Stainless Steel Pressure Cooker
Choosing the Right Stainless Steel Pressure Cooker
A pressure cooker is a sealed device that cooks food at high pressures, and doesn't allow liquid or air to escape from the cooker unless it reaches a certain pressure. They have been used for many different applications, from canning fruits and vegetables, to allowing cooks to complete full meals in a very short amount of time. For meats and can come out dry and chewy, using a pressure cooker can make these same meats so juicy and tender that they will practically melt in your mouth.
Pressure cookers are typically made from stainless steel or aluminum, and are extremely heavy duty, otherwise they would explode. High quality cookers can be three ply, and have a copper bottom to spread the heat evenly. Stainless steel pressure cookres have a lower thermal conductivity, and can withstand much higher pressures and temperatures than aluminum models. Some more modern products can be put in the dishwasher, but in order to keep them in optimal working order, they should be cleaned by hand.
You can find pressure cookers in a variety of different sizes. They range in size from a small 4 quarts all the way up to a monster sized 41 quart model. Some of the top manufacturers are Presto, Kuhn Rikon, Mirro, and All American.
The lid of the pressure cooker has a gasket that forms a tight seal, preventing steam or liquids from coming out between the lid and the pot. How does it keep the pressure from exploding the unit? Steam escapes through a regulator on the lid, and when the pressure is too much, it lets small amounts out, until there is equalization again. There are other safety precautions as well, and a backup safety valve engages in case that the regulator becomes blocked. One of the simplest safety measures is a rubber plug in the lid that is held in place by the steam build up. If it exceeds the limits, the plug simply pops out. In order to make a tight fitting seal, the unit will either have some kind of twist lock lid, or clamps built into the sides of the pot or lid.
What you do to cook your food in a pressure cooker is add your ingredients, with a small amount of water. You seal the lid, put it on the stove and turn the heat up. When adequate pressure builds up, you turn down the heat, and start timing whatever the recipe calls for, and simply wait. When the heat and pressure reaches maximum, the valve will open, or for weight based regulators, the steam will start to levitate the regulator, and vent the steam.
What are the benefits of using a pressure cooker? As mentioned earlier, it will make meats nice and tender, but also reduces cooking times greatly. For example, it will cook green beans in about three minutes, small and medium potatoes in eight minutes, and will even cook a whole chicken in about twenty minutes. Rice, lentils and uncooked beans will be ready in just ten minutes, instead of the more that forty minutes it may take regularly.