This is my second time using it today. For whatever stupid reason I set it on high pressure, punch in the time on the timer and hit start the cooker builds up pressure then it switches straight to the warm feature. It doesn't count down the time that it should be taking for the food to cook. I really hope it's just me becasue I don't want to have to return it. I called TFal but they are closed today. Hopefully you all can help me in my crisis here.

Re: Emeril's Pressure Cooker What Am I Doing Wrong???

suzyQ3 — Sun, 16 Mar 2014 17:50:56 GMT

There were so many similar complaints that I decided not to buy this pressure cooker and stick with our Kuhn-Rikon stovetops.

But one reviewer on Amazon whose cooker went straight to warm said that she checked the "troubleshooter" page in the manual (which, btw, was universally not liked by reviewers) and found something vague about how if you don't have enough liquid in the pot, the cooker decides that it's done and switches to warm.

Check out that possibility.

Re: Emeril's Pressure Cooker What Am I Doing Wrong???

luvboyds — Sun, 16 Mar 2014 18:01:41 GMT

Thanks SuzyQ3! I guess that could be it but it's spaghetti sauce so I would think there would be enough since there is a lot of sauce plus the added water....uggh. Yeah, I went online trying to find something along with the troubleshooting page in the manual but no luck.

Re: Emeril's Pressure Cooker What Am I Doing Wrong???

denisemb — Sun, 16 Mar 2014 18:18:02 GMT

I've owned the Emeril T-Fal PC for awhile (bought from the ""other"" channel) and the one time I had this issue was due to not enough liquid. Sometimes it's just a matter of adding 1/2 cup to make the difference.

Re: Emeril's Pressure Cooker What Am I Doing Wrong???

luvboyds — Sun, 16 Mar 2014 19:16:27 GMT

Thanks denisemb! I'll give it another try later. I ended up throwng it all in a pot and put in on the stove to finish cooking. With it coming up to pressure it at least infused the flavors together so it was still really good. Next time I'll add more liquid. I would hate to have to return it

Re: Emeril's Pressure Cooker What Am I Doing Wrong???

Lacey1 — Sun, 16 Mar 2014 20:31:48 GMT

Two things to check: Do you have the pressure valve in the correct position? If it's not set to pressure, the pressure will never build up.

Next: Make sure you have the gasket in place.

Good luck and I hope this helps.

Re: Emeril's Pressure Cooker What Am I Doing Wrong???

luvboyds — Sun, 16 Mar 2014 20:37:42 GMT

Thanks lacey1! I did check the valve several times and it was fine. In the correction position. I kept triple checking myself...lol. The gasket was fine as well. I am hoping that it was just not enough liquid in it. I think I might just put some water in it and see if it will work....hmmmm. That should tell me a lot right there I would think. Going to try it now and I'll report back.

Re: Emeril's Pressure Cooker What Am I Doing Wrong???

BooBoo2 — Sun, 16 Mar 2014 20:56:11 GMT

I sure hope you don't have to return it. I have that same one that I bought from HSN. I have had no issues at all.

On the other hand, last summer, I caved and bought another one, the Elite brand, because it was an 8qt and Emeril's was 6. I cook a lot of chicken for stock so I went with a larger one. Well, the Elite just died on me this weekend. I may have used it 6 times since August. Very disappointing.

Re: Emeril's Pressure Cooker What Am I Doing Wrong???

luvboyds — Sun, 16 Mar 2014 21:11:26 GMT

Oh noooo BooBoo2, I hate that for you. I had the other model of the Cooks Essentauls one and dropped and broke it. This was my replacement for that one. I have the water on now and so far so good but it's not up to pressure yet. Still waiting.

Re: Emeril's Pressure Cooker What Am I Doing Wrong???

Lacey1 — Mon, 17 Mar 2014 01:11:15 GMT

Well? Any luck????

Re: Emeril's Pressure Cooker What Am I Doing Wrong???

luvboyds — Mon, 17 Mar 2014 02:54:20 GMT

I don't know what happened to my post but anyway....Yes, it does work!!! It must have been where it didn't have enough liquid in it. I'm glad that nothing is wrong with it becasue I was already dreading having to send it back. I am a happy girl now and I am off to my next disaster. Hopefully there won't be one. Thanks for all the relies and suggestions!!! I couldn't have done it without ya!!

Re: Emeril's Pressure Cooker What Am I Doing Wrong???

denisemb — Mon, 17 Mar 2014 03:16:07 GMT

Yayyyyyyyy!

No more disasters for you - you'll enjoy using it. My DH is the one who wanted an electric PC, I wasn't keen on the idea, but now we use it often. Nothing like having a pot of chicken soup in 6 minutes (takes longer to prep than to cook).

The only thing I've made that we didn't care for was Bob Warden's lasagna from "Great Food Fast", but I blame that on the ratio of meat to ricotta cheese.

Re: Emeril's Pressure Cooker What Am I Doing Wrong???

luvboyds — Mon, 17 Mar 2014 03:25:01 GMT

I think you're right denismb I think I will enjoy using it. I don't have the cookbook though. Don't think I would be fan of the lasagna either because I'm not a fan of ricotta cheese. Maybe that could be left out??? Do you know where I might find a good cookbook or recipes online that has normal food in it. We aren't fancy smancy eaters I like being able to go to the store and find stuff and not have to hunt ingredients. That takes way too much time which in the long run makes the pressure cooker null and void.

Re: Emeril's Pressure Cooker What Am I Doing Wrong???

denisemb — Mon, 17 Mar 2014 04:22:20 GMT

On 3/16/2014 luvboyds said:
I think you're right denismb I think I will enjoy using it. I don't have the cookbook though. Don't think I would be fan of the lasagna either because I'm not a fan of ricotta cheese. Maybe that could be left out??? Do you know where I might find a good cookbook or recipes online that has normal food in it. We aren't fancy smancy eaters I like being able to go to the store and find stuff and not have to hunt ingredients. That takes way too much time which in the long run makes the pressure cooker null and void.

Don't get me wrong - Bob Warden's book is great, just not the lasagna recipe. He has a lot of basics in there (chili, pot roast, chicken & dumplings, chicken noodle soup, mac & cheese, etc.) that don't require offbeat ingredients. It's our go-to book and is available on Amazon.

He also has several pages in the back of the cookbook that lists various proteins/grains/pasta/vegetables/beans, etc. (frozen/thawed/dried), with the recommended cook time & liquids to use in your own recipes. I'd used that successfully in making my mom's pork chop suey...it was only when I once tried to add in the rice at the end (instead of making it separately) that I had the "not enough liquid" issue like you did...and adding 1/2 cup more water took care of the problem.

I also have the Miss Vickie Book of Pressure Cooker recipes...but never use it. Her recipes tend to lean toward stove top pressure cookers and I'm too lazy to try and convert them.

Re: Emeril's Pressure Cooker What Am I Doing Wrong???

Lacey1 — Mon, 17 Mar 2014 12:51:32 GMT

luvboyds- that's good news! Check on YouTube for PC techniques and recipes. I've seen Bob's lasagna recipe demo on ITKWB. I personally think it's a bit of a novelty and lasagna is best made in the oven. The things I use the PC for the most are tough meats, (corned beef) and grains/rice. I'm so glad that you are happy with it now.

Re: Emeril's Pressure Cooker What Am I Doing Wrong???

zebragirl318 — Mon, 17 Mar 2014 12:59:00 GMT

I had this problem making chicken wings with bbq sauce, the sauce must have been too thick... but everything else where I use liquid like chicken broth or water, turns out fine. One thing I love doing: frozen chicken breast, covering with chicken broth, then adding a box of Rice-a-roni plus the seasoning packet... it turns out so good!

Re: Emeril's Pressure Cooker What Am I Doing Wrong???

denisemb — Mon, 17 Mar 2014 14:07:03 GMT

On 3/17/2014 lacey1 said:
luvboyds- that's good news! Check on YouTube for PC techniques and recipes. I've seen Bob's lasagna recipe demo on ITKWB. I personally think it's a bit of a novelty and lasagna is best made in the oven. The things I use the PC for the most are tough meats, (corned beef) and grains/rice. I'm so glad that you are happy with it now.

I agree. I usually use allrecipes dot com "The World's Best Lasagna" (which calls for 2 lbs. meat/1 lb. ricotta) and tried the BW PC recipe (1 lb. meat/2 lbs. ricotta) even though it sounded "off". Oh, well, you win some, you lose some.

OP, you can also do a search on allrecipes dot com and food dot com for PC recipes. I like those sites as "regular" people submit recipes and rate/critique them.

Re: Emeril's Pressure Cooker What Am I Doing Wrong???

Lacey1 — Mon, 17 Mar 2014 16:01:13 GMT

On 3/17/2014 zebragirl318 said:
I had this problem making chicken wings with bbq sauce, the sauce must have been too thick... but everything else where I use liquid like chicken broth or water, turns out fine. One thing I love doing: frozen chicken breast, covering with chicken broth, then adding a box of Rice-a-roni plus the seasoning packet... it turns out so good!

Zebra, What's the amounts/times for this dish? Sounds intriguing! I have all the ingreds in the house right now!

Re: Emeril's Pressure Cooker What Am I Doing Wrong???

zebragirl318 — Mon, 17 Mar 2014 16:03:22 GMT

Lacey I set it on high pressure, for 20 mins. I put the chicken in first, the pour chicken broth/stock over it, then the Rice-a-roni and seasoning packet, add a little more broth and it is great! If I use thawed chicken I do high pressure at about 15 mins. It's quite good

Re: Emeril's Pressure Cooker What Am I Doing Wrong???

luvboyds — Mon, 17 Mar 2014 16:11:20 GMT

You have been such a tremendous help gals!! Thanks for letting me know about Bob Warden's cookbook too. I'll look into it and maybe ordering it from Amazon. Thanks for suggesting allrecipes.com as well. I go there but didn't think to look for pressure cooker recipes. I'll end up becoming the queen bee of pressure cooking now

The ratio with the lasagna and ricotta cheese does sound way off. I can't imagine that much cheese in it let alone it being ricotta...smh. The chicken recipe sounds good too, so thank you zebragirl318. I'm ready to go home now and play with my pressure cooker some more.