![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/110126-pressure1.jpg\")
\nThe extra hour tucked into the small ones this morning was supposed to give us time to lie around and decompress after the remarkable series of celebrations and celestial events that carried us through Summer and came roaring into Fall.<\/p>\n
\nThe extra hour tucked into the small ones this morning was supposed to give us time to lie around and decompress after the remarkable series of celebrations and celestial events that carried us through Summer and came roaring into Fall.<\/p>\n
Instead, it gave us a chance to feel jet-lagged before Happy Hour.<\/p>\n
As you can see, the Galley crew is attempting to keep its collective temperature somewhere within the range of comfort.<\/p>\n
That takes some doing. Out on the campaign trail, the pressure keeps rising. With two days remaining before Election Day, we are already bracing for the arguments about the results. We intend to stumble through the rest of this pleasant Sunday and emerge into that curious Monday serving as a placeholder for a troublesome Tuesday.
\nMeanwhile, Holly has introduced another source of pressure.<\/p>\n
She bought an Instant Pot Pro out of her own purse.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/110126-pressure2.jpg\")
\n(Instant Pot Pro 8-QT 10-in-One awe do not yet understand and our traditional slow-cook
\nLodge Essential Enamel Cast Iron Dutch Oven, 7.5 Quart).<\/p>\n
This is no sales pitch. It is a report from a small compartment in which new equipment keeps arriving faster than the operators can qualify to use it.<\/p>\n
The mission remains straightforward: produce good, nutritious meals for a crowd that can fluctuate between four and fourteen, using the limited counter space in what used to be the Fourth Floor Custodian\u2019s Locker. Large oven assignments\u2014turkeys, for example\u2014still belong in The Trillium\u2019s main kitchen on the sixth floor.
\nEverything else seems to require another appliance.<\/p>\n
Holly\u2019s contribution is an eight-quart Instant Pot Pro, a machine advertised as doing ten things. We have yet to achieve a quorum on precisely how it does the first one.<\/p>\n
It promises faster cooking and several useful functions in a single piece of hardware. That has obvious appeal in a Galley where every square inch already has an assignment. Whether it saves the advertised time will become clearer once we stop spending the afternoon reading the instructions.<\/p>\n
New technology meets old iron: an eight-quart Instant Pot Pro beside an enameled cast-iron Dutch oven. The yellow pot pictured is a Le Creuset; our familiar Lodge remains part of the Galley inventory.<\/p>\n
We are heading into the traditional holidays with an impressive collection of science projects. There is the air fryer, the Instant Pot and several other machines we have been assured we cannot live without. One apparently makes rolls resembling doughnuts. Others promise feats we had not previously realized were missing from our lives.<\/p>\n
Finding somewhere to put them is becoming another specialty.<\/p>\n
Holly had intended to introduce her Instant Pot Pro Beef Stroganoff. First, however, we encountered the pressure-release portion of the syllabus.<\/p>\n
The machine can produce a startling plume of steam when pressure is released through the valve. This attracted immediate attention from everyone nearby, including those who had previously expressed no interest in helping with dinner.<\/p>\n
It also raised a practical question about the cabinet above the counter.<\/p>\n
Before the next trial, we need a suitable operating position with clear space for the steam, following the manufacturer\u2019s instructions. We also need to understand when a recipe calls for a natural pressure release and when it calls for a quick one.
\n\u201cInstant,\u201d it turns out, still includes time to build pressure\u2014and time to let it go.<\/p>\n
There is another distinction for the qualification board: browning happens with the Saut\u00e9 function and the lid off. Pressure cooking uses liquid and a closed lid. The machine offers both, but the operators need to know which evolution they are conducting.
\nWe intend to qualify all four members of the protein team. Beef, chicken, pork and seafood each deserve someone who understands the controls before promising dinner to the rest of the watch section.<\/p>\n
The eight-quart designation also requires a little restraint. It describes the pot\u2019s size, not permission to fill it to the brim for pressure cooking. Feeding fourteen will still require menu planning, side dishes and, when necessary, another batch.<\/p>\n
Fortunately, we already own other pots.<\/p>\n
Our familiar Dutch oven can help with staging and serving, provided we keep the food properly hot. It has been performing useful work for years without asking anyone to select a program.<\/p>\n
We will keep you posted as qualifications proceed.<\/p>\n
We had the Dutch Oven pretty well figured out.<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 Vic Socotra
\nwww.vicsocotra.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The extra hour tucked into the small ones this morning was supposed to give us time to lie around and decompress after the remarkable series of celebrations and celestial events that carried us through Summer and came roaring into Fall. Instead, it gave us a chance to feel jet-lagged before Happy Hour. As you can […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-socotra"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34688"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34688\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34692,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34688\/revisions\/34692"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}