The pressure cooker performs brilliantly when extracting all the flavor from a smoked ham hock or smoked turkey part cooked with beans. It will also cook beans much faster than is otherwise possible. Put the two together, with enough water to cover, and you can have saucy, seasoned beans in as little as 10 to 15 minutes of cooking at 15 pounds pressure. Pressure-cooker manufacturers commonly recommend two precautions for beans: do not fill the cooker more than half full, and add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil per cup of beans to prevent frothing. To these we add another warning: be skeptical of the cooking times suggested in your ownerΓÇÖs manual, as they can be much too long. For firm texture, cook presoaked beans at 15 pounds pressure for one-fifth to one-quarter of the minimum cooking time listed in About Bean Varieties; you can always simmer the beans longer without pressure if needed. Some cooks do not bother presoaking beans that will go into the pressure cooker and just add 5 minutes (or 10 minutes for chickpeas and other long-cooking types) to compensate; if you choose to follow suit, remember to use at least 4 cups water and 1 tablespoon oil per cup of beans. But we do not recommend this practice, as it is likely to split the bean skins, diminishing the texture of the beans and increasing the risk of clogging the steam vent.
