When the Hissing Stopped

 

As I listened for the familiar sound to begin, I soon realized it was not going to happen. The hissing had stopped. My plans had changed. A new pressure cooker was now on my list.

The magical touch in developing intense flavour, nutrient retention and broth making would soon end. The tiny rubber/silicone devices sitting atop the pot's lid had cracked, split or de-rubberized. I do not know. Replacements were needed. How much these items would cost would determine whether a new pot would be purchased.

A pressure cooker can turn frozen meat into tender stew within one hour or less, I discovered decades earlier. It was the miracle pot in the kitchen back then, still is, the opposite approach to slow cooking.

Take-out is beginning to lose favour with us for simple reasons. Others responsible for preparing and packing our special takeout orders do not seem to care. The soup is diluted creating 'more' to sell! But the flavour is diluted as well. Adding extra salt to the food I'm buying is my business not yours. Why do you do it, Mr. Cook? And where are those mixed vegetables in that soup? If the garlic toast with cheese is burnt on top with the panini bun black on bottom, did you think I was not going to notice? 

Other options are out there and we're looking. Aggravation is the least attractive quality in any restaurant. Home cooking with my pressure cooker is mighty fine. Our first cooker was made of aluminum with all those loose silicone parts on top indicating pressure was on and cooking had begun. As time passed, stainless steel took over. We bought the healthier alternative: stainless steel. 

As I learned about the cooker's health benefits, not to mention its time and savings benefits, it became an mainstay in my kitchen. A current new model, a smaller one by Presto, is simply cute. It is easy to use for smaller amounts and a familiar face on my stove today. My other 'appliance' will be on standby till we can buy the small external parts for its reinstatement on the stove. Magnificent they both are.

I believe the dishwasher aided in the rubber parts decomposition. Even though the lid was on the top shelf inside the washer, over time the heat was too intense, perhaps. Maybe I will need to wash by hand. No problem. It beats the time wasted waiting for poor quality food in dining establishments.