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Pressure
cookers have many advantages over traditional cooking. First
and foremost is speed. While traditional cooking take over an
hour or two to simmer a stew or to prepare chicken stock,
preparing these food in a pressure cooker takes half the
time. The speed at which a pressure cooker cooks means less
energy is required and less heat is generated. A nutritional
advantage occurs because pressure cookers require less cooking
liquid. Most of water soluble vitamins and minerals that are
usually cooked away in traditional cooking methods are for the
most parts retained and vegetables are also able to keep their
natural color and flavor.
A pressure
cooker is basically a metal pot with a lid. The lid components
vital to the function and operation of the pressure cooker are
the rubber sealing gasket, Pressure regulator and pressure
relief valves. When the lid is properly locked into place on
the pressure cooker, an air and steam tight seal is created.
As the cooking liquid in the pressure cooker is heated over
high heat to the boiling point, steam is created. As steam
cannot escape from the sealed pressure cooker, it remains
trapped inside and pressure is created. The internal coking
temperature will vary depending on the different levels of
pressure created by the trapped steam.
The amount of
pressure is measured in pounds of pressure per square inch.
Some pressure cookers only cook at high pressure, while others
have two or three pressure levels. Foods cooked under high
pressure are cooked at 250F, which is 38F hotter than when
food is boiled in a normal pot and speed up the cooking
process considerable.
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