The benefits of an electric presure cooker
Pressure cookers have been around for a while, and some of the old style cookers were not that great – but everything has now changed. For nutrition, flavour and efficiency no cooking method beats today’s safe and reliable pressure cookers. You can come home after work, and have a beautifully cooked meal ready within half an hour. Put those awful, bland microwave meals behind you, and get ready to accept the adulation of your adoring family.
Here is how a pressure cooker works its magic. The heavy lid locks into place sealing the pot so that steam cannot escape. At 15 pounds of pressure, water boils at a higher point (122 degrees C instead of 100 degrees centigrade). The higher temperature reduces the cooking time. About three times faster than regular stove top cooking methods. A whole roast chicken can be cooked in just twenty minutes, while rice cooks in just ten minutes. In addition, foods keep their flavor better when pressure cooked. Nutrients stay trapped in the pot instead of dissipating in a cloud of steam.
The best (and most expensive) family pressure cooker is the Kuhn Rikon stainless steel cooker. While the pot is made of stainless steel, the base facing the heat is made of aluminum which ensures that the heat spreads evenly regardless of whether it is placed on a gas or electric stovetop. That old, dancing pressure valve that scared the beejezus out of your grandmother is replaced with modern safety features that quietly regulate pressure and keep the lid safely locked while the contents are pressurized.
At the cheaper end there are Presto cookers, which produce two main types of pressure cooker pots – those made from stainless steel and those made from aluminum. Most chefs prefer the stainless steel cooker as it does not react with the food and is easier to clean. However the aluminum pot is a lot lighter, if weight is important to you. You want heat resistant double handles, one on each side of the pot, in every case. A 6 quart pressure cooker is minimum family size. However, if you do large scale canning, purchase a bigger pot.
You are better off sticking with a name brand manufacturer even when price is your primary consideration. Buying a brand means that it is easier to get replacement parts several years down the line, and of course the quality is better which means your cooker lasts longer. Small things such as valves and new seals on the lid can make the difference between your pressure cooker working properly and not working at all.
Most pressure cooker models come with baskets, and racks so that you can place several items into the cooker at once. If you brown meat before placing it into the pressure cooker, some of the food will stick to the pot. You may still want to avoid nonstick interiors, however. The occasional inconvenience of a little extra cleaning far outweighs the risk of a pitted or peeling interior coating. Electric pressure cookers have less of a problem with non-stick interiors.
Cuisinart makes a programmable electric pressure cooker worth considering. In terms of price, it’s half-way between the Kuhn pressure cooker and Presto’s cheaper offerings. The Cuisinart can do anything – simmering, sauteing, cooking roasts or cooking vegetables. And you got to admit that an electronic thermostat is more foolproof than setting a stovetop control to a precise position. Do note that with a Cuisinart cooker, you cannot open the lid till the machines allows you to. With the stove top models you can instantly drop the pressure and open the lid by putting the unit under cold water.
You can’t really go wrong with a Cuisinart 6 quart pressure cooker
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