Pressure

One of the cooking gadgets I've never been particularly enamoured with is the pressure cooker. They're scary, they hiss, the weights wobble and just sometimes they explode with a fountainous jet of blistering hot steam and foam before bits of smashed potato and beans rain down like pumice from Etna across the kitchen.

Added to which, the most likely form of this WMD found in my youth was made of aluminium. The current thinking on aluminium is that there's little to worry about in normal cooking procedures but many years of Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt (FUD) have done their work well. I won't use aluminium pans in my kitchen.

Still, times have changed. Although science is sporting a new theory on the role of aluminium in Alzheimer's disease, the FUD has produced many more affordable products of stainless steel, technology is cool and global warming has renewed everyone's interest in reducing fuel used in cooking. It hasn't? Well, it should have done.

Besides, there was a stronger motive at work on my reluctance, I needed a method of heat sterilisation for another project (see the other blog eventually) and in the absence of money for an autoclave my needs were bringing me to the conclusion that I'd have to give pressure cooking another go.

I did a bit of research on the web and although I could buy aluminium pots in styles reminiscent of my earlier possessions for less than £25 my heart became set upon the



Kuhn Rikon from Switzerland. The reason for this was mainly that the reviews all mentioned how quiet it was compared to older fashioned designs. That was enough for me but at prices approaching £100 for the six litre model it was something of a gamble. Luckily, the gamble has paid off, it really is the quietest pressure cooker I've ever managed to stay in the room with. There is no weight but a little valve fixed into the dome of the lid which pops up to position one or two and can be maintained there by controlling the heat of the cooker. The pan works on all heat sources including induction hobs and spare parts like gaskets and safety valve fittings are available. It's also pretty sturdy and nicely finished.

First cooking attempts, a rather scanky chickpea and tomato soup, weren't excellent by any means and I don't think I'm ever going to enjoy using it but it does what it says on the box and that's all anyone can ask.