If I double a recipe, do I double the pressure cook time?
Not usually. Each recipe is a little different, but most you will cook for the same time (or less) even if you double the ingredients. There are exceptions and the best way to determine if you need to make adjustments is to think about what you are cooking and ask these questions.
- When I double the ingredients in this recipe, will the mass of the individual food increase? For example, if you doubled a rice recipe, each grain of rice doesn't change it's size (mass), only the volume of rice changes. However, if I double the amount of ground beef I use to make a meatloaf, the overall size (mass) of the meatloaf will change. It will double in size.
- you do not need to increase the pressure cook time for examples like rice. In fact, you may want to decrease the overall time. I'll get to that next.
- you would need to increase the pressure cook time for examples like meatloaf to allow enough time for the larger mass to cook through.
- When I double the ingredients in this recipe, will I need to increase the amount of thin liquid I use? For example, if you doubled a rice recipe, you would need to increase the amount of thin liquid because the rice needs to absorb the liquid to soften. However, if you doubled the ingredients for a meatloaf, you would not need to increase your thin liquid.
- When increasing the thin liquid in a recipe, it will take longer for that liquid to boil and produce enough steam to put the pot under pressure. This results in a longer time to pressure, which is cook time. Therefore, with quick cooking foods like rice and pasta, if you double the recipe and the liquid amount, then you might want to decrease your PC time by a minute or so to make up for the extended time to pressure.