Pressure Cooking

[Menolly]

Oh! To follow up on the previous post, the corporate sponsored Instant Pot Facebook page had a contest to give away a 6-quart Duo Evo Plus to three winners, and I was one of them! So, while I didn't get the 8-quart model of the Duo Evo Plus, I do now have four Instant Pots.

However, since I'm not a fan of the interface on the Ultra model, and it is in practically brand new condition due to it barely being used, it is currently boxed up with all of its manuals and accessories and will be a Chr-stmas gift down the road.

So far I have only done the water test in the new Duo Evo Plus, but doing that has already impressed me.

Anyway, in other Instant Pot news...

So, apparently there is a snack called Korean 7 hour Sauna eggs, which can be made in the Instant Pot in 3 hours. I decided to give them a try. They're definitely different in flavor than a typical hard cooked egg. I liked them, but want to try pickling them to see if I'll like them even more.

I did a photo essay on Facebook of the process, should you want to check it out. Here is the final photo, showing a whole peeled Korean Sauna egg and one sliced in half.



The color change of the whites is due to the long cook time under pressure in the shell. There is no soy sauce or other marinade ingredients on the egg.

[Sorus]

That's interesting. How does the texture compare to the regular version?

[Menolly]

To my pallet, the taste and texture of the whites were pretty much the same. I cooked them on high pressure, per the instructions, so the whites were a little more rubbery than my standard hard cooked eggs I do for 2 minutes on low pressure followed by a 7 minute Natural Pressure Release.

The yolks were actually still somewhat creamy. I totally expected them to be like sawdust. But the flavor was very different. Almost a smokey roasted flavor.

The yolks did have a green ring around them. But any sulfuric taste was either covered up by or merged with the smokiness of the yolks themselves.

I do think I'll try them on low pressure for the 2.5 hours next time I make them. Just to see if I can get the same flavor profile with more tender whites.

[Menolly]

I plopped two of the Korean Sauna eggs in to planned over dill pickle juice. We'll see how they turn out in a week or so.

[Sorus]

Never really been into pickled stuff, but the regular versions sounds like it'd be good with an English muffin.

[Menolly]

Sounds like a plan, Sorus!

I added one of the Korean Sauna eggs to my tuna salad. I honestly did not notice a difference in flavor from a standard hard cooked egg addition to it. I know both SD and dam-sel had some of the tuna as well, but I have not heard if they noticed a smokiness to it, either.

[Savor Dam]

I was content to not notice the egg in the tuna.

[Menolly]

I made another batch of the Korean Sauna eggs in my Instant Pot yesterday. I wanted to get the whites a little more tender. When I make regular hard cooked eggs, I do this successfully by using Low pressure rather than High pressure, so I applied this to this batch. However, I think I overcompensated. I decided since they cook so long, that since Soup is a gentler cycle, I would do them on Soup low pressure, rather than on Manual/Pressure Cook low pressure.

The roasted flavor is there, and the whites are definitely more tender. But while my photos are not well lit, I think the difference in color is still apparent.

Next time, I'll try Manual/Pressure Cook low pressure, and see if there is further difference.

[Menolly]

I'm interested in seeing which products will be featured for Prime Days...

[Menolly]

I had a sub assignment at the resource center for one of the school districts I work for. While broken up, it basically lasted three weeks. Usually, at the end of a longer assignment, I make a cheesecake in my Instant Pot three days before my last day, to let it age. But, while they're appreciated, and I believe it gets me in good with those who request subs so I'm kept busy when I'm healthy enough to work, cheesecake ingredients can get pricey and I need to verify there are forks and plates available.

Jeffrey Eisner, who has published two really good pressure cooking cookbooks with a third available for preorder, posted a new recipe for a deep dish chocolate chip cookie on his blog, Pressure Luck Cooking. He uses a 7" springform pan. I used my 8" push pan, increasing the ingredients half again and adding a little time to the pressure cycle. Here's how it turned out.


The homemade cookie dough (tasty!) pushed in to the buttered push pan.


Fresh out of the Instant Pot. Keep in mind while this is pressure cooked, it is cooked with steam, so it is very soft and moist when it is first finished.


After cooling for awhile. One can see the sides releasing from the pan as it cools.


I used an upside down jar of Best Foods mayonnaise as the base to rest the push pan on as I released the sides.


Removed from the bottom plate of the push pan and set on the upside down lid of a Rubbermaid Take-A-Long I use as a cake carrier.


The small slice reheated I allowed myself.


Inside view of the cookie/brownie with reheating directions.


The final morsel of my slice. It is a truly rich and decadent treat. I truly did not need a larger slice.

Here's the recipe for making it in a 7" springform/push pan.

Deep Dish Chocolate Chip Cookie

[SoulBiter]

My wife and I have been saving all our chicken bones for the last few months (freezing the bones) and bought a pound of chicken feet.

So this weekend we crocked the feet with the bones in water, along with some vegetables (Carrots, garlic, onions, celery). After a full 12 hours we had a very nutrient rich, Collagen rich, chicken broth.

We made a large Chicken noodle soup out of some of it and it was absolutely delicious!

We froze the rest but could also have canned it if we wanted. IF anyone decides to do that, if there is fat on top, dont pour it off. It will help seal your jars from the inside. Just an added protection from oxygen getting in and spoiling your broth.

[Savor Dam]

Menolly makes chicken stock in the Instant Pot using a very similar method. Chicken feet make quite a difference! She freezes it in 2 cup portions. She also makes a dark chicken stock by (I think) oven-roasting the bone prior to the pressure-cooking step.

A couple years ago, we found a 10 quart IP for under $100 at a Big Lots, so she now does really upscaled batches...

[Menolly]

She also makes a dark chicken stock by (I think) oven-roasting the bone prior to the pressure-cooking step.

:nod:

It's basically an adaptation of Daniel Gritzer of Serious Eats brown chicken stock. I still use frozen bones I saved from cooked carcasses, but I defrost and roast them along with the vegetables until toasty brown. I also sauté a little tomato paste in schmaltz before adding everything else. I use it as a replacement for beef stock; it works very well.

https://www.seriouseats.com/how-to-make ... cken-stock

[SoulBiter]

We might try that on part of the next batch. What difference in taste are you getting with the darker broth and what kinds of things do you use that for.

We have been saving beef bones (will have some left over ox-tails soon after making some ox-tail soup) and will be making some beef broth soon as well.

At least for the Chicken bone broth, the texture of the broth and the flavor exceeded anything we have ever bought from a store.

[Savor Dam]

We use the dark stock in place of beef broth and as a base for french onion soup.

[Zarathustra]

I get soup bones from Publix and use the Instapot to make bone broth in about 2 hours. I like to skim the fat off the top to use in recipes. The broth is good enough to drink on its own, but makes an awesome soup!

[Menolly]

Is it chicken or beef bone broth, Z?

For my chicken bone broth, I like to cook my bones to the crumbling stage. I make two batches on Soup Low Pressure for four hours each, reusing the same bones for the second batch, but changing out the root vegetables for fresh in the second batch. I then combine them on the stovetop and simmer for about 20 minutes with the an additional onion and carrot, and add the celery, leek, tomato, and fresh dill.

[Zarathustra]

Beef. It's what's for dinner!

[SoulBiter]

Beef. It's what's for dinner!

Oh, I thought you said beer!!! LOL

We just finished an oxtail soup (like beef stew but better) that was incredible. But we are saving all our beef bones for a broth. But that's a great idea... I think I might be able to get some soup bones (beef) from our local butcher.

What do you use the fat skimmed off for in your recipes? Flavoring?

[Zarathustra]

I use it like butter. I put it in my cheese grits. Melt it in a pan before cooking eggs. Etc. The flavor is incredible.