What is a pressure cooker, and what does it do?
A pressure cooker works on a simple principle: Steam pressure. A sealed pot, with a lot of steam inside, builds up high pressure, which helps food cook faster.
When was the pressure cooker invented?
It was invented in the 1600s by a Frenchman by Denis Papin, who wanted to translate new discoveries in physics about pressure and steam into cooking. He called his pot the "Digester" but it took quite a while before better manufacturing standards and technology could make these high pressure pots safe.
How does a pressure cooker work?
A pressure cooker is a sealed pot with a valve that controls the steam pressure inside. As the pot heats up, the liquid inside forms steam, which raises the pressure in the pot. This high pressure steam has two major effects:
Raises the boiling point of the water in the pot. When cooking something wet, like a stew or steamed vegetables, the heat of your cooking is limited to the boiling point of water (100°C). But with the steam's pressure now the boiling point can get as high as 138°C. This higher heat helps the food to cook faster.
Raises the pressure, forcing liquid into the food. The high pressure also helps force liquid and moisture into the food quickly, which helps it cook faster and also helps certain foods, like tough meat, get very tender very quickly.
The extra-high heat of the pressure cooker also promotes caramelization and browning in a surprising way — we're not used to food caramelizing when it is cooking in liquid. But the flavors created in a pressure cooker can be really deep and complex — unlike regular steamed foods.
What can you cook in the pressure cooker?
Almost anything! It cooks rice in just a few minutes, and it cooks tougher things like beans and chickpeas in much less than an hour. It is very good for foods that need to be tenderized like braised meats and roasts. But people have cooked all kinds of other things in it too. Laura at Hip Pressure Cooking even made hard-boiled eggs (apparently the shells pop right off). But it is used most frequently around the world for beans and pulses, stews, and vegetables.
This is a link to see the working of pressure cooker at youtube.
And because of this article we are going to buy one! Love the concept, thank you
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