A while back, Fissler, a German cookware company, was kind enough to send me a pressure cooker to play with. We've considered carrying pressure cookers off and on (and did briefly when we first opened), but none of us at the shop are familiar with them. We prefer to offer products that at least one of us can speak about from personal experience. My delay in trying it out wasn't because of a fear of rocking pressure cookers, soup exploding on the kitchen ceiling, or even unfamiliarity with the device. Really, I just stuck it on the shelf and forgot about it. However, after a day at the store watching the weather change from sprinkling, to downpouring (briefly delaying Dan, our mail carrier, as he waited it out in our doorway), to hailing, to sun, all in the span of 15 minutes, I decided that the time had come to try out the pressure cooker, and make some lentil soup. A google search gave me a Pressure Cooker Lentil Soup recipe, and a quick stop at Buffalo gave me the few ingredients we didn't have on hand (most importantly, the lentils!).

I washed the pot, did a quick read of the manual, and was on my way. After chopping up the veggies, I set the pressure cooker over medium heat with olive oil. I sauteed the onions and garlic for several minutes until the garlic started to get a little browned, followed by the carrots and onions for a minute or two. After tossing in the cumin (freshly ground in my mortar and pestle), I added the veggie broth, lentils, and bay leaves. Up until this point I've just been using the pressure cooker as a pot, and it's worked great -- the thick base gives a nice even heat. On to the pressure!

I locked the lid in place, and slid the safety switch to "on". The heat was still on medium-high and the instructions said to wait until I saw all of the first white line on the pressure gauge, and then turn the heat down to low. It took about 10 minutes, but then the gauge slowly started peeking out from its hole. Within a couple minutes I could see the first white line -- I turned the heat down to low. The gauge kept rising, which was a good thing. At this point the goal, according to the instructions, is to keep the second white line visible without hearing the pressure cooker hiss. Hissing means that the pressure is too high so it's releasing steam (so as not to explode, of course). However, steam released is moisture lost, and besides making your dish less moist, if you lose all the moisture your pot (and meal) will both be a dried-on mess. The gauge kept rising and soon I could see the second white line.

Then, the hissing began. It was a soft hiss, not at all scary. I turned the heat down even more (#2 on my electric range) and briefly moved the pressure cooker to a cool burner until the hissing stopped. I returned the pressure cooker to the hot burner and after a few minutes the hissing began again. I did this twice more until discovering that, at least on my range, very little heat was needed to keep the pressure cooker under pressure. Having the burner barely on seemed to do the trick, and the last 10 minutes were (mostly) hiss-free.

The final step is to release the pressure. There are a few way to do this, but I chose quick-releasing under running water. The helper handle on the pressure cooker is very comfy and made it easy to move the pressure cooker to the sink. I ran cool water over the lid of the pressure cooker until the pressure gauge receded back into its hole. It only took about one minute, and then I heard the safety lock release. I released the lid, took it off, and there it was: Pressure Cooker Lentil Soup. I gave a taste, removed the bay leaves, added a little pepper (it was salty enough from the boxed veggie broth), and declared it a success. Combined with some fresh Pugliese bread from Grace Baking (sadly, no whole wheat loaves at Buffalo), some Stonehouse Dipping Oil, and a spinach salad with sauteed fennel it made a perfect dinner for a blustery evening.

I can now say with confidence, using a pressure cooker (or at least this pressure cooker) is a breeze. Even the cleanup was easy -- nothing stuck and a quick wash with hot soapy water was all it needed. I think it's time to add pressure cookers to our mix. Have you had any pressure cooker experiences? Any advice on which sizes we should carry? Let us know in the comments.

The recipe:

Pressure Cooker Lentil Soup
(from RecipeZaar)

1/2 large onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 carrots, chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
4 cups vegetable broth
1 cup dry lentils, rinsed and picked
2 bay leaves
5 ounces fresh spinach (optional)
salt and pepper

I described above how I made it, and the optional spinach can be stirred in at the end -- the heat of the soup will cook it.

The pressure cooker:

Fissler Blue Point Model 21 643 04 - 4.5L/4.8qt