Clone wars!

Hehehehehe...

I find the fat separating jug does not do such a good job as putting the hot juices into the fridge and letting the fat rise up then solidify. OK if you are in a major hurry, but the slower way is better.

I never, ever, use commercial stock cubes. Too much "ingredients) for my taste. OTOH, I always have stock in the freezer. Every bone which comes into the house goes through the stockpot, and I occasionally buy beef or pork bones just to make stock to have available when needed. In my house, "stock cubes" refers to homemade stock which I freeze in an ice cube tray, then pop out and store in a freezer bag. Two or three are usually just the think to deglaze a pan or whathaveyou.

Interesting note about pressure cookers. I discovered it was more and more difficult to find the sealing rings for my old one, so gave it to the church rummage sale and bought a new one. The new one is easier to use, but takes decidedly longer. For instance, the beef stew recipe used to take quite a while to get up steam, but then had to cook for 12 minutes. In the new one, you don't have to wait for it to get up steam then put the pressure valve on, but it takes half an hour to cook the stew beef. Oh well, perhaps the total elapsed time is about the same, I shall have to stand in the kitchen and time things completely one of these days.

Olwyn Mary in New Orleans.

I think a pressure cooker is a pressure cooker, old or new. You could have done the same thing with the older one, and I have done sometimes when it was inconvenient to stand around waiting for the steam to start coming out. Same with the new one. If you l like, you can wait to put the weight on instead of starting out with it in place.

The seals are still available, but a little hard to find because there's so little demand for them anymore. Microwaves and convection ovens seem to be the current hurry-up processes. Sometimes a pressure cooker is just the thing, though, since it tenderizes shoe leather and other tough bits.

I coudn't live without mine, and when the old one broke (the handle broke, and the newer ones, which are otherwise exactly the same), have a different fitting. Mind you, the old one cost me a quid at a rummage sale, and I asked for the new one for Christmas, so neither cost me much! :) Mind you, the new one is now over 10 years old and they've 'updated' it again...

Mine is the slightly older version of the Prestige High Dome 5L cooker with the 3 piece presseure knob. I can cook at 5, 10, or 15 PSI.

You can even get a pressure cooker that works in the microwave! I wonder if it can have a meal ready before you decide what you want for dinner?

CLOFF! Need to wipe monitor...

Having been born and lived my life in Wisconsin, I'll plug the pressure cookers made by National Presto in Eau Claire, WI. They made commercial canners since the turn of the century and made pressure cooking in the home popular in the early 40's for home canning and meal preparation. I have both my grandmother's and my mom's cookers from the 50's and use them regularly. They are cheap and plentiful in used shops: buy one! At least here, they spearheaded pressure cooking in homes.

Presto spare parts are still available for even the oldest models, but you only have to consider 3: gaskets, pressure valves that jiggle on top, and safety "pop-off" valves to prevent them from blowing up when you ignore the instruction book and fill the pot more than 2/3 full when cooking bean soup, which foams up and plugs the vent. (Don't ask how I know this is good advice) Ever sponge-mopped a ceiling?

It is good practice to let the steam purge the air out of the unit when starting up and THEN place the pressure control unit on top, rather than putting in on initially. This may be why you notice the longer cooking times observed. You're better off with steam in the unit rather than air, I'd guess.

I use my unit without fail on St. Patrick's day for corned beef. Cooks in 40 minutes flat rather than taking all day, but I remove and slice it it and layer with onions in a white sauce and cook a little more in the oven. Yummy. JPBill

Ursula ,, if you haven`t read it already ???

You might enjoy reading Women Art and society , By Whitney Chadwick, Thames and Hudson, 1990. mirjam

Oh no, I haven't, but I'll put that on my list, thank you. Been longing for some good reading, actually. At the moment I read 'Angels and Demons' by Dan Brown, just some thriller, but hey, it's OK for a couple of pages at a time whenever I'm on the loo.

U.