As another Lame Cherry exclusive in matter anti matter.
It really is one of the greatest sins on the planet in every person it seems, thinks they know how to cook, and that anyone can pick up a pan and make it do what it should, but the reality is most people are squaw cooks in the flavor of their food and most should be cooking with hot rocks in a leather pouch, for how ignorant they are.
I hear from the Beekeeper in his activities which are a most pleasant repose. He is busy canning things or making yummy food which is a delight. He is the only person I have ever come across who knew of canned meat and actually made the stuff.
It really is one of the best fast foods there is, as you just cut stew size pieces of meat, which is cheap meat, and put them into canning jars.....add some salt and pepper......and spices if you like, like rosemary, bay, mustard seed, and put it into a pressure canner for about an hour and you got food that lasts and is really good.
Makes a tremendous gravy type thing for bread or potatoes.
This is not about cooking things, but I have to revisit something, as my Grampa, was a hunter, who fed his family on wild game. He never wasted anything like those wretches who just breast geese out now as he starved one winter on only apples to eat from his tree, and food was something he never wasted.
He had a most interesting process though, back from those zinc lid ball jar days of the rubber ring era, in he would cut up his duck, bake it in the wood stove, and when it was done, he would cover it up, and it would seal. It made an amazing duck which had no comparison, with just salt and pepper.
I tried this once on some wigeon I got. Thing is you have to understand about wigeon is, wigeons are like most people now, in you get a good one once in a while, but most taste like something even people who like duck do not want to eat.
I shot quite a few of them one day, along with gadwalls, as they are about the same looking duck in the fall, and brought it home and ate it with Mom, and commented to my brother how good it was.........and that the other ones later were not a great deal to look forward too.
It was he, who explained wigeon etiquette........and the point is, I experimented on the wigeon and it baked up with some water added, and sealed up just fine. Sat on the floor though for years, with cookings and never spoiled......so it does work, and I am guessing that the browned flavor of baking is what really improves the flavor to rave about.
Is my intention to revisit this again.....probably tell my brother to visit some of his geese to this process too and see what turns up with that.
Anyway this is about two subjects......first is rice.
As I was running out of pans in we were moving, all I had was this junk store set of like 8 quart with a 4 quart lid, that I got for TL and I never dreamed I would be cooking that much food in those pots, but they do right well for cast aways.
I was cooking brown rice in them, you know 1 cup rice, 2 cups water, boil and then simmer, and I do believe that you get a much better rice when you allow the rice to spread out, compared to those shove it all in a little pan with more tall than spread.
Am cooking rice now to test this, but if you get a better rice from a larger area, then use the big 8 quart to negotiate with the grains.
This is what I desired to share as most know I have an attraction for Presto pressure cookers. When I mean business, I turn to my Model 60 series......although at Mom's the one I use is one I got out of Kansas, that those folks welded with meat fat glue the gasket to the lid.....alot of people do that and never wash the blessed thing...is a ghastly mess that I once had to use a power brush on a grinder to get it clean.
The Kansas one is a Model 40.......older and more Euclidean pleasant to the eye for the curves, but all the same......I look for the 60's.
Anyway back at the metro, I brought one down for TL to use and it is old......and it is like finicky....has character you could say.
It blew the weight off twice....once causing a mess on the stove and stains on the carpet as I hauled the cauldron of steam outside, to not set the dysfunctional CO2 detector off. That thing would go off if you boiled carrots or made toast........damn thing......probably from China.
Anyway, I got a new gasket in this 60 and it was always leaking out of the sides, needing to bring down steam and being a real dick of a pan.
Necessity though necessitates learning how to ride horses that buck starting out, and I found that by running hot water over the gasket while in the lid.....sort of expanded things so my O ring in the space shuttle didn't blow up and cause grease problems.
This 60 has given more probs than all the others combined, but if you know the quirks, you can make that mule pull.
The reason for the weight blowing off in too much steam is it is an old weight, and sometimes the spout which is brass gets worn. As long as I pay attention to things, it behaves, but this is an electric stove and things do not regulate the best on those element burners.
I prefer the old cast aluminum as they bleed heat better than the new stainless steel, which I assume need more heat, as they have less mass to retain heat. It is one of the most soothing things to sit by the stove and listen to a Presto hiss gently as it cooks meals like a microwave.
That is what a pressure cooker does. It uses pressure to tenderize meat and the pressure cooks with less energy in heat, and 3 hours for every hour you have it on heat at 15 psi.
I sort of stopped picking these cookers up to give a good home to, as I have too many.......one needs fixing in the rim was broken when I got it......that is really an old duffer in a 40 with black handles.....one series has orange handles.......I have two of them. One came out of Oregon in some grandkid was selling Grams prestine 40 which I keep for looking at.
There are the little things that seperate the good cooks from those who think they can cook. I have an affinity with my pans and I thoroughly enjoy them, most were cast before my parents were even grown.
Yes Mam, I just checked that rice.....it is brown and the directions say 45 to 50 minutes, and this batch is done in under 30, and almost too cooked in the moisture is gone. I figure these pans get to ride in the car on the trip too, as they are getting a bit too valuable to chance their walking off.
Are a no name brand as far as I know......stainless steel, were used alot by the old gal whose children dumped into the trash store, and they do everything I ask of them from chili to adobo.
I do like old used pans better, as they have character, being scratched up and burn marks, so I do not have to worry about hurting them. Think they were probably like 2.50 and I have grown to really love them.....along with the cheap bread board.......Joy's covered, beat to hell baking pan........and that serrated Asian chef knife. Yes they all will be in the car with us.
Only drawback on the Asian knife is, it hooks up on chicken breast membrane to clog it up, so I do not use it for that any more, and use a ceramic Ginsu thing.
Fantastic banana bread cutter in fact.
That though is the cooks of the trade.......oh TL picked up a huge Toastmaster Oven or something as an eletric oven. I frowned, but TL was right again on this. It does not heat the house up in summer and I have made baked chicken, sweet potatoes and biscuits in it, and it really does a wonderful job.
I leave it at that, as got to stir the rice, to make it fluffy as it steams to finish it off, off the burner.
Yeah more million dollar knowledge.
agtG
