It’s difficult to imagine the life of a modern woman in the kitchen without a pressure cooker that helps to save cooking time of food and thus her time in the kitchen. A pressure cooker is a device that looks like any other pot in the kitchen but is provided with a lid at the top. The lid at the top seals the contents within. Therefore the steam that is formed remains within the pot, thus raising the temperature within resulting to saving of cooking time.

The pressure of trapped steam inside the cooker is measured in terms of pounds per square inch, abbreviated as PSI.
To prevent any leakage of steam thru the gap between the lid and the bottom portion the pot {pressure cooker}, a gasket is inserted in between the two parts. This gasket, usually of rubber forms an integral part the pressure cooker and is accommodated in the inside of the lid, along its periphery and acts as a sealant.

The latest designs of pressure cookers are provided with three valves to make it absolutely safe for use. Different manufactures have different designs of valves, but the function in each case is to release steam, if the pressure inside exceeds safe limits.

Reasons to Use a Pressure Cooker

There are many reasons and benefits of using a pressure cooker. Some of these are:

Nutritional Boost: As the steam needed for cooking food is retained within the cooker along with food, most of the vitamins and minerals are retained in cooked food, unlike the conventional methods of cooking.

Timesaving: Another advantage of retaining steam is that the temperature rises rapidly that helps to cook faster by about 70%. You may put all the ingredients together in the cooker and utilize the time for some other activity. Thus cooking in a pressure cooker enables multi-tasking.

Energy Efficient: Faster cooking means lower consumption of fuel and results to savings.

Cooler Kitchen: as all the heat is trapped inside the cooker, the kitchen won’t get so hot as with conventional styled cooking.

Cleaner Kitchen: Cooker being a sealed unit doesn’t cause any splashes or spatters, associated with conventional cooking, thereby leaving the kitchen cleaner.

Tips for Buying a Pressure Cooker

Pressure cookers are available in many models of varying capacities from four to eight quarts. For a small family six quarts suffices but larger families should opt for eight quarts.

The material used for making pressure cookers may be aluminum or stainless steel.
Stainless steel is a better, longer lasting material than aluminum and offers better quality of cooked food. Further, there is no risk of food remaining stuck at its bottom. The heavier models in stainless facilitate to sauté or brown the food before subjecting it to pressure. Therefore there is no need to shift food from one utensil to the cooker for final coking.
For ease and convenience of cooking, pressure cookers are essentially needed. However, before using the device, make sure that you read the instructions and safety precautions to be observed while cooking.