Elite Rice Cooker

- Teach me how to pressure cook?
I just purchased an Elite 8qt pressure cooker. (http://kitchen-dining.hsn.com/elite-13-function-8qt-electronic-pressure-cooker_p-6287011_xp.aspx?web_id=6287014&ocm=sekw) Can I brown ground beef in it? How do I drain the grease? What setting do I put it on if I want to cook more than one kind of food? For example say I want to make chicken and rice: Do I use the rice setting or the poultry setting? Do I have to cook both foods separate? Any other tips you have for me?

A The problem is that you made a rather poor choice of which kind of pressure cooker to learn. You bought an 8 qt. electric model. That's huge, way too big for most families. That large size means that it takes longer to come up to pressure. It's also enormous to move around the kitchen, like the issue of draining grease that you mentioned. You'll probably need to spoon or ladle it out, because it's too big to be flipping on its side. The fact that it's electric is a problem because it controls the cooking process, not you. So you better read that manual very carefully to find out how all those modes work. In a regular stovetop pressure cooker, you don't have rice or poultry "settings". Who knows what those settings do? You'll have to read the manual to find out. I know that you can do chicken an rice (arroz con pollo) in 6 minutes. No you don't have to cook them separately. The item that cooks the longest is what you use for timing, in this case the rice, so long as the chicken has been deboned and cut up. Can you brown meat in it? You'll have to look up in the manual if the cooker can be turned on without the lid. In a regular stovetop cooker, it can be used as a normal pot, so browning and draining the fat is no problem. If you can return it, I suggest you do so. It's better to have a 4qt. and 6qt. stainless steel stovetop pressure cooker (with aluminum/copper base or core) and a lid with a spring valve. An example is the Fagor Splendid 2-in-1.