Cookers

Cookers here are multi cookers: one pot that can saute, then slow cook, and on some models hold pressure.

The useful sequence is brown the meat with the saute setting, add liquid, then put the lid on for the long cook. Skipping the saute step is fine for a stew you do not mind looking pale. It is a waste of a machine that has the setting.

A pressure lid locks. The pin stays up while the pot is under pressure. Open it only after the pin has dropped, either by a natural release or by the quick release the manual describes for that model. Forcing the lid is how the seal and the contents both end up on the hob.

Slow cook needs liquid. A pot of meat with no stock will scorch on the base even if the timer still has hours to run. Do not fill past the line inside the pot. Beans and porridge climb.

The sealing ring takes on the smell of the last curry. Some people keep a second ring for baking or cheesecake in the same pot. The metal housing is not a serving bowl you put in the fridge with the cord base still attached.

Roasting a tray of vegetables is an oven job. A soup you want smooth at the end can be finished with an immersion blender once the pressure is gone.