Electric Pressure Cooker Overview ~ Potato Soup, Fast!

Electric Pressure Cooker Overview ~ Potato Soup, Fast!

UPDATE: We’ve updated this recipe. See the latest version, using the Instant Pot with a new video here —> Pressure Cooker Potato Soup

Aright foodie warriors, are y’all ready to dive into pressure? Rather, pressure cooking?

I don’t know about you but this whole pressure cooking thing is new to me and I gotta say, I LOVE it! I mean, I’m a huge procrastinator. I will wait until 4 o’clock in the afternoon to decide what I’m having for dinner after dilly-dallying around all day with this and that and sometimes, well.. that can leave me in a bind.

I admit it, I’m picky. I don’t like fast food and I absolutely hate pre-made, frozen meals, boxed GMO crud or whatever that stuff is. It’s just horrible for you.

So, this handy dandy, fancy-schmancy gadget right here is a SUPER supper savor!

I wanted to give a quick run down on the technical part of the electric pressure cooker for you folks out there that are considering making the investment. This one here is the Power Pressure Cooker XL. It was $99 and some change. Yes, that’s a pretty big chunk of change but I’m telling you, it’s totally worth it. (wait til we get to the canning part next week!!)

Okay, so let’s take a look at the innards of this thing..

Starting counter-clockwise, you’ve got the base with the power cord over there on the right, the inner pot, the lid with the pressure seal and vent valve and the steamer tray. It also comes with the owner’s manual, a small cookbook and a pressure canning guide.

On the side of the unit, you’ll find this little cup that’s there to catch any condensation that comes off the side. The cup is easy to remove for cleaning.

The pressure seal and vent is probably the most important part of the whole gadget. In order for the unit to heat up and build pressure, you have to lock the vent. The bulls-eye icon is for locking (pressure).  When your food is finished, you’ll carefully turn the vent to release the steam. That’s the little broccoli looking icon.

The under side of the lid has an aluminum plate with a rubber gasket on it. You’ll remove it from the lid each time you’re finished using your pressure cooker to clean it.

It easily snaps back into place. You just line the hole in the center with the nail that’s sticking out of the underside of the lid.

If you have any questions about this model, let me know and I’ll do my best to fill you in. Just drop a line in that little comment box down below and I’ll catch up with ya 😉

Alright, are you ready for a super fast, super yummy recipe? Of course you are!

This little gathering of goodness here is the ingredients we’re gonna use to make a terrific potato soup in less than 30 minutes.

We’ve got some homemade chicken stock, potatoes, onions, celery, a few slices of chopped up bacon, a bay leaf, thyme and salt and pepper.

Brown the bacon first. You’ll heat up your unit by pressing the soup/stew button. It only takes about 2 minutes to heat up and then you’re ready to work. After you’ve browned the bacon to your liking, take half of it out and set aside for garnishing your soup.

Add the rest of the ingredients.

And because I like my potato soup a little thicker, I added a couple tablespoons of flour and stirred that in.

Place the lid on after you’ve got everything in the pot and turn the valve to the closed position. Hit the keep warm/cancel button. Then hit the soup/stew button. Adjust the timer to 15 minutes. The digital display will have a blinking curser that goes around until the unit heats and builds pressure up enough to cook the food. Once it starts cooking, the display will begin to count the minutes down. When the food is done, the timer will beep and automatically go to warm mode and stay there until you cancel it or unplug the unit.

With a potholder to protect your hand, you’ll move the pressure valve to the steam release setting. Be sure you do not put your face near the unit when releasing the valve. Steam will come flowing out of it and you could be burned, so be careful doing this.

Once you have taken the lid off, you’ll add some half and half to the pot and stir. Remove the bay leaf and stems from the thyme and you’re ready to eat.

This potato soup turned out fabulous. In fact, I made a second batch to save for lunches.

Easy, right? I’m finding that it’s actually quite spoiling to use a pressure cooker for soups because let’s face it, sometimes you just want a good soup and you don’t want to wait.

I hope you’ll give this yummy soup a try. If you’ve got any great pressure cooker tips, I’d love to hear from you!

Have a fabulous week and as always, keep it delicious.

Till next time ~ much love, Connie

Note: We’ve updated this recipe. The original is still in the print-out below. For the new version, please visit this post —> Instant Pot Potato Soup. We’ve also made a video just for you fine foodie folks out there 😉 so be sure to check it out.