| Jump To: - Steamer Basket - Trivet - Pan-in-pot cooking - Molds and Forms - Spring-form pan - Glass tops - Egg Poacher - Egg Stand - Canning |
Measure twice, buy once
The most important thing, of course, is to measure your pressure cooker carefully. Especially if your pressure cooker has a highly tapered shape (wider at the top and narrower at the bottom), the lip turned inwards, or an ovalesque opening; in these cases, measure the narrowest part of the the pan (which may be the bottom of the interior instead of edge-to-edge). Take the measurements of both the interior width and height. If the accessory you need will be used in conjunction with a trivet, subtract the height of the trivet. When purchasing large square or rectangular accessories, measure the diagonal of the insert to ensure it will fit inside your pressure cooker.
Perforated Insert, Steamer Basket or Rack
Steamer basket inserts for your pressure cooker can be used to steam vegetables, fruit and fish! You can even use it as a platform to cook al cartoccio, a package of oven paper which usually contains fish, vegetables and herbs. With multi-level or compartmentalized steaming basket you can cook several vegetables at the same time - the items that require the most cooking time should be at the bottom near the heat source and the least at the top (though both should have a similar cooking time).
The water used for steaming can be flavored with vinegar, wine, herbs, or the liquid itself can be broth, wine, or even tomato sauce (as in the Stuffed Zucchini recipe).
If your pressure cooker did not come with a perforated steaming pan insert, or a wire steaming basket your best bet is a collapsible stainless steel steamer (shown above) that opens and closes like a flower. They come in several sizes so you will want to purchase the biggest one that will fit in your pan - so you have the largest flat area as possible. Also, the handle at the center should be easily removable in case you want to steam one large thing or use the basket in place of a trivet.
Suitable Substitutes for Steamer Baskets
This is the one accessory where there are no suitable substitutes other than a colander made of heat-proof material or wire mesh basket. But if you do not have a steaming basket you can follow recipe instructions and put as little liquid as your pressure cooker needs and put the ingredients in it for a semi-boiled steam.
For electric pressure cookers, use silicone steamer baskets to avoid scratching the non-stick coating of the liner.
Shop for Steamer Baskets
I have included links to amazon.com, below, so that you can purchase accessories online - if you plan to buy them there, please follow the links from this website so that I get a small percentage of your purchase price (at no extra cost to you) to support my cooking, photographing and blogging!
Trivet
Trivets can be used inside the pressure cooker to keep food, and other items (like forms, or pans) from touching the bottom of the pressure cooker. They can also be used to keep foods raised, like a roast or a chicken, so that they are not in direct contact with the bottom of the pan. Similarly, they can be used to create multiple levels inside the pressure cooker so the trivet can sit in a sauce cooking at the bottom of the pan while it holds another item in a raised container.
Suitable Substitutes for Trivets
No matter how tempting, do not try to fashion your own trivet out of a wire hanger. It may have a plastic coating of some kind and is not made of food grade metal - which can withstand contact with acidic food, salt and heat without rusting. The suitable substitutes should all be made of food-grade heat resistant materials.
The old standby substitute for a trivet is the the metal lid of a large jar, but suitable substitutes can include stainless steel cookie cutters, a screen from the food mill, an upside down ceramic or stainless steel bowl, a steamer basket, and even a real trivet that is just the right size can go from the table and into your pan!
Shop for Trivets
I have included links to amazon.com, below, so that you can purchase accessories online - if you plan to buy them there, please follow the links from this website so that I get a small percentage of your purchase price (at no extra cost to you) to support my cooking, photographing and blogging!
Pan-in-pot Insert
The uses for the pan-in-pot inserts are very similar to the way forms and molds are used in your pressure cooker, so why am I bothering to tell you about this? Because, as the name of this accessory suggests, the insert is in itself a pan which you put in your pressure cooking pot.For example, in the Drunken Peas in a Pot recipe, you can melt the pancetta directly on the stove-top in the pan-in-pot insert first. Then, you complete the cooking of the recipe with the peas in the pressure cooker.
This is the only case where the manufacturer's insert might not do. If the inside of it is textured, has feet, or the manufacturer does not recommend putting it directly on a heat source you should consider a suitable substitutes.
Recipes may vary, though almost all suggest filling the pressure cooker with at least 2 cups (or 1/2 liter) of liquid. When using the pan in pot insert, use a trivet to keep the pan from touching the bottom of the pot. If the your insert does not already have a handle don't forget to construct helper handles to help you lower and remove the it easily from your pressure cooker.
Suitable Substitutes
There are lots of options, and one big caution in this department!
The best option is a small pan with a removable or foldable handle.
There are stainless steel containers, sometimes called Indian Lunch boxes or stainless steel lunch box, which close hermetically and some, such as mine, which have a clamp that doubles as a handle. Some camping cookware manufacturers make real pans in a smaller size with foldable handles and if you really look, you could even find non-stick pots and pans with removable handles (for easy storage, too!)
Caution: DO NOT USE THESE CONTAINERS WITH THEIR TOP clamped closed inside your pressure cooker. Use tin foil, as I do, instead. These containers are not designed to be in a pressure cooker, so the pressure could raise inside the container and you have no way of knowing about it or releasing it safely - you could severely hurt yourself with the spray of the super-heated contents in attempting to open the top of a hermetically sealed container that is not designed to be in the pressure cooker.
Shop for Pans for your Pot
I have included links to amazon.com, below, so that you can purchase accessories online - if you plan to buy them there, please follow the links from this website so that I get a small percentage of your purchase price (at no extra cost to you) to support my cooking, photographing and blogging!
Molds and Forms
You can pressure cook puddings, flans, cakes and frittatas inside a form in your pressure cooker. Recipes may vary, though almost all suggest filling the pressure cooker with at least 2 cups (or 1/2 liter) of water, buttering and/or lining the form with oven paper and covering the form tightly with tin foil to keep the steam from wetting the contents further.When using small forms, place a steamer basket inside your pressure cooker, then place as many forms as will fit upright inside the basket. If the forms are low, or your pan is very tall, you can even stack the forms. Remove small forms using tongs or with your oven-mitt-covered hand.
When using large forms, use a trivet to keep the form from touching the bottom of the pan and if the form does not already have a handle don't forget to construct helper handles to help you lower and remove the form easily from your pressure cooker.
Suitable Substitutes for Forms and Molds
The most important thing for pressure cooker forms is that they be made of a heat-proof material. The forms can be silicone, heat-proof glass (like pyrex), ceramic, stainless steel, aluminum and even copper! The forms should not be plastic or any glass that is not tempered. In Italy, they sell disposable aluminum forms specifically for Creme Caramel (you can poke a hole in the bottom of the disposable cup to release the dessert!) When purchasing large square or rectangular forms, measure the diagonal of the form to ensure it will fit inside your pressure cooker.
You can use everything from tea cups, to breakfast bowls and even small stainless steel mixing bowls! At the top of this section is a photo of all my molds, official and non.
Happy Molding!
Shop for Forms and Molds
See more Forms and Molds at the hip shopping page.
Spring-form pan
Pressure Cookers are famous for their production of fluffy, incredibly creamy, cheesecakes! Of course, you could always make a cheese cake in a form or mold, but you would not be able to present and serve it with the sides exposed using your favorite recipe's cookie crumble or grahm cracker crust!The spring-form pan is another pressure cooker accessory that falls into the category of forms and molds with one exception -- how you wrap it. Even though this insert is placed on a trivet, above the water, you want to take every precaution to make sure you don't make a soggy cheesecake.
To use, first prepare your pressure cooker by pouring in two cups of water, and setting a trivet inside.
Then, cut a piece of tine foil larger than the base of the form, and wrap it around to prevent liquid and humidity from penetrating the edges of the spring form pan. Next, cover the top with a new piece of foil, overlapping the foil that has covered the base, and pinch all the way around the edge - you may add some kitchen string to ensure that the foil does not open while lowering the form in the pot. Finish your aluminum crafts by making helper handles, to help you lower and raise the form out of the pan.
Suitable substitutes, include any container detailed in the Forms & Molds description.
Shop for Pans for your Pot
I have included links to amazon.com, below, so that you can purchase accessories online - if you plan to buy them there, please follow the links from this website so that I get a small percentage of your purchase price (at no extra cost to you) to support my cooking, photographing and blogging!
See more Spring Form Pans at the hip shopping page.
Glass Tops
A separate, non-pressure cooking, lid allows you to use your pressure cooker like a regular high-quality pan! Glass lids help to keep things warm the help slow down the wear and tear of rubber and silicone rings and gaskets (which need to be replaced approximately every two years - depending on the use). As soon as you are finished pressure cooking if you still need to keep things warm and not let all of that tasty flavor evaporate, you can remove the pressure cooking lid immediately and replace the pressure cooking lid with a normal top!
Some pressure cooker manufacturers will gladly sell you a glass lid made especially for your pressure cooker as a spare part. But any tempered glass lid that is the right size will work!
Suitable Substitutes for Tops
Check all of the pot lids you already have in your kitchen, it might surprise you to find that one of them already fits your pressure cooker! You don't have one and need it, pronto?!? A ceramic plate right-side up should do the trick - just remember to use pot holders to remove it if you've been warming things up considerably in the pan.
If nothing but an actual lid will do, simply measure your pressure cooker's diameter carefully from edge to edge in both inches and centimeters. If the opening to your pressure cooker is ovalesque, measure the narrowest opening so that the lid ridge can rest inside the pan - there may be a small gap on each side. The best way to make sure you can buy a lid that fits is to bring your pressure cooker with you to the store. If your pressure cooker is really too heavy to bring with you shopping, leave it in the trunk of your car so that you may try the lid immediately after purchasing and then, if it doesn't fit, you can return or exchange it on the same trip.
Shop for Pan Tops
I have included links to amazon.com, below, so that you can purchase accessories online - if you plan to buy them there, please follow the links from this website so that I get a small percentage of your purchase price (at no extra cost to you) to support my cooking, photographing and blogging!
Egg Poachers
You can obtain a beautifully poached egg in the pressure cooker by steam cooking it in a poacher.
Suitable Substitutes
Any heat-proof container, with a light coating of oil to facilitate the egg slipping out can serve as a poacher.
Egg Stand
Egg-stands for pressure steaming eggs do not exist! We found an Olive Oil Cap (with the plastic insert removed) to be the perfect heat-proof, food-grade egg stand to be used in the pressure cooker.
Canning
Accessories for pressure cookers specifically labeled as Pressure Cookers/Canners by the manufacturer. All canners can be used as pressure cookers, not all pressure cookers can be used as canners.
See more Canning Sets at the hip shopping page..
