Simple Guidelines to Follow

1. Always follow the manufacturer’s directions regarding the minimum amount of liquid to add to your cooker.
   
   
2. Never fill your cooker more than one-half to two-thirds full, depending upon what you are cooking.
   
   
3. When adapting traditional recipes to the pressure cooker, usually you will need to add more spices and herbs and less liquid.
   
   
4. Decrease the cooking time compared to standard recipes by 75 percent and see how things turn out. It is easy to get the pot back up to high pressure and continue cooking but once you have overcooked certain foods they are not especially appealing. Follow charts in pressure cooking books or online websites or send me an email at jill@pressurecookingonline.com .
   
   
5. Be careful when sautéing ingredients containing natural sugars such as onions, leeks, carrots and tomatoes as anything that sticks to the bottom of the cooker will burn when the heat is turned up to high. To prevent this problem, add some water or other liquid and give a good stir on the bottom of the pot to loosen any stuck on bits of food.
   
   
6. Be sure to set your timer when the cooker reaches desired pressure, and do not walk away, take a shower or leave the house.
   
   
7. When opening the cooker, be sure to tilt the lid away from you so that the extremely hot steam does not burn you.
   
   
8. Remember that food coming out of the cooker will be hotter than food cooked by other methods so warn people accordingly.
   
   
9. Enjoy using your cooker and spend your “extra time” (isn’t that an oxymoron?) doing something that you like.