As I’ve mentioned numerous times on this site, I’m not a fan of canned beans. In my opinion, they don’t taste as good as cooking them myself. My first preference, is cooking freshly shelled beans from our garden, but if that’s not an option, I’ll always choose dried beans. Since I don’t always have time for the preparation that can sometimes go into cooking dried beans, I usually cook my beans in large batches.
Personally, the cooking time, is the only part that I’m not always thrilled about when cooking my dried beans. A pressure cooker would speed things up significantly, since it drastically reduces the cooking time of a variety of foods, but I don’t want to be lugging out my heavy 23 qt. stainless steel pressure cooker every time I want to cook my dried beans or some other dish! That pressure cooker’s only job is to can the produce I gather from the garden.
You know what? I’ve been saying, I was going to purchase a small sized pressure cooker for years, but I never got around to purchasing one until now…

A few moments ago, I (finally) ordered a much smaller sized pressure cooker which makes it more suitable for preparing a typical meal. I decided on the Presto 8 quart stainless steel pressure cooker.
What I do like about this pressure cooker is that it’s not too small (such as a 4 qt.) since I prefer cooking a large amount of dried beans at a time, but still much smaller than my regular 23 qt. pressure cooker. Based on the reviews, The Presto 8 qt. pressure cooker is a “no-frills” pressure cooker; but it still gets the job done.
I’m looking forward to using it, and reducing the cooking time for some of the foods I prepare by 60 – 70%.
Tomorrow, my daughter and will be stopping by the store so I can purchase a variety of bulk dried beans. It seems I’m running out of most of my favorite beans; black beans, black eyed peas, garbanzo beans, pinto beans, etc.,
Satisfied with my purchase?
Is the purchase worth it? I would think so, since it’ll drastically reduce the cook time needed for grains, legumes, beans and many other types of foods that take a long time to process. Which means saving me money since I won’t be using the stove for longer periods of time. For example, garbanzo beans normally take me over an hour to cook. In a pressure cooker, it takes about fifteen minutes.
A few minutes ago, I stumbled upon this vintage ad for Presto Pressure Cookers.
I love my pressure cooker and it’s always been a staple in my household since I was a child. Enjoy your new purchase. 🙂
Nicky recently posted..Kick In the Pants
Thanks @Nicky, I know I will, love my 23 qt. Pressure Cooker, but it’s much big to use for small family sized meals. I only use it for canning. I’m looking forward to using this “family sized” Pressure Cooker.
Aynaria recently posted..Adventures in Cleansing: Update
I’ve been telling myself I’d want one but I never got round to buying. Yes, they used to be so big… Will have to look around for a small one, just nice for a small family like mine.
suituapui recently posted..It’s not far…
@suituapui, Oh you should get one, I did have a tiny one that was passed on to me long ago, but don’t have all the parts to it now. They’re great for speeding up the cook time, and let you be a “Mary” and mot a “Martha”.
Aynaria recently posted..Cooking Adventures: Stir fry ramen noodles with garlic curried chicken
I have to admit I’m not much of a Pressure Cooker person but I’m planning to do some Beans and Lentil Cooking soon! Especially Lentils, I think, since I had that Lentil Spread I made a few weeks ago I forgot it really doesn’t take as long as I thought to cook them – I have the tendency to multi task while doing stuff like that. I forgot it only took between 20 and 30 minutes to do lentils! But I guess that was my “duh” moment LOL 🙂
Jennifer recently posted..Paco’s Pouting, Suzie’s Scratching, The Rouse is Rockin’, and Sassy Cheesy Salsa
@Jennifer, I’m really loving the Pressure Cooker. This afternoon I made Tikil Gomen (Ethiopian Cabbage Dish) a great twist on a delicious vegetable. My daughter loves it! I used my small Pressure Cooker, the potatoes were cooked in no time! About an hour ago, I cooked garbanzo beans in the Pressure Cooker, it was cooked within ten minutes, perhaps twenty if you count the time I had to wair for the pressure to go down. Still much faster than the way I used to cook them.
Tomorrow, I’m making Key Wat (Ethiopian beef stew) for my father and daughter. I look forward to getting their reaction on that dish.
I multi-task also, but I’m looking at the Pressure Cooker from the aspect that it saves me money since It reduces the time that I use the oven. 😉
Aynaria recently posted..Cooking adventures: Stir fry broccoli, carrots, okra and habanero peppers; breakfast
[…] few hours ago, I prepared my washed dry black beans in my eight (8) qt. Presto pressure cooker. I can’t stop talking about how much I love this kitchen appliance. It shortens the cooking […]