Amazon's Slow Free Super Shipping

[Sarah in SC]

Dang, I have two pressure cookers, one huge and one brand new small one still in the box that I got last Christmas. I have got to figure out how to use them!
Any recipes you want to share, Ha (or Sues soup)? Simple stuff--please! No gourmands around my house.

[mickj]

If you have any relation to a real or imagined child you can get prime benefits free for 3 months..

Amazon Mom

[haha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sarah in SC Dang, I have two pressure cookers, one huge and one brand new small one still in the box that I got last Christmas. I have got to figure out how to use them! Any recipes you want to share, Ha (or Sues soup)? Simple stuff--please! No gourmands around my house.

I don't eat beans or rice, so currently I mainly use mine to cook cheaper tougher cuts of meat, to use however I wish. Cook a whole chiken, bone it and put the meat in the fridg for use in curries, tacos if you eat them, chicken salad, etc. I cook briskets, rump roast, country style ribs, corned beef- and use however I want. I am no gourmet either!

One dish I make complete in the PC is chile colorado, no beans. It could be made fine with beans, using whatever spices and herbs you enjoy. Mine is fiery hot. Any meat and bean dish is an easy combo.

One more thing- I almost always cook in the steamer basket, rather than down in the water. I use the minimum amount of water to give me a concentrated base for a sauce, or just to have as a soup for supper. Yesterday I made a rump roast, and ate it with a sauce of sautéed onions and garlic and celery and finely chopped carrot. Then last night I cooked spinach in the remaining broth for my supper.

Usually if you cook a tough cut of beef and vegetables for the same amount of time, you will be having vegetable mush. There are complicated methods such as de-pressurizing after a certain amount of time and adding the veg, but I don't find that very appealing. If I wanted to cook more veggies to serve alongside the meat I think I would buy a 2nd cooker.

Ha

[Dawg52]

I ordered a pack of flea med prevention(for the dog) just using the free shipping option and got it in 7 days. About what I expected. I have ordered a few other things through Amazon and had the same experience.

[Sarah in SC]

I order vet stuff from Pet Shed, Dawg, you might want to check them out although I suspect my quantities are WAY higher than yours to justify ordering stuff from Australia!

Ha, at the risk of sounding completely senseless...so, you put the chicken in a basket, add how much water and then what, turn on the stove to high and wait for it to explode?

Details, please! I've cooked chicken sort of like you've described in my crockpot, but the pressure cooker sort of freaks me out.

[haha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sarah in SC I order vet stuff from Pet Shed, Dawg, you might want to check them out although I suspect my quantities are WAY higher than yours to justify ordering stuff from Australia! Ha, at the risk of sounding completely senseless...so, you put the chicken in a basket, add how much water and then what, turn on the stove to high and wait for it to explode? Details, please! I've cooked chicken sort of like you've described in my crockpot, but the pressure cooker sort of freaks me out.

Sarah, I want you to avoid all explosions. First, carefully read your instructions. Does your cooker cook at 15 psi? The Indian cookware maker Hawkins suggest a minimum of 1 cup water to get up to pressure, and 1/2 additional cups for each ten minutes of cooktime. I have a plastic McDonalds glass from a super sized iced tea- for most steamed things I just put in that glass-full. Hawkins has a good website with lots of Indian recipes. Apparently pressure cookers are very popular in India because of fuel saving.

You turn heat on high until operating pressure is reached, (you will know because steam will be escaping from the regulator valve). Then turn it down until just a bit of steam is escaping as you go along. Too vigorous steam escape means you are wasting water and increasing the chance to go dry, no steam escaping means you are not pressure cooking. If you have not cut the heat and no steam is escaping after it has once come up to pressure, you are likely out of water and should take the pot off the heat, wait for the pressure to dissipate, and open up and add more water. Your directions will tell exactly how to use the thing safely.

When I steam meat usually the basket will be above the water level, so the chicken or meat cooks solely in the steam.

For lunch I cooked collards and other greens with ham hocks (and onion and carrot and chiles, etc.), down in the water.

Worked great, though I think I can shorten cook time next time around. I didn't expect this but the carrots were perfect and the greens a little softer than I usually like- I thought the greens would need more time than the carrots.

It is hard to stuff a whole TJ bag of greens into my pretty large 8 qt cooker, but when you take off the top you wonder where they all went!

Ha

[RunningBum]

I happened to order 3 things from Amazon today. 2 of the 3, including the one from Amazon itself that I used Super Saver Shipping on, already have a status of "shipping".

[missionfinder]

I've been a Prime member since they started the program. I make a huge number of Internet purchases, both business and personal, and I shop around. Total price (product plus shipping) almost always wins on Amazon. Since I live in the boonies, delivery time is important to me. Often I need something overnight and the $3.99 overnight shipping pays for the Prime membership pretty quickly, especially on larger items.

I've received products from them both via UPS and USPS. The UPS guy will knock on the garage door if he sees my car at the house because he knows I'm usually at home, waits for me to open the garage door and hands it to me, or leave it on the front porch when my vehicle isn't there. The USPS lady will put it on the front porch whether or not I am home. The dogs know them and don't bark or chase them off!

[obgyn65]

I always use the free (slow) delivery service from Amazon. I don't mind waiting a few more days for my books or other stuff to arrive.

[scrinch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bltknt $75 per year and free 2-day shipping

Hey, that's like my cell phone plan...300 free minutes for only $39/mo.

[easysurfer]

Well, I went ahead and went for the Amazon Prime free trial. I'll probably end up keeping that subscription when the trial is up. I've been "Amazoning" enough this year to make it worthwhile.

[TromboneAl]

SS shipping has always been fast for me. I enjoy finding fillers to bring total to $25. Oil filters are good examples OTOH SS items are usually more.

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by easysurfer Well, I went ahead and went for the Amazon Prime free trial. I'll probably end up keeping that subscription when the trial is up. I've been "Amazoning" enough this year to make it worthwhile.

Started Amazon Prime 3 years ago. The free 2-day shipping sure helped when we were traveling a lot. As each year went by more and more stuff we needed became available on Amazon, and they improved their shipping packaging too, so we felt more comfortable buying some of the expensive items too. Quite a few house items we got from Amazon - like our 100 pound glass TV-stand that we had shipped overnight for $3.99 (that's the overnight upgrade) and half expect to find shattered, but it came in perfect condition!

We love it.

Audrey

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MichaelB This is Amazon's way of motivating you to subscribe to Amazon Prime, a yearly fee based service that ships more promptly and gives the impression you are getting 2 day delivery.

Um - you really do get it in 2 days! At least I always do. I can't think of one that has taken longer unless they state on the item page to allow extra time and those are rare and even those I think I've still gotten in 2 days. It must depend on sections of the US.

[ERD50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by easysurfer Well, I went ahead and went for the Amazon Prime free trial. I'll probably end up keeping that subscription when the trial is up. I've been "Amazoning" enough this year to make it worthwhile.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TromboneAl SS shipping has always been fast for me. I enjoy finding fillers to bring total to $25. Oil filters are good examples OTOH SS items are usually more.

I'm in the same camp as T-Al. I don't understand what makes the 'prime' 'worthwhile'? I get fast shipping w/o it (using 'fillers' as required to hit $25)
.

-ERD50

[easysurfer]

I travel. So 2 days shipping under Prime is very convenient.

Order it and forget it, just have it delivered in 2 days. The alternative is to order it and track it and ask..will I be home when the package arrives?

[ERD50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by easysurfer I travel. So 2 days shipping under Prime is very convenient. Order it and forget it, just have it delivered in 2 days. The alternative is to order it and track it and ask..will I be home when the package arrives?

Got it. If you regularly need it guaranteed in 2 days, I suppose it makes sense. Seems like a small niche to me though.

-ERD50

[MichaelB]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audreyh1 Um - you really do get it in 2 days! At least I always do. I can't think of one that has taken longer unless they state on the item page to allow extra time and those are rare and even those I think I've still gotten in 2 days. It must depend on sections of the US.

We use it, but with decreasing frequency. It allows for several different "ship to" addresses, so my kids use it (and reimburse me of course). Seems a fair number of intended purchases require that 1 or 2 days of "extra processing time", which moves effective delivery to 3 or 4 days, and in more than one of those cases, the package postmark showed it really was just longer shipping time.

I think this is a very clever marketing strategy and motivates the consumer to default to Amazon. It also sets a marketplace standard for delivery that other businesses find it difficult to meet and Amazon regularly does not meet as well, despite the yearly fee. It effectively disguises part of the shipping cost. Demanding or higher volume consumers may see this as an inexpensive or even cost effective benefit.

[tmm99]

I started Amazon Prime 3 years ago. I have been buying more and more from Amazon. I still work, so it's a big time saver for me to order from Amazon than going out to shop, plus I know I will get the ordered items in two days, so it is fast enough for someone as impatient as me. (I have done 1 day by paying the extra $3.99 but only a couple of times...)

I love it (and am a proud stock holder of AMZN!)

[W2R]

I don't have Amazon Prime but for the first time I am starting to wonder if I should consider it. I ordered a case and armband for my new iPhone on Friday (May 6th) with free Supersaver shipping. My order was shipped on May 7th, and it is scheduled for delivery via USPS on May 18th. That seems a bit longer than I had expected.