Customer Reviews

The Everything Pressure Cooker Cookbook (Everything Series)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I recently purchased my first pressure cooker and was looking for a good cookbook for it. I ordered this book and another by Cinda Chavich. This book easily could have been a five star but for a couple of issues.

1. The author uses an electric pressure cooker which has 3 settings for pressure (low, medium & high) I have a stove top cooker with no variable setting. If it included cooking times or some sort of directions for cooking in a stove top cooker it would have been extremely helpful. If you have an electric cooker or variable psi settings this book would work very well for you.

2. The index in the book is so useless it really would have been better if they omitted it altogether. If you're looking for a chicken recipes it simply says chicken and list page numbers. There is no place in the book that you can go to for a full list of recipes.

3. The tables of cooking times would be more helpful if they included the amount of water. The other cookbook I purchased had much better cooking charts.

Overall the recipes I have tried have all been very good and easy to follow. They are very basic recipes without a lot of fussy ingredients, perfect for everyday meals. I like that it includes a good variety of recipes including breakfast as well. Overall I really do enjoy the cookbook a great deal.

My neighbor and I bought ourselves new pressure cookers and along with the cookbooks that come with the cookers we purchased this cookbook. I love this book because it has some great recipes. I hate this book because the index "sucks", you have to go the beginning of each chapter to find the page references for the recipes. Remember to add salt because often, following the recipe results in undersalted dishes. (This is certainly not the biggest offense). The editor for the book didn't catch the fact that several recipes are repeated. And finally be careful with the directions, I have found ingredients referred to in the instructions which are not in the ingredient lists and always remember to saute your onions before sealing your cooker up - raw onions can mess up the flavor! But despite all these caveats I really do enjoy this cookbook - it an my new pressure cooker have been my latest culinary inspiration!

I've tried two recipes so far--Old South Chicken Stew (Brunswick) and Stuffed Green Peppers. Both were excellent. I've read other recipes and they seem as if they'll be good, too. Don't be misled by the publisher's list of example recipes on(pork with figs, and so on). The book has few weirdo recipes with "twists." They're mostly normal comfort food. But the book is organized in a very bizarre fashion. The editor should have caught this problem. For example, there's a section for Chicken. But two thirds of the chicken recipes are not in the chicken section! Chicken recipes are scattered throughout different sections such as Stews, International Flavors, and so on. Sometimes a recipe is put in the wrong category. "Grandmother's Chicken Casserole" for instance, is mysteriously put in the International section. She says it's "French-inspired" but .... And probably as a result of both the book's inherent disorganization, combined with no indexing skills, the book's Index is the worst I've seen in many years. For example, look up Chicken and you just see 30 page numbers, not a list of the names of the recipes. Big help. So, I'd say buy the book for the good eats and tolerate the poor editing. If indeed anyone edited the book. One final note: the publishers have apparently copyrighted the word "Everything." Well, that's one less word I can use in a title of one of my own books. Rats! I think I'll try to copyright the word "The."

This book would be a lot more useful if they had put in a proper index. When you look up beef in the index there are 43 beef pages listed with no indication what is on them. It would be impossible to tell the roast beef with veggies from the beef and potato soup or the Swedish meatballs. There are 36 potato page listings, etc. Also, the book would be much more appealing with some pictures. The recipes are good but other books with proper indexes would be easier to use.

So far, I have only tried one recipe in this book, the Beef Roast Dinner. It turned out okay, but I had three problems with the dish. First of all, the dish was so incredibly bland! The only seasonings the recipe called for were salt and pepper and optional dijon mustard, all of which I used. At the end of cooking, I had to season it a lot - which I hate to do at the end. Next time I use this cookbook, I will go with my gourmet instincts regarding seasoning!

Secondly, I am wondering if the author or anyone else tested these recipes. She says to put the vegies in with the meat and cook for an hour. As a result although the meat was cooked, the vegetables were way too soft and mushy. The carrots were almost inedible. (Roast recipes I found in another book suggested putting veggies in at the end so they don't overcook which I think would have been a better instruction.)

Thirdly, the amount of liquid also seemed like too much. It covered the roast entirely making it more like a pot roast than a regular roast. However, unlike a pot roast, the meat was not really as tender as I was expecting. (I wonder if, I cooked the meat for an hour, put in the veggies and cooked for another 10 minutes, this would take care of a couple of the problems?)

I am hoping the desserts, jams and chutneys in this book (the real reason I bought it) are better.

I bought this cookbook for my daughter for Christmas, along with a Nesco pressure cooker. I've looked through the recipes and found them to mostly be practical, real food, using ingredients real people can find in real grocery stores! Just what I wanted for her. Since she lives in a high altitude state, everything takes longer to cook. This is the perfect solution for her busy lifestyle. Slow cooker taste, with fast cooker style! Wanted to buy 2 of these, one for me and one for her, but unfortunately they only had one :( Will buy another elsewhere or later when they are back in stock.

If you like normal, good food cookbooks along with a few different recipes to try out, then you will love this cookbook!

Anyone that has never used a pressure cooker much should get this book. It has lots of suggestions for all kinds of food that can be cooked in the pressure cooker. I have tried mostly pot roast recipes at this point and they were all absolutely delicious.

Great book! I actually made a custard in the pressure cooking.Who would have thought that could be done...Yummy. It's a great book with sensible recipes with ingredients that I actually have around the house.

The design of this cookbook is great. Easy to read ingredient list is in an area highlighted in green. The one issue I have with this book is some of the recipes need to be cooked at a "low pressure". I have a newer design electronic pressure cooker and as of yet, have not found any instructions on how to cook in it in a low pressure. I have decided not to make those recipes, don't seem to have a choice. But there are plenty of other recipes that cook at a normal pressure cooking pressure and I plan on making them. Have not yet tried any of the recipes but I am good about reading recipes and having an idea of how they will turn out. These recipes look great.

Pamela Rice Hahn draws upon her many years of experience and expertise to write still another outstanding and thoroughly 'kitchen cook friendly' compendium of recipes. This time she focuses on dishes suitable for the pressure cooker as an instrument specifically designed to speed up meal preparation time for today's busy housewife. Beginning with a chapter that aptly serves as a primer in how to safely use and utilize a pressure cooker in the kitchen, the recipes are nicely organized and presented showcasing everything from chutneys, preserves, jams, and condiments; to appetizers and party snacks; sauces; to breakfast and brunch cuisines; to soups, stews and chowders, and so much more! Of special note is the chapter devoted to vegetarian fare. From Stuffed Green Peppers; Sweet and Sour Pork; and Chicken Chili; to Fettuccine with Smoked Salmon Sauce; Summer Sausage Casserole; and Molten Fudge Pudding Cake, "The Everything Pressure Cooker Cookbook" truly lives up to its title and is enthusiastically endorsed for family and community library cookbook collections!