Saturday, February 28, 2015

Hard Boiled Eggs in a Pressure Cooker

It’s no secret I love my pressure cooker.  It makes the best pot roast in the world.  It’s saved my bacon on several occasions when I’ve only got 30 minutes to get dinner on the table.  And I’m always looking for new recipes to try in it.  Just published is The Great Big Pressure Cooker Book with 500 recipe, and what is the first one I choose to try…hard boiled eggs.

I know it’s not the fanciest of dishes, but here’s the thing-I heard you could boil eggs under high pressure or they’d explode (I knew it was possible to do so under low pressure, but my cooker only comes with one setting).  Well, I’m on a diet that allows me two eggs for a protein serving and I thought I’d eggs-periment with with a batch for my snacks.  ( I couldn’t resist the pun)

The instructions specify a 6 quart and I have an 8 quart.  My understanding was it would take my cooker longer to come up to pressure (I guess because the steam has that much more space to fill first) so I added a little more water than what the recipe calls for, but I didn’t reduce the time under pressure.  Here’s the instructions for a 6 quart electric pot.

1. Add about 2 inches of water to the pressure cooker and insert a metal vegetable steamer in the bottom.  The water shouldn’t come through the holes of the steamer.

2. Place up to 12 large eggs in the steamer.

3. Cover with the lid and seal.  Bring the cooker up to pressure and set the cooker’s timer for 3 minutes.

4. When the machine reverts to its warming cycle, unplug it and let it sit for 8 minutes.  Use the quick-release method at the end of this time.

5. Unlock the lid and transfer the eggs to a bowl.  Peel them while still warm.

 I made sure I had the full 2 inches of water in the cooker, but that brought the level up through the steamer holes so I just added a rack to the steamer.  The wires actually kept the eggs from rolling around which might be a good thing.

Bottom line:  no eggs exploded, in fact only one had a crack.  The next step of course is the peeling and I’d heard that pressure cooked eggs were easier to peel.  Unfortunately, this is also a false rumor.  I found the eggs were no easier to peel than traditionally boiled eggs.  Oh well, I guess I’ll save that problem for another eggs-periment.

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