Editor
For super-quick, fuss-free meals, you cannot beat the pressure cooker. Pressure cookers cook food in a fraction of the time it takes to prepare traditional cooking. Pot roast can be made in under an hour.
Why Pressure Cookers?
A pressure cooker is a great way to modernize your kitchen. Although pressure cookers in the past were associated with kitchen explosions (just ask the baby boomers if they had any post-World War II cookers in their kitchen), the modern generation of pressure cookers is safe to use and offers more options for your convenience.
Pressure cookers are making a comeback in this day and age. Pressure cookers can be used to make quick and delicious meals in just minutes. They also make great gifts for any occasion.
Time-saving
A pressure cooker has the best advantage of being quick and efficient in cooking delicious and healthy meals. What time should it take to cook a chicken weighing 2kg? It takes 15 minutes to cook a 2 kg chicken in a pressure cooker. A creamy dish of risotto is also possible. Around 10 minutes.
How does a pressure cooker do this? A pressure cooker creates pressure by steaming the pot and cooks food above boiling point. This allows food to cook 70% faster than traditional cooking methods, which means that less energy is required. The energy savings can be as high as 40% with an electric stove or gas stove, and as high at 75% with a traditional oven.
Save Money
You will save more money and energy by using less. A pressure cooker can tenderize even the most expensive cuts of meat, making it a great choice for delicious meals. Dry beans are also possible, rather than canned. This is a great way to save money.
Healthier cooking
Pressure cooking is more water-intensive than traditional cooking methods, so you retain more vitamins and minerals. The food is protected from oxygen oxidation by being kept out of direct sunlight.
Flavourful meals
A pressure cooker’s sealed environment is key to delicious dishes. This seal prevents moisture and flavour loss through evaporation.
Food retains its natural flavour so that it tastes fresh. A potato will still have its potato taste and its earthy flavor. Because moisture is preserved, food doesn’t dry out, and meats remain juicy and tender.
Heat can kill micro-organisms
Are you concerned about food safety? A pressure cooker can kill most harmful micro-organisms, including bacteria and viruses.
Cooler, cleaner kitchens
A pressure cooker is a better option than cooking on the stovetop or in an oven. The heat stays in the pot and the kitchen stays cooler, unlike other methods. The covered lid also prevents any mess from forming in your kitchen, which saves you time and reduces the smell of cooking.
Save space
You might also be wondering if you need an additional appliance on the counter. A pressure cooker is an excellent piece of kitchen equipment. You can use it as a pot or pan, and you can make a complete three-course meal. A pressure cooker is a great investment in your kitchen because of its time-saving, financial, and health benefits.
Types of Pressure Cookers
You now have two choices when it comes to purchasing a pressure cooker: an electric or stovetop pressure cooker. Each one can prepare food quickly using pressured heat. However, they have important differences.
An electric pressure cooker offers convenience and ease with its automatic features. A stovetop pressure cooker, on the other hand, allows for precise cooking by regulating heat manually. In addition, stovetop pressure cookers are better long-term investments compared to electric pressure cookers.
Replacement parts and repair services for stovetop pressure cookers are easily available, while in the event that an electric pressure cooker fails after the warranty period has expired, it may be difficult or uneconomic to obtain spare parts or get the cooker repaired.
Electric pressure cooker
One of the main differences between an electric and a stovetop pressure cooker is in the built-in heating mechanism. An electric pressure cooker does not require a separate heat source. However, it can be used as a stand-alone unit because it contains its own heating element. An electric pressure cooker’s unique feature is its digital timing technology. This means that, with the preset digital timer, you can cook dishes from start to finish without having to keep an eye on the whole process. The electric pressure cooker can also regulate heat and pressure so that you don’t need to adjust the heat on your stovetop manually.
Stovetop pressure cooker
A stovetop pressure cooker’s manual heat regulation is one of the main reasons you should buy it. This is particularly important when searing. You can brown your food and seal it with pressure. Searing with an electric pressure cooker is relatively more difficult, since you have to bring the unit to the right “browning” temperature and then cancel the function and re-start to complete the cooking.
A stovetop pressure cooker has other advantages over an electric model, such as a faster time to bring up pressure. A stove top pressure cooker also allows you to do the quick cold water release method, which immediately stops the pressure cooking – a special consideration when steaming fish and veggies.
Furthermore, stove top pressure cookers operate in the range of 8-15PSI (pounds per square inch), with 15PSI being the value required for most published cookbooks and recipes, while electric pressure cookers reach pressure in the 10-11PSI range. A stovetop pressure cooker can also cook food quicker due to its higher pressure. If storage is an issue, a stove top pressure cooker is also the better option, as an electric pressure cooker is bulkier and occupies more space. A stove top pressure cooker can also be used as a stockpot and a saucepan. It is durable stainless steel and can be easily replaced with spare parts, which gives it a longer life expectancy.
