Dear Jean:
I'm so pleased I can help.
1. Steam Monitoring - Pressure Cookers
The American pressure cookers have the rattling weight on top of a steam vent. As you know, the speed of the rattle is your way of monitoring temperature. I've had three european pressure cookers, one Magafesa (Spanish and the design has since changed) and two Kuhn Rikons (Swiss, and the design is pretty standard.) The pressure is regulated through a spring. Once you get the temp to the red mark on the spring, you reduce temperature and leave it there. Of course you have to get used to how much you have to reduce heat, but generally for me, I have to reduce it to the minimum on the dial.
2. Safety: Pressure Cookers.
The steam vent in the older American pressure cookers can become clogged. The pressure builds up until the clog dissolves, and the rattle on the top is blown off. Or, the steam vent becomes clogged, and you think the pressure is down, so you open the pressure cooker when there is steam in it. When you do that the lid flies off.
This is the Kuhn Rikon I use for camping:
Duromatic® Stockpot 8.75" 8.4-qt | Kuhn Rikon
It fits in my deep storage underneath the thicker storage tray. First, the primary steam valve doesn't fly off - you screw a black nut on and the pressure is regulated through the red lines on the valve. Second, there is a silicone plug that will release pressure if there is a dangerous build up. Third, both of these steam release devices are underneath a stainless steel tee pee that directs steam down toward the pan. Fourth, the gasket will dislodge and vent steam on the side of there is a dangerous build up.
After the pressure cooker explosion I referred to I couldn't look at a pressure cooker for years without shuddering. But I am completely comfortable with the Kuhn Rikon. Reliable, heavy enough that the temperature is easy to keep steady, and the safety features are effective. You can get replacement parts for everything.
3. Food Prep with Pressure Cooker.
In a pressure cooker, you never use more than about 1/2 the space inside the pan. This is because you need sufficient air to build up pressure. Plus, you don't want food anywhere near the steam valve to clog it.
If I cook e.g. wheat berries, kamut, barley, legumes, or steel cut oats in the pressure cooker, my general pattern is as follows. If the instructions call for 1 cup of grain to 4 cups of water, I typically use 1 cup of grain and 3.75 cups of water. This is because with the spring mechanism, water doesn't boil off.
Depending on my day, timing has choices:
Choice 1: If the instructions call for a 40 minute cook, I cook for 20 minutes. I bring the PC up to the second red line, and then turn down the heat to minimum. I leave it on the burner. Since I've used it so much, I am comfortable with the temperatures and I know how much heat to put under it - I can ignor it. I don't need to constantly monitor. You would have to use awhile it to feel that way I think. In the camp inn, I use a heat diffuser.
Choice 2: If the instructions call for a 40 minute cook, I bring the heat up to the second line and cook for a couple of minutes, and put the PC in the wonderbag and leave it for hours. No worry about burning or scortching... When I come back it is ready.
I think it would be the same for meat. I would hesitate to cook vegetables in this way because they would be mushy. But you could cook a roast while you were gone, and then throw in your vegetables and bring it up to temp and it would be cooked almost immediately.
When I make soup I do this: Sautee onions and garlic in the PC. Put cheap stew meat and bay leaves in the pan and brown. Put cheap wine or water in the pan. Bring PC up to temperature for a couple of minutes. Put in wonderbag. Later, I add whatever vegetables I want to the soup, bring it up to temperature, let the pressure release and eat.
4. Size of wonder bag.
You would defintely want the large size. The small size is good for about a 2 quart pan. It would be hard to use pans with a long handle in the wonderbag.
5. Traveling with the wonderbag.
I think it would be fine with your dutch oven, because the lid would be heavy enough. The bottom part of the bag is not puffy - it is level and about an inch thick. The cast iron of the dutch oven would work well in the wonder bag. I think you could do casserolls or egg dishes pretty well because the protein would never over cook and would stay moist. Soup would work well - I don't think you would have as much risk of over cooking the vegetables.
6. Water in the Pressure Cooker
I just want to mention that we use the pressure cooker to bring water for tea and coffee up to boil in the winter. Very fast. We then put the water in a thermos and use it throughout the day.
I hope this is helpful.
Lorie
