Do you want to save money? Do you want to save time?
I have the solution to your problems; cook with pressure cookers. Since I’ve been cooking with this utensil my life has changed. I don’t spend so much time in the kitchen, the food keeps its flavor and the kitchen stays much cleaner. In short, I save time and money.
Pressure cookers are one of the most used utensils in our kitchens. Cooking in a hermetically sealed container saves time and money. With this container you get the food to cook with its own flavor and, in addition, the nutrients are better preserved.
That’s why today I wanted to talk about pressure cookers. I want to share some benefits of cooking with pressure cookers, tips on how to use it correctly and, finally, share some delicious and healthy recipes.
Benefits of cooking with pressure cookers:
- Its advantage is that it closes under vacuum, so it saves heat and cooks food faster. You save time and money.
- Therefore, it causes less energy to be consumed.
- Thanks to the steam produced inside, food is cooked in its own juice, preserving all its nutrients and vitamins, which means healthier and tastier cooking.
- It cooks faster and preserves more of the food’s own nutrients.
- Faster cooking also means that food is tastier and juicier. This is especially noticeable when steaming potatoes and vegetables.
- Cooking with a pressure cooker also saves water, as there is no loss of steam and everything stays inside.
Tips when using a pressure cooker:
- Measure times: The cooking time in this type of vessel is counted from the moment the pot has pressure and the rings go up, or pressure starts to come out through the lid valve (depending on the model). The difference in time between one and the other is usually almost double in the traditional one than in the fast one.
- To remove the lid: It is very important never to open the pot when it has pressure. When we want to do it, we will take the pot out of the fire, we will wait until the rings go down (or steam stops coming out of the valve) and the safety mechanism can be removed easily and without resistance. This is crucial: if we notice that it is a little difficult to open it, it is better to wait a few minutes. Difficulty is usually an indication that there is pressure inside and, therefore, steam and broth at very high temperature.
- To lower the pressure: If we want to lower the pressure quickly we can introduce the hot pot inside the sink and cool it under the cold water tap. When lowering the temperature, it will lose pressure more quickly.
- Closing the pot: In addition to making sure that the lid is well placed, it is important to know when to close the pot. It is advisable to close it once the ingredients have started to boil. This will allow us to remove those impurities with a skimmer and thus to avoid that they obstruct the valves of the pot inside.
- To calculate the water: For the cooking of the foods we must follow the steps that mark the recipe, with the following considerations:
In the sautéed and sautéed foods it is not necessary a lot of water to cook in the fast cookers.
In the case of legumes or vegetables to make purées, the volume of the water that we add must never exceed two thirds of the capacity of the pot.
In the soaking vegetables, the water must cover them up to five centimeters above.
In the stews of meat and vegetables sautéed with a little broth and a touch of wine, the water must be about two centimeters below the ingredients, since these then will release their own juices during the cooking.
- To achieve a result similar to slow cooking: Once the indicated cooking time has elapsed, the pressure has been lowered and the lid has been removed, put on the heat for ten minutes so that the juices evaporate and the sauce or broth is more binding.
It is worth spending a little money on this type of pots. As you have seen all are advantages and comforts. Besides being healthier than other traditional ways of cooking.