Free video series that will teach you how to use the pressure cooker!
Get expert tips, advice, and guidance on making pressure cooker recipes. We’re not going to leave you to fend for yourselves – this series also includes hand-holding and ongoing support directly from expert cooks in our forums and Laura Pazzaglia – founder of the hipcooking.com website, cookbook author, and pressure cooker manufacturer consultant.
If you’re not already subscribed to the newsletter, do so now so you don’t miss a single lesson!
Each episode in the series has detailed explanations and demonstrations on how to use the pressure cooker, how things work and a delicious, recipe (or two) with more tips! Included, too, are a written episode summaries (go your own speed), articles with more details (delve deeper) and downloadable materials to use as you wish*- teach someone else to pressure cook!
The Lessons
The entire series is nine episodes long including the series preview, above. Though we may add more episodes based on viewer requests and feedback. Here’s what we’ve rolled out so far…
- Getting Acquainted – learning all the parts of the pressure cooker, safety systems, how it works and doing a hot water test.
- The First Recipe – minimum liquid requirement, halving or doubling pressure cooker recipes, Garlic Cauliflower & Potato Mash recipe.
- Rice Basics – using a pressure cooker, like a rice cooker to get perfect pressure cooker rice, adding veggies to any rice recipe, steamed brown rice and confetti rice recipes.
- Bean Essentials – the difference between pressure cooking beans straight from dry versus soaked, a technique on how to quick-soak beans in just twelve minutes and a black bean chili recipe.
- Vivid Veggies – the truth about vegetables in the pressure cooker, steaming broccoli and steamer baskets, using frozen vegetables and how pressure cooker opening methods affect a recipe.
- Marvelous Meats – four secrets to getting tender, flavorful, moist meat from the pressure cooker plus beef stew and chicken cacciatore recipe.
- Sweet Desserts – choosing a heat-safe container and how different materials react under pressure, how baking powder reacts under pressure, cheesecake do’s & don’ts, plus a cheesecake and mug cake recipe.
- One more episode coming, stay tuned!
The Pressure Cookers
The entire series features the top three electric multi & pressure cookers currently on the market: Breville’s Fast Slow Pro, Fagor America’s LUX and Instant Pot’s DUO & SMART electric pressure and multi-cookers. Though there is also general information and advice on how to find the right setting with just about any electric pressure cooker.
For stove top pressure cookers, The Pressure Cooking School will still have some useful information for pressure cookery in general; but, for more details, please refer to our original teaching series, Beginner Basics.
The Feedback
Tell us what you think! We want to make this series the most useful as it can be for you. So, don’t forget to tell us what you think in the forums. See you there!
*All materials for The Pressure Cooking school, can be duplicated and distributed online and off-line to teach others how to pressure cook. Please give full credit to hipcooking.com as the source and, if used online, include a link. Also, drop us a line through the contact form to let us know about it!
I’ve been pressure cooking since before you were born! I use bought an IP Smart, though, and feel as if I’m starting over. I did buy and read HIP PRESSURE COOKING and look forward to your video series. How generous of you to share your experience and expertise! (I also shared your link with my followers at my Hasty Tasty Meals blog)
Thanks in advance, Laura.
Cheryl Norman
Yikes! That should read I JUST bought an IP Smart. I need to proofread!
Cheryl, I think you’l find the biggest issue with going electric is not knowing what to do while it’s reaching pressure. For the first month I would just stand around and supervise – out of habit. I visited your blog and see that you’ve already had success with the oatmeal – you’ve got to try it with the timer. It’s really something to wake up and find breakfast ready!!!!
Welcome, and you’re doing a great job of sharing pressure cooking with your readers!!
Ciao,
L
P.S. First lesson up – though you probably already know most of this stuff from your stovetop days. ; )
I am having trouble finding the first episode. Pleas send a link. Thanks in advance.
http://www.hippressurecooking.com/getting-acquainted-pcs/
The link is under the heading called “The Plan” on this page. I see that it could be worded differently to be more obvious.
Ciao,
L
thanks
Thanks for the training. I love your presentations!
Do you have a very very basic set of recipes for simple one pot meals?
Something like egg guiche with meat, sausage and beans, rice and vegetables, etc.
Perhaps: 2-3 recipes each for am, lunch, & dinner.
I’m older and haven’t cooked much and am somewhat intimidated by all the options.
I have the IPDuo60 and have cooked each: white rice, oatmeal, pinto beans, and a rice pudding.
My thinking is if I could find several very easy/simple one pot meal recipes to follow I’d cook more often and get more comfortable with cooking with the IP.
I have your IP cookbook and will dig into it deeper.
Thx!
Laura has quite a few one pot meals in her book. And also advice on how to put together your own. It is well worth tracking down. It was out of print for a while, but I think it has come available again. There are also a few listed on this website. Have a look atround.
Hi Bob, the pressure cooking school series will work its way up to one pots – as you found out they are a little more complicated to make than just rice or potatoes (which we will cover in the series, too).
Another section of this website worth exploring is the “easy pressure cooker recipes” section. This is a collection of recipes that either require little prep no, or few tools, and pretty basic cooking (lots of dump-and-go).
http://www.hippressurecooking.com/easy-pressure-cooker-recipes/
I hope that you will find something new to add to your repertoire – congratulations on taking the leap to cooking on your own.
Welcome!
Ciao,
L
I have an idea: emphasise important points during the lessons, such as “make sure to use cold water”, the maximum fill level for the ingredients and so on. Newbies can avoid making mistakes for years (like I did!). For recipes using very little liquid, newbies could learn that pressure cookers retain most of the liquid and some foods release juice into the liquid. Packet mixes or flour will thicken the liquid and stop the cooker from reaching pressure – and so on. Teaching important things early on will avoid any mishaps by your site visitors at home.
I get the feeling that many inexperienced users of pressure cookers think they can throw in the food and liquid and it should “just work”, but when things go wrong they don’t know why.
I’m thinking of adding a trouble-shooting video of common problems and causes. I will be covering some of the points you mentioned but not to the details of water temperature – I don’t want to overwhelm beginners with too much information. I’m focusing on small easy-to-remember bits that will have the most impact. I realize that I’m not just addressing those that are new to pressure cookers, but also those that are new to cooking altogether!
Though, I’ve already filmed the meat recipe (the most common place to make gravy) I’m going to see about adding another one to the roster that will address thickening the juices – great idea!
Ciao,
L
Well done Laura. :)
If you make a future video which requires cold water e.g. steamed ‘boiled’ eggs, you could say to use cold water, otherwise it doesn’t matter.
I have been using my instant pot for several years and follow several groups, but I have never heard anything about using cold liquid. Is that true?
Excellent video presentation Laura! So clear and concise. Looking forward to the next lesson. I currently use a Lagostina SS pressure cooker and an All American pressure canner 20litre. I am eager to experience the convenience of the Instant Pot Smart. I will be ordering your cookbooks because as your blog demonstrates, they are exceptional. Some of the things I wish to make are vegetable stock, yoghurt and soft cheese. Wondering also about polenta, I make it often. Is there any way to reduce the amount of stirring using the IP?
Rene
Adult Child Of Hippies
Here is how to make polenta in the pressure cooker – any pressure cooker – even your Lagostina! As always, be extra-careful when removing the lid as polenta tends to boil big “glops” of hot steaming polenta!
http://www.hippressurecooking.com/polenta-five-ways-pressure-cooker-recipe-technique/
Ciao and Welcome!
L
This is an excellent idea! I love my pressure cooker but know I could use it for more things than I do. Thanks so much for this series. Looking forward to seeing all of them.
I am so excited to be a part of this site, I am a newbie to the pressure cooker. I have cooked a few very simple dishes such as a meat or a stew . I love love it and I cannot wait to learn so much more . Thank you so much for doing this.
My boy friend bought me one for Christmas, I haven’t used it a whole lot. Now am I able to pressure can with this?
Addie, you don’t mention what kind of cooker your boyfriend bought (though, what a thoughtful gift)! But if it’s an electric, it is not approved for pressure canning:
http://www.hippressurecooking.com/consumer-alert-no-pressure-canning-in-un-tested-multi-cookers/
Ciao,
L
This is great! This is my first pressure cooker and I had no clue what I was doing! Your videos nicely explained some of the basics! Thank you for that! I’ve made a couple meats such as chicken for tacos, stew meat for stroganoff, and pulled pork! I can’t wait to try more!
Thanks a lot for the great series of the videos and for the site. It is really informative and useful.
I used your site a lot before I decided about what cooker to order. And I learn a lot how will I be able to use it.
Laura I just bought 7 in 1 Farberware and it gives no basic recipes for cooking rice and beans. I have yet to cook anything in it yet.
My question is… Do your times for brown rice in your charts include short grain brown rice or is there a different time for the short grain brown?
Hi Rebecca, for brown rice the cooking time works the same for long and short-grain brown rice. I’ve used that time to pressure cook jasmine, basmati, generic long-grain, carnaroli, ribe (short-grain) brown rices, also red cargo rice, and black forbiiden rice and they all came out perfect!
With your Farberware use the “Chicken” (or any adjustable pressure program) and then adjust the time from there.
Welcome!
L
Great series of videos in the Pressure cooking School. You answered more of my questions in the hour or so of watching than all the Google researching I have done over the last several months since I got my Instapot. I just ordered the 3 quart mini from Instapot and hope that it will reduce cooking time even more simply because of the reduced volume. I’m only cooking for two most of the time.
I belong to a couple of Pressure cooking Facebook groups. The newbies as they call them selves are always asking the same questions. From now on I will refer them to your school. Thank you for sharing all your knowledge and I hope it provides you with a great lifestyle.
Glad you like them. Laura does a brilliant job.
I am not sure you will save time with the little IP ( I didn’t know they made them!) I use Kuhn Rikons and usually use my 2.5l (about 3 qt) cooking for two, but I don’t really see much of a time saving over the bigger one. But it is way more convenient. Especially for things like pasta.
Diedrich, although it’s true that for stovetops the smaller you go the faster it will reach pressure (less metal, more heat from the burner) but it does not translate exactly the same way to electrics. That’s because the smaller the size, the smaller the heating element the manufacturer provides for an electric pressure multicooker – and I don’t mean just physically, it is actually powered by a lower wattage.
HOWEVER, if you’re making less food with less cooking liquid (never below the minimum!!) the cooker will reach pressure faster simply because less water needs to come to a boil to generate steam.
Welcome and it’s soooo great to hear that you found the website lessons useful enough to recommend!
Ciao,
L
I tried my fist meal last night in the 3qt mini. It did seem to take less time. I realize the wattage is 700 verses the eight quarts 1000 or 1200, and you are correct the smaller pot takes less energy to heat up but my thoughts were in regard to the volume. The smaller volume pot reaches cooking pressure much quicker than the eight quart and releases quicker in al modes. It just seemed to me when using the eight quart that many of the receipts could be cooked on the stove top in nearly the same amount of time with the exception of frozen foods and tough cuts of protein. The health benefits were then the main reason to us the IP, but with this smaller IP it feels like its quicker. I haven’t actually timed the two units on the same recipe to verify my thoughts just yet but maybe some day. In the mean time meals for just the two of us will come out of the mini. Thank you for your response.
How long does it take to cook corn beef? You have all kinds of beef but nothing for corned beef. I am very new at this and I’m afraid of ruining the meet.
Thank you very much.
I do Corned Silversides fairly regularly. I give them about an hour – or a little less depending on the size. Then Natural release PLUS about 15 minutes before opening the lid.
I will look up my recipe and post it in then forum section the next day or so. Look out for it.
Hi laura,
I’m a big fan of pressure cooking and that is thanks to you. My kids love the Bolo thing (instead of a whole saturdayvafternoin now it’s a bliss) and my wife the healthy broccoli. But thanks to you i really understand the pressure cooker finesses and i’m experimenting away.
Also yout one pot rice thingies are amazing. Didn’t think that would be possible.
Looking forward to more tricks and recipes.
I’d like to make a roast with potatoes and carrots not sure the measurements….I have a bon appetite pressure cooker and I need help please thank you
Click on “recipes” in the menu and you’ll find a recipe for roast with potatoes and carrots. You can use the same measurements and timing given in the recipe with your pressure cooker.
Ciao,
L
It’s very generous of you to share your knowledge and time with all of us, many thanks for being a friendly helper as we learn!
I’me new to pressure cooking food. I own several manual cookers and I get confused when people say to set their new electric set it and forget it cookers. I can only assume that if you set the electric one to 25 minutes at 15PSi I then would bring my manual cooker to rocker temp at 15psi and cook for 25 minutes?
Welcome Harry,
Laura pretty much always give instructions for both Electric and Manual.
If you look at the bar at the top of every one of Laura’s recipes, you will see a range of temperatures mentioned. Use the shorter one unless she says otherwise in the text
But as a general guide, Electrics cook at a slightly lower pressure than Manuals. Their “High” tends to be about 12psi. where your Manual has “High” will be 15psi. So Unless it is one of Laura’s recipes, cook it for about 10% less time.
The situation gets a little muddied as Electrics tend to take longer to lose pressure so for short cooks with slow (natural) release, An electric may even have a shorter cooking time than a manual as the food is still cooking while pressure is coming down.
So for your specific example, yes set the rocker temp to 15psi but cook for about 22 minutes.
FYI Low pressure would be around 8psi so if you have that setting use that for delicate foods.
Greg,
Thanks very much. I don’t have an electric cooker but I have 4 manual ones. 1 small 6 quart for food and 3 much larger ones for sterilizing grains for growing mushrooms. I run those between 15 and 18 PSI. they usually run pressurized for between 90 and 120 minutes. like using a sledge hammer, and cooking is more like using a tack hammer. I also use a 55 gallon drum for steam sterilizing wood chips. 12 hours, so huge difference in cooking methods.
May have to back to the crock-pot. This thing just may bo beyond my ability to operate.
Hi Laura, I just tried my Duo-mini last night with your recipe Roast beef with potatoes and carrots. It was delicious but I needed to know more. This morning, I discovered this site. Thank you so much for the videos. I especially liked the one about which cuts of meat to choose. :)
Thank you Irma, Welcome!
Ciao,
L
I have heavy large pressure cooker, use natural gas has 3 weights on steam vent – can use any burner to heat but natural gas is in my house. Reading comments you specialize in electric. any sight recommendations for my old style thing . no one wants to eat anything from it.only really cooked rice so far –rice is easier in regular pan . 12 quart ??
Hi Kevin, I actually learned to pressure cook using stovetop pressure cookers – and I have the “Beginner Basics” series (the predecessor of the Pressure Cooking School) featuring only stovetop pressure cookers. You can find it here:
http://www.hippressurecooking.com/learn-to-pressure-cook/
To answer your question, with your stovetop pressure cooker you need to do the “switcheroo” – bring the cooker to pressure using a large burner and then slide it over to the smallest burner using the lowest flame possible to maintain (jiggling) pressure. It will take some experimenting to get this right and even when you figure out the least amount of heat your cooker needs you may need to adjust it based on how full or how cold the ingredients in your pressure cooker are.
Welcome!
Ciao,
L
I was just linked to these videos tonight and although I’ve had my Instant Pot since November, many times of forums I’ll see, “I didn’t know that”. I decided I’d like to see if there’s any tips and tricks I’m not aware of, even after all this time. I just viewed the first one and I did learn something new. I did not know the evaporation rate (which you said will come in handy when learning to convert recipes). Thanks so much for sharing! Looking forward to viewing the rest.
I just bought a Fagor stove top pressure cooker. Is there a way to adapt the the your demo to the stove top cooker?
Absolutely, you can start with my original series which is focused on stovetops – then all the recipes and info from the school will make more sense!
http://www.hippressurecooking.com/learn-to-pressure-cook/
Ciao,
L
I just watched your school under Pressure, 8 part series. One question though how come I didn’t see anything on pastas?
You’re right, I should do a video on this. My daughter was diagnosed as intolerant to flour three years ago and I’ve been too scared to try gluten-free pasta in the pressure cooker. But… it’s worth a shot!!!
Ciao,
L
Help, I bought my Salton Model No SEPC01 Electric Pressure Cooker two days ago. I cannot find the function to increase or decrease the time…I can only find the preset times for different foods, chicken, rice, cereal etc…so now I press Chicken which give me 15 minutes….after that I repress Chicken option and then delete/cancel the count down after 5 minutes…this does not sound right. I have the manual but can seem to find what I am looking for….came across your Blog as I am still searching….can you or any other readers help me PLEASE?
Frances from South Africa
I’ve used my pressure cooker for more than a year and love it! I thought I knew how to best use my appliance. But I was wrong! I learned so much from your videos and I will most definitely encourage everyone to watch them before starting out on this cooking journey!! Thank you! Where is rice chart?
Here is the rice cooking chart:
http://www.hippressurecooking.com/pressure-cooking-times/
Ciao,
L