Pressure cooker delay timer use case

Question

Many electric pressure cookers, such as my Power Pressure Cooker XL come with delay time feature. According to the manual this can delay cooking by up to 24 hrs. Apparently to accommodate user's schedule. But wouldn't the ingredients spoil by that time? Has anyone used this feature? Am I not getting it right?

Answer 1

I can give you a couple of delay timer use cases. I use it A LOT! The main way I use it is to set-up my oatmeal in a bowl ahead of time (using this technique) so it will cook while I sleep and be ready to eat when I wake up. Some also drop tea bags in the steaming water to make tea at the same time - I've tried it out of curiosity it doesn't taste that great (the tea).

Once a week I use it is to set-up a veggie dinner to be ready when I come home late from bringing my kids to after-school activities. We could be walking in the door at 8:30pm and it's a life-saver to throw some bowls on the table and serve dinner shortly after walking in the door. The recipes have to be all vegetarian as meat cannot sit in the pressure cooker waiting to cook (even frozen meat). Here are some of my family favorites to have ready for when we just walk in the door

• Chickpea Curry & Brown Rice One Pot
• Butternut Squash Soup (with garlic bread I've prepared ahead of time)
• Split Pea & Bacon Soup (this is OK because it is cured meat)
• Sweet Potatoes & Black-eyed Peas One Pot

I hope that these ideas can spur more ideas on how to use the timer. There are probably more ways but these are the two main ways I use the delay timer on an electric pressure cooker!

Answer 2

Dried legumes, and sometimes grains, are commonly soaked 3-24h before pressure cooking them, and this feature would allow useful automation of that method.

Answer 3

I don't understand the logic behind this feature. You use a pressure cooker to rapidly achieve results similar to cooking something on a very low temperature for a long period of time.

If it has a timer to delay cooking until you come home, for instance, then why wouldn't someone just use a slow cooker instead? Quite baffling to me.

I wouldn't put proteins in it, but vegetables covered in whatever you intend to cook / build pressure with should be okay - could be a great way to time some pickling of stuff now that I think about it.

But as marketed, the feature doesn't seem very useful to me. I'd look for more information from the manufacturer as to the intended use of that particular feature, and if they can't provide any, then just trust your instincts.