Pressure cookers get a bad rap. They’re definitely not as simple as regular pots and pans, and the idea of having your meal cooked at increased pressure may bring unwarranted fears of having to deal with explosions and, perish the thought, having to read a manual.
But fear not, dear reader: pressure cookers are easy to use, save money in the long run, and help you cut down on cooking time. What’s not to love?
Cooking things faster saves time and energy
The secret behind pressure cookers is not rocket science: when you cook something in a well-sealed pot, the steam that comes from the food is trapped within the pot, increasing the pressure and thus changing the boiling point of water. As the boiling point increases, cooking times are reduced, making your food cook much faster than in a normal environment – requiring less time on the stovetop, and thus using less energy to cook your food. Delicious food in less time with a smaller carbon footprint? Sign me up!
Fun fact: One example of how pressure can affect cooking is how Storm Ciarán ruined the flavour of cups of tea brewed in the UK, as the lower pressure it caused lowered the boiling point of water.
This pressure increase can be a bit intimidating to some, but thankfully the average modern pressure cooker is built to stellar standards of safety and comes with a long warranty period. There’s no need to worry about accidents as long as you follow the instruction manual and don’t do anything drastic.
From beans to risotto: you read that right
Grains and legumes such as beans and lentils are lifesavers for those on a plant-based diet, packing masses of protein and nutrients into every gram and almost always making for filling meals. But they usually take a lot of time to prepare, with overnight soaking being a must for most beans if not coming from a can, and those extra hours on the stovetop burn up a lot of energy.
Thankfully, as a rule of thumb, pressure cookers often cut cooking times by two-thirds – a feature that is especially useful when preparing foods like black beans and brown lentils, which otherwise require substantial time on the stovetop. Your pressure cooker’s manual probably even has tips on how to cook all kinds of different produce properly, using the high pressure settings to make quick work of chilis, feijoada, or soups.
Think of all the dish cleaning, table setting, tea drinking, and social media surfing you could do with all that time you’ve saved. Once you’ve started preparing those long-cooking dishes on the pressure cooker, there’s hardly any going back.
The sky’s the limit when it comes to pressure cookers.
Food science experts at Serious Eats even came up with a way to cook risotto in a pressure cooker, saving you the usual trouble of stirring rice on a steamy stovetop until your arms get tired. Risotto’s reputation as the perfect “impress-your-guests” dish is often tarnished by the fact that cooking it will get you all hot and sweaty, ruining your chances of causing a good impression as a dinner host, but their pressure cooker risotto recipe can help you score extra top-chef points.
Pressure cookers are really one of the best tools to save energy and time in the kitchen. Don’t knock them till you’ve tried them.
Marco Mayer
International Communications Assistant
