Pressure Cooker Recipes

In this risotto-like dish, the pressure cooker's intense heat penetrates the pine nuts' outer membranes and makes them soft inside.

Chefs Andy Ticer and Michael Hudman of Memphis's Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen worked together to make this risotto. Their secret weapon: a pressure cooker.

Dried beans are one of the best things to prepare in a pressure cooker: After a 30-minute quick-soak, the beans become creamy in just seven minutes.

In the relatively brief time it takes for the veal chunks to become fork-tender in a pressure cooker (25 minutes versus 2 hours of conventional cooking), the carrot, onions and sage melt into a heavenly sauce.

These crispy, sweet-and-spicy pork spareribs are a hundred times better than Chinese takeout char siu ribs, and they're a particularly good example of what's so great about using a pressure cooker. Pork spareribs typically require very slow cooking--usually braising--to tenderize them before grilling. A pressure cooker does that braising in a fraction of the time.

To caramelize carrots in a pressure cooker, Nathan Myhrvold adds a bit of baking soda: It increases the pH, which speeds up the Maillard (browning) reaction.

"Pressure cooking is great for braises," says Modernist Cuisine co-author Maxime Bilet. "You can make pork shoulder tender in 35 minutes." Thanks to the rapid cooking time, this dish is a realistic weeknight meal.