How to cook in a pressure cooker

A pressure cooker occupies a place of honor among popular kitchen appliances. Using this device, preparing your favorite dishes has become much easier and faster.

A pressure cooker allows you to boil, stew and cook food using steam.

Food prepared in this way better preserves the natural color of the food, vitamins and other useful microelements. The high temperature inside the device and pressure help give dishes a golden hue.

Most foods can be cooked in their own juices, without the use of oil or water.

The main function of the cook is to prepare products and place them in the device. It is not recommended to add ingredients during cooking.

Using a pressure cooker

We'll tell you how to use this useful device correctly.

Preparing for first use

Before using the pressure cooker, be sure to read the instructions for it, as well as the recommendations of the manufacturer.

A new pan should be rinsed and dried.

Advice. First of all, without covering the pressure cooker with a lid, it is recommended to boil the milk in it.

If the surface is not protected with a special coating, then this simple method will keep it from darkening.

Rules for cooking in a pressure cooker

A pressure cooker requires more careful handling than the frying pans that many people are accustomed to.

Be sure to follow these guidelines.

• An empty pressure cooker cannot be used on gas. It must contain at least two glasses of liquid.
• It is not advisable to completely fill the pan with liquid, i.e. there should be space left in it.
• There is almost no evaporation in it. If you need to cook several servings of soup or broth, then pour a sufficient amount of liquid into it.
• Filling with ingredients should not exceed 2⁄3 of the pan's volume.
• If you need to cook rice, beans and other dry foods that tend to swell during cooking, fill the pan only halfway with water.
• It is prohibited to place this device in a microwave or oven. A separate type of cookware is used for them.
• The set includes a special stand that allows you to stew food with minimal use of liquid, as well as steam it.
• Can be used as a regular saucepan using a glass lid.
• Do not place the lid in water or in a dishwashing machine.
• The seal, pressure adjustment valve, and other components are washed separately. This is quite easy to do immediately after the cooking process.
• When preparing meat dishes, bring the water to a boil, then remove the foam and only then close the lid.
• To avoid contamination, it is not recommended to keep food in it. Immediately after the process is completed, the food is transferred to a pre-prepared container.

Important! A pressure cooker is used for cooking; it cannot be used for frying foods under pressure.

If, for example, the recipe calls for frying vegetables, then first sauté them with the lid open, and only then add the remaining ingredients and pour in the liquid. Next, close the lid and cook under pressure.

What can you cook in a pressure cooker?

What dishes to use for

The range of products for cooking is varied and is determined by the chef’s ideas.

It is convenient to cook meat, soup and other hot dishes in an aluminum pressure cooker, since the water does not evaporate and does not need to be added. The meat after pressure cooking is softer and juicier. This greatly simplifies the cooking process.

Important! It is undesirable to use foaming products that create splashes during cooking.

Thus, they may cause the operating valve inside the device to become clogged. Such products include cereals and pasta, as well as compotes, especially apples.

A pressure cooker is convenient to use for preparing labor-intensive dishes that require a lot of time and attention. Its advantages here are obvious.

Reference. Products are cooked in it 3-4 times faster than in standard cookware.

Let's compare the time it takes to cook in a pressure cooker and other cookware.

• Potatoes cook in 5–8 minutes. instead of 20–30 minutes..
• Peas are cooked for 10–15 minutes. instead of 60–90 min.
• Meat 25–30 min. instead of 60–80 min.

Additional features and benefits

During the cooking process, the smell of food does not spread, so it is convenient to cook fish and other foods with a specific smell.

Vegetables and fruits retain beneficial vitamins, as well as their natural color.

Reference. The set includes a special grill or basket for convenient cooking using steam.

A pressure cooker makes it possible not to defrost semi-finished products first, but to put them inside frozen.

A pressure cooker will become an indispensable assistant for people who value free time and choose the right healthy diet.

We hope this article will help you navigate the intricacies of working with this universal device.