Just under a month ago, I was approached by Kitchenware Direct to see if I'd like to test out one of their slow cookers or pressure cookers. Y'all know how obsessed I am with cookware, so of course my answer was yes! After looking through all the slow cookers and pressure cookers on the website, I ended up choosing the New Wave 5-in-1 6L Multicooker, which has both slow and pressure cooking functions!
When I was a kid, my mum often used an old-school stove top pressure cooker - it rattled, it shook, and it spewed forth loud bursts of steam. In short, I was terrified of it. Many years later she upgraded to an electric pressure cooker, but we only used it a few times before it got relegated to the cupboard. I guess at that point we just didn't cook enough stews to make it worthwhile.
So given my past experience with pressure cookers, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I like the Multicooker and how often I've been using it! One issue though: the accompanying instructions aren't very clear, so it took quite some time and effort for us so set it up and actually start cooking. The first time I used it for pressure cooking, I was actually kinda winging it - but luckily it's pretty intuitive and has always worked just fine. And as soon it was set up it, it's been all-systems-go: stews, braises, soups, risottos, and more. I've found it so useful to make hearty dinners after work in a short time. And some examples...
Shiraz Braised Beef
Tonight I made shiraz-braised beef, which only took 30 minutes on the pressure cooking function, plus about 10 minutes either side to brown the meat and veggies, and to thicken the sauce at the end. Pretty good going for a dish that usually takes 3-4 hours!
The browning function heats up very quickly and evenly, and it's easy to get a nice crust on meat. You can't adjust it though, so sometimes it can be too strong if you're, say, sautéing onions as the first step of a stew. I'll often turn the heat off if it's getting too hot, and turn it back on again to keep the temperature under control.
While the stew was having its 30 minutes pressure-cooking, I whipped up some petits pois à la Francaise and some potato/celeriac mash. Wonderfully comforting for such a cold and blustery day!
Pea and Ham Soup
The soup function is pretty much the same as the low-pressure function, and I've found it useful for making soups (duh) and stocks in a short amount of time. For example, let's take a look at this split-pea and ham soup I made!
It took 25 minutes to go from this...
... to this! A hearty, smooth soup.
7-Minute Mushroom Risotto
Perhaps the most exciting discovery we made was that you can make risotto in 7 minutes in the cooker! There was a recipe for mushroom risotto in the instruction booklet, and I must admit I was curious, and more than a little skeptical about a pressure-cooked risotto. You start as per a standard risotto: cooking onions in a little oil, adding the rice and some wine. But rather than ladling in stock bit-by-bit, you tip it all in, with the mushrooms.
 |
| Mushrooms |
We've been eating a lot of risotto since the cooker arrived. I've done mushroom risotto twice already this month, and have also made cauliflower risotto using the same method.
I've been really happy with the cooker, and significantly, it's already become a regular part of my standard kitchen kit. In my enthusiasm, I also picked up a cheap, old-fashioned "Pressure Cooker Recipes" cookbook, and am really looking forward to making more warming dishes for this wintry weather!
Sarah received the New Wave 5-in-1 6L Multicooker courtesy of Kitchenware Direct.
Just under a month ago, I was approached by Kitchenware Direct to see if I'd like to test out one of their slow cookers or pressure cookers. Y'all know how obsessed I am with cookware, so of course my answer was yes! After looking through all the slow cookers and pressure cookers on the website, I ended up choosing the New Wave 5-in-1 6L Multicooker, which has both slow and pressure cooking functions!
When I was a kid, my mum often used an old-school stove top pressure cooker - it rattled, it shook, and it spewed forth loud bursts of steam. In short, I was terrified of it. Many years later she upgraded to an electric pressure cooker, but we only used it a few times before it got relegated to the cupboard. I guess at that point we just didn't cook enough stews to make it worthwhile.
So given my past experience with pressure cookers, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I like the Multicooker and how often I've been using it! One issue though: the accompanying instructions aren't very clear, so it took quite some time and effort for us so set it up and actually start cooking. The first time I used it for pressure cooking, I was actually kinda winging it - but luckily it's pretty intuitive and has always worked just fine. And as soon it was set up it, it's been all-systems-go: stews, braises, soups, risottos, and more. I've found it so useful to make hearty dinners after work in a short time. And some examples...
Shiraz Braised Beef
Tonight I made shiraz-braised beef, which only took 30 minutes on the pressure cooking function, plus about 10 minutes either side to brown the meat and veggies, and to thicken the sauce at the end. Pretty good going for a dish that usually takes 3-4 hours!
The browning function heats up very quickly and evenly, and it's easy to get a nice crust on meat. You can't adjust it though, so sometimes it can be too strong if you're, say, sautéing onions as the first step of a stew. I'll often turn the heat off if it's getting too hot, and turn it back on again to keep the temperature under control.
While the stew was having its 30 minutes pressure-cooking, I whipped up some petits pois à la Francaise and some potato/celeriac mash. Wonderfully comforting for such a cold and blustery day!
Pea and Ham Soup
The soup function is pretty much the same as the low-pressure function, and I've found it useful for making soups (duh) and stocks in a short amount of time. For example, let's take a look at this split-pea and ham soup I made!
It took 25 minutes to go from this...
... to this! A hearty, smooth soup.
7-Minute Mushroom Risotto
Perhaps the most exciting discovery we made was that you can make risotto in 7 minutes in the cooker! There was a recipe for mushroom risotto in the instruction booklet, and I must admit I was curious, and more than a little skeptical about a pressure-cooked risotto. You start as per a standard risotto: cooking onions in a little oil, adding the rice and some wine. But rather than ladling in stock bit-by-bit, you tip it all in, with the mushrooms.
|
| Mushrooms |
We've been eating a lot of risotto since the cooker arrived. I've done mushroom risotto twice already this month, and have also made cauliflower risotto using the same method.
I've been really happy with the cooker, and significantly, it's already become a regular part of my standard kitchen kit. In my enthusiasm, I also picked up a cheap, old-fashioned "Pressure Cooker Recipes" cookbook, and am really looking forward to making more warming dishes for this wintry weather!
Sarah received the New Wave 5-in-1 6L Multicooker courtesy of Kitchenware Direct.
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