Under Pressure
Yesterday's Daily Dilemma really got you thinking about ways to eat a more environmentally friendly diet. Thank you for all of your responses. One class even pledged to eat a low carbon diet. They designed a menu of fruits and vegetables, un-packaged foods, and homemade goods instead of store-bought ones. Way to go!
We're really exicted that so many of you have pledged to make environmentally-friendly decisions when it comes to food. We also want to remind you to think about where your food comes from. How far did your food have to travel from farm to supermarket? Try to make locally-produced foods a priority when you're making your decisions about what to eat. If your food doesn't have to travel far, you're helping to prevent global climate change by not relying on trucks or airplanes to ship your food long distances. Here in the Amazon rainforest, people eat very locally. All of their bananas grow right in their backyard. There are no packaged foods to buy once you get out of the larger towns. For the most part, people in the rainforest live a carbon neutral lifestyle.
Now onto today's Daily Dilemma. Each day for lunch, we eat rice and beans. The beans we have are dried and hard. We soak them in water for 24 hours before cooking them to make them softer. However, the new beans we bought take forever to cook. Sometimes they take up to 3 hours before they are ready. On most mornings, we are all packed up, the canoes are loaded, but we have to wait around for an hour or so before we can leave because of the beans. It's really annoying, and it seems like a waste of time.
This morning in Sao Jose da Surpresa, a woman brought us a pressure cooker to help speed up the bean-cooking time. Beans that took three hours to cook, took only 45 minutes this morning using the pressure cooker. A pressure cooker is a large pot with a tightly sealed lid. When water is boiled, the steam can't leave the pressure cooker. The steam helps the beans cook much faster. Should we buy a pressure cooker in the next large town we pass through? They cost about $30. The only problem with pressure cookers is that they can be dangerous. Pressure cookers can explode or cause burns if not used properly. We are all familiar with how pressure cookers work and have used them in the past. It would make our morning routine much faster, so we could get on the water earlier during the cooler part of the day when the animals are most active. A pressure cooker would also reduce the amount of gasoline we use in our camping stoves, helping to reduce our carbon footprint. Send us your thoughts!
We're really exicted that so many of you have pledged to make environmentally-friendly decisions when it comes to food. We also want to remind you to think about where your food comes from. How far did your food have to travel from farm to supermarket? Try to make locally-produced foods a priority when you're making your decisions about what to eat. If your food doesn't have to travel far, you're helping to prevent global climate change by not relying on trucks or airplanes to ship your food long distances. Here in the Amazon rainforest, people eat very locally. All of their bananas grow right in their backyard. There are no packaged foods to buy once you get out of the larger towns. For the most part, people in the rainforest live a carbon neutral lifestyle.
Now onto today's Daily Dilemma. Each day for lunch, we eat rice and beans. The beans we have are dried and hard. We soak them in water for 24 hours before cooking them to make them softer. However, the new beans we bought take forever to cook. Sometimes they take up to 3 hours before they are ready. On most mornings, we are all packed up, the canoes are loaded, but we have to wait around for an hour or so before we can leave because of the beans. It's really annoying, and it seems like a waste of time.
This morning in Sao Jose da Surpresa, a woman brought us a pressure cooker to help speed up the bean-cooking time. Beans that took three hours to cook, took only 45 minutes this morning using the pressure cooker. A pressure cooker is a large pot with a tightly sealed lid. When water is boiled, the steam can't leave the pressure cooker. The steam helps the beans cook much faster. Should we buy a pressure cooker in the next large town we pass through? They cost about $30. The only problem with pressure cookers is that they can be dangerous. Pressure cookers can explode or cause burns if not used properly. We are all familiar with how pressure cookers work and have used them in the past. It would make our morning routine much faster, so we could get on the water earlier during the cooler part of the day when the animals are most active. A pressure cooker would also reduce the amount of gasoline we use in our camping stoves, helping to reduce our carbon footprint. Send us your thoughts!
Comments
Bring one so you can get your chores done and can get back to work.
Posted by: Marcus | May 1, 2008 5:51 AM
GO WITH YOUR CONSCIENCE
AND YOU WILL MAKE THE RIGHT DECISION
Posted by: TJ | May 1, 2008 8:24 AM
DO dONT USE THE BEANS IF THEY ARE TAKING SO LONG
Posted by: joe | May 1, 2008 8:25 AM
I think that the pressure cooker would help a lot...if you're careful. It could help speed things up, but also cause nasty burns that you won't want to deal with. Just be careful and you'll be off to a nice advantage
Posted by: makaila | May 1, 2008 8:27 AM
that is a great idea and you should keep doing it.
Posted by: Zoe | May 1, 2008 8:30 AM
You shouldn't by a pressure cooker. What you should do is get different kinds of beans that you guys might think that look interesting(to you). Then get those beans and try one of them for one day. another fir another and ect. anyway you should try that. Hope I could help that was I I got
Good luck
Posted by: Esther | May 1, 2008 8:31 AM
Hi,
We are a 6th grade class at Jackman Elementary in Ohio. We would like to help you with your dilema.We think you should buy a pressure cooker to time and gas. Good luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: Gina K. | May 1, 2008 8:58 AM
Yes, we think you can use the pressure cookers to save time but please be extremely careful due to the hazards involved.
2nd Period
SHJH
Posted by: Mrs. Hartley | May 1, 2008 9:07 AM
You should go with whatever you feel is right. If you feel like taking the risk, take it.
Posted by: Amy | May 1, 2008 10:50 AM
Our east coast (NY) sixth grade class feels you should buy one because you are aware of the dangers already and therefore, you can be very careful as you are using it. Also, it would save you precious time!!
Posted by: Mrs. Sicari's 6th Grade Class | May 1, 2008 11:47 AM
I Think you should buy it it wouls really help.
Posted by: Kaylee | May 1, 2008 11:57 AM
We are Mrs. Sylvester's class from Prairie Hill and we think you should buby it.
Posted by: Kaylee | May 1, 2008 11:58 AM
Yes get a pressure cooker to save time and energy, but stand back when it's cooking.
Posted by: Gary Keiser | May 1, 2008 12:20 PM
We vote no to buying a pressure cooker because of the storage of the pressure cooker, the weight of the pressure cooker on the boat, the use of fuel, and the danger of injury
Posted by: Ms. McGowan's 4th Grade Class | May 1, 2008 1:21 PM
Yes I think you should buy the pressure cooker.
Posted by: uhghgbhjh | May 1, 2008 2:29 PM
Buy it! The clincher was that you all were experienced with one. That means less danger; and it will make your work easier and mornings faster.
Posted by: 303 and K. Hoag | May 1, 2008 2:48 PM
You should get the pressure cooker because it can really help you save time and I doubt any of you guys will get an injury because you know how to use it properly. Just make sure you don't leave the beans in the cooker too long.
Posted by: Gloria | May 1, 2008 2:59 PM
I think you should buy a pressure cooker, because it would save you lots of time that you could spend looking for animals and canoeing. You also know the dangers of the pressure cooker, so you can avoid them. I think it's a great idea because you are decreasing global warming by not using gas. Hope you think this helps!! =)
Posted by: SaRaH | May 1, 2008 4:43 PM
You shouldnt buy it because you still have to pay to heat up the pressure cooker. So it will still cost money. Also you could cook you beans at night then heat them up in the morning. It would be less dangerous to not have the pressure cooker. You shouldnt buy it.
Posted by: Jdog AM I | May 1, 2008 8:49 PM
Pressure cookers do not work by keeping the steam in the vessel. The relationship of atmospheric pressure to boiling point does the work. Simply, the higher the pressure, the higher the boiling point.
Liquids cannot get hotter than their boiling point. Water at normal or sea level boils at about 212 degrees, so that is the temperature you are cooking at. If you raise the pressure, as in a pressure cooker, you raise the potential cooking temperature.
Pressure cookers are especially needed at high altitudes like Mt Everest. The boiling point at that altitude is only 156 degrees, and hardly anything will cook at that temperature.
You'd have to wait a day or so for your beans to cook there without a pressure cooker.
Posted by: Heyerdahl | May 9, 2008 9:11 AM