Pressure cooker - how much fuel will I save?

[AngusMcDoon]

Do pressure cookers save a significant amount of cooking fuel consumption, or is that apocryphal?

I like the look of this small one...

3 litre pressure cooker

It's about 1kg heavier than an equivalent sized standard pan which I would be able to remove from on board. I'm wondering if the extra 1 kg of metal would be compensated for by less gas being carried and used. I use disposable gas cartridges, so can easily carry less. Any money saved on gas consumption is also appealing to a tightwad.

 

[Heckler]

Cooking takes about a third of the time, do the math, was us waving at you this weekend on the end pile!!
Stu

 

[AngusMcDoon]

[ QUOTE ]
Cooking takes about a third of the time, do the math

[/ QUOTE ]

Is that the cooking time after pressure has built up? How long does it take to build up pressure, as I guess the temperature is higher?

I'm a pressure cooking newby so don't know much about them.

[ QUOTE ]
was us waving at you this weekend

[/ QUOTE ]

and that was me waving at you at Barmouth a couple of weeks ago.

 

[VicS]

[ QUOTE ]
Cooking takes about a third of the time, do the math

[/ QUOTE ] A bit more involved than just the cooking time.

You need to consider the heat required to reach operating temperature so a knowledge of the heat capacities is required. Also since they operate at a higher temperature the additional heat needed to reach that temp must be taken into account.

because they operate at a higher temp the loses during cooking must also be considered.

Please do the maths for us taking all these factors, and any more I might subsquently think of, into account. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Heckler]

one third in total, time taken to heat up depends on contents, good for cheaper cuts of meats, tenderises them, good for cooking different vegs in separate trivets, watch the tatties tho, turns them to mush quickly. experiment! Barmouth, didnt realise it was a dour jock then, only realised when you replied to swmbo post, how could you tell it was your boat, i couldnt even see if it was a mono hull let alone a tri!
Stu

 

[Gordonmc]

I used a pressure cooker at the weekend to heat up a bought -in curry. Half an inch of water in the bottom and loaded up the trays of rogan josh, rice and Bombay spuds.
After about eight minutes to bring up to pressure I turned the stove off and had another beer while the pressure went down.
When I took the lid off the RJ was still bubbling.
Unless you are cooking really chuck steak you don't need to keep the pressure up for long.
The best bit is that you can take the PC off the heat and use the ring for something else while the pressure goes down.

 

[AngusMcDoon]

Sounds good. Any in your skip? /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[oldsaltoz]

They cook or heat food faster primarily because you are not heating water then letting it float away to steam up gally, all the steam and heat is trapped under pressure inside so wasted heat loss is less.

By adding pressure the heat generated will go deeper and faster than normal cooking in an open pot.

Because of the combined trapped heat and extra pressure cooking time is reduced.

We had a 4 litre pressure on board for a few years, hardly used it, then the pressure regulator broke and was used as a normal pot for another couple of years, ended it's life as a 2 pot paint mixing container.

You can't beat a good barbecue with a drop down making it an oven.

 

[yerffoeg]

We use a pressure cooker extensively at home and on boatie. Saves no end on time and fuel. Stuff cooked in steam tastes better than when boiled in water. Just experiment with cooking times. Its ideal for boating. They fizz and scream and are thus rather daunting when you first start using, but you will be soon won over.

 

[philip_stevens]

Fully concur. Also, if you need to make gravy, use the PC water - all the goodness from the veggies etc, is in the water.

We don't cook meat in it other than a stew, and even use the tatties water for gravy. Nothing wasted.

 

[charles_reed]

To answer your question, about 80% on items which need cooking at normal pressure for >20'.

It reduces considerably for quick-cook things like green beans etc.

 

[Helly]

Pressure cooker a good investment,.

But this is even better for saving gas http://www.scottsofstow.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product1_19551_-1_51058_10551

Only need to boil the kettle once and it cooks your pasta/veg/whatever you want to experiment with.

 

[AngusMcDoon]

Thanks everyone, I shall get one and soon be hissing away.

 

[Seafort]

Erm, Pressure cooker yes, small one no.

I bought a small one for the boat but as I'm not often cooking for just myself there I swapped to a larger one, great for hearty stews, chilli and spag bog. Remove the seal and bake bread. The space a normal one takes up is worth it.


Dave.