An Introduction to Pressure Cookers

Pressure cookers debuted more than sixty years ago at the New York World’s Fair, but they still occupy second-tier status in many kitchens. This small appliance is essentially a saucepan with a locking lid, but it greatly quickens your cooking time by using intense steam heat to cook foods quicker than a normal saucepan does. 

 

By speeding up cooking, a pressure cooker also retains flavor and nutrients that would otherwise be lost. In addition, a cooker tenderizes tough foods and cooks meats and vegetables with ease. If you forgot to thaw out your food, simply add a couple of extra minutes to the cook time in the pressure cooker, and you can defrost it and cook it all at once.

 

Of course, not all pressure cookers are created equal. Most pressure cookers are made of either aluminum or stainless steel, and they also differ based on their size. Small four-quart cookers work well for vegetables or small roasts while eight or ten-quart pressure cookers provide space for extra food. If you regularly cook for the entire family or have guests, it is a good idea to purchase the larger cooker. Finally, look for alternatives to traditional pressure cookers. Some pressure cookers now work on electric power (though these are generally less powerful than traditional cookers), are designed specifically for microwave use, or serve as pressure canners for meat. 

 

If you plan to purchase a traditional pressure cooker, you will likely want a pressure cooker with one or more convenience features. The below are some of the features that traditional models regularly advertise:

 

Pressure cookers are becoming more popular as cooks realize the time and energy they can save using them, and for just twenty to three hundred dollars, they are often an affordable cooking investment, but there are drawbacks. Because of the intense steam heat that a pressure cooker uses, foods can easily burn and the cooker can be dangerous, so you need to be very familiar with the directions before you use the cooker. In addition, some cooks do not like using a pressure cooker because they feel that food cooked with a pressure cooker has an unwanted appearance or indistinctive texture. If you know when and how to use your pressure cooker, however, it can be a great addition to your kitchen.