My Nana’s house is always the place where our family gathers for whatever occasion we have. Every Holiday and family reunion, my Nana always leads the cooking for our get-togethers. She usually cooks delicious dishes in a pressure cooker for large groups. It’s really amazing how she can make large batches of mouth-watering meals for our big family.

Benefits of Cooking Food with a Pressure Cooker for Large Groups

Cooking in a pressure cooker for large groups definitely offers amazing benefits because of its features and functions. This is why whenever we’re in our Nana’s house, we can always hear her pressure cookers’ wheezing and searing sound.

Saves Time

Nana loves pressure cooking for large groups since it can significantly reduce the time taken to prepare these dishes. By using a pressure cooker, you can achieve much quicker results than conventional methods due to the high pressure and steam generated within the cooker. This makes feeding a multitude of people easier and more efficient.

Eco-friendly

Creating batches of food for family or guests at reunions can be an energy-draining activity if you’re using the stove or oven. Fortunately, employing a pressure cooker is an excellent way to significantly reduce both the required cooking time and the amount of energy consumed in the process. This handy kitchen appliance not only cuts down on your cook time but also helps conserve energy with its efficient heating system.

Large Capacity

Pressure cookers come in a wide range of sizes, making it easy to find one that suits your needs. Certain models can hold an impressive amount of food, enabling you to quickly prepare meals for a large number of people without having to make multiple batches. This makes pressure cooking an ideal solution for anyone who regularly cooks for crowds or groups of people.

Tips and Techniques When Cooking in a Pressure Cooker for Large Groups

Having a meal for a large group of people can be an intimidating task. One of the most frequent issues when preparing food for a large crowd is ensuring enough to feed everyone. Luckily, my Nana has been cooking for large groups, so she can offer some of the best tips when cooking in a pressure cooker for large groups.

Adjust the Recipe Accordingly

My Nana has a special knack for cooking large amounts of food when she is catering to a big group. She achieves this by adjusting the recipes she uses to increase the portion size of each dish, ensuring that everyone gets their fill. This skillful technique allows her to make enough food for even the hungriest of crowds.

When she’s adapting recipes for larger groups, she starts by adjusting the ingredient quantities according to the size of the pressure cooker she’s using. Larger pressure cookers can hold more food, but you may need to adjust the cooking time accordingly. It’s also important to use a sufficient amount of liquid to prevent burning and to allow for proper pressure release. 

Cook One-pot Meals

Another great option for cooking meals to feed large groups of people is one-pot dishes. Pressure cookers are an ideal piece of equipment to make these meals quickly and conveniently. These types of recipes can be made with a variety of ingredients, making them easy to customize according to the tastes and preferences of those being served. One-pot dishes are also relatively simple to prepare. You only need to add all the ingredients once cooked together, eliminating the need for multiple steps or complicated instructions.

Choosing the Right Size

My Nana owns various sizes of pressure cookers, even the large one, which is ideal for huge families. So, if you’re planning to cook in a pressure cooker for large groups, it’s essential to use the right size. Typically, 8 Quartz pressure cookers are enough to cook big batches of food at a time.

For very large groups, there is an excellent choice of 17 to 22 quartz models available for this appliance. This makes it a great investment, especially if you are catering to parties or huge events which require a large number of servings. Not only will these larger models be able to provide enough food for your guests, but they will also help generate substantial cost savings in the long run.

Prepare the Ingredients in Advance

A day before the event at my Nana’s house, most of us are busy preparing the ingredients she needs for the dishes she’ll cook. We help her to prepare everything from meat, vegetables, and spices in advance. Most of the ingredients are already chopped and stored in containers. If ever there are beans in the recipe, she’ll soak it the day before. Some meats are also seasoned in advance so that Nana will not spend a lot of time with the preparation.

Prepare Additional Resources

When cooking large batches for parties or get-togethers, my Nana is always prepared and makes sure that she has the necessary equipment for efficient cooking. One of her tried-and-true methods is to borrow additional pressure cookers from family and friends in order to save time when preparing a substantial quantity of food.

So, if you need to cook for a large group of people, you can borrow kitchen utensils and equipment. This will save you time and money as well as the hassle of having to purchase everything yourself. It is also great if your friends or family have any items that they don’t use very often and would be willing to lend them out when needed. Having access to these items can make cooking for a larger group much easier.

Cook Simple Meals

My Nana is well-known for her hosting skills, and one thing she always does when organizing a gathering is select simple yet delicious dishes. She puts great thought into the menu, making sure that each of her guests can find something that they enjoy.

Choosing to cook simple meals for large groups can make the meal preparation process less stressful and more enjoyable for everyone involved. Planning meals that are easy to prepare will save time, energy, and money while still providing a tasty meal that everyone can enjoy.

Using a pressure cooker for cooking large group meals can be a great time and energy saver. I was taught by my Nana that it is an incredibly efficient way of preparing meals, as it drastically reduces the amount of cooking time needed to make enough food for a big group. Pressure cooking is definitely a valuable asset when catering to a large number of people. The ability to cook in large batches also makes it easier to serve everyone at once