At Kitchen Warehouse, you’ll find a wide range of pressure cookers to suit your needs. Whether it’s a modern electric pressure cooker or the good old stovetop pressure cooker, find them here.
Benefits of a high quality pressure cooker
Pressure cookers work in stages. First, the food boils without pressure, pushing air out of the valve. Once pressure builds, the pressure safety pin locks the lid closed, trapping the steam to build pressure until the desired setting is reached.
Pressure cookers are great for locking in moisture and nutrients while cooking to create delicious meals, but they also have other benefits that you might not be aware of.
Food is tastier
Because food made in a pressure cooker is ready faster, you maintain more minerals and vitamins. It also means you don’t lose flavour or the overall integrity of your dish. For example, you do not need to slow cook tough cuts of meat to get them juicy and tender, you can pressure cook them instead and still get the texture you want without losing any nutritional value.
Reduces cooking time
With a stainless steel pressure cooker, you can whip up meals in minutes and enjoy reduced cooking times of up to 70% compared to other cooking methods.
Uses less energy
Pressure cooking is more energy efficient than other kitchen appliances. One reason is its ability to create fast, one-pot meals. Since you don’t need to have multiple pots cooking on different burners at the same time, your energy usage is lower. Plus, it makes for fast and easy clean-up.
This, combined with the fast cooking time, means using this type of cooking pot is very energy efficient.
Features to look for when buying a pressure cooker
Size. Sizes range from the standard 6 litre capacity through to 12 litre capacities. If you plan on cooking batch meals or would love the option to fit a whole chicken into a pressure cooker, go for the 12 litre. Otherwise, smaller kitchens get on great with six to eight litre models.
Locking mechanism. Look for models with more than one locking mechanism as this is much safer and can provide added peace of mind. This might mean a higher RRP but it’s worth it - you can’t put a price on safety!
Delayed start. This lets you prepare your meal and set the cooker to start on your own schedule.
Cooking functions. Also known as cooking levels, some pressure cookers come with different functions such as ‘gentle’, for delicate food, or ‘speed’, for meats and stews.
Pressure indicator. This lets you know when it’s safe to open the pressure cooker. Different models tell you in different ways; most use a change of colour.
Steam-release valve. Once cooking has finished, it’s time for some pressure release. The steam valve lets you control the excessive pressure in a safe way and means you don't have to carry the cooker to the sink or factor in cooling time.
Preset recipes. Some electric pressure cookers have preset recipe programs which give you step by step instructions on preparing full recipes. However, you tend to find these more in multi-cookers that have a pressure cooking function built in rather than in stand-alone models.
Differences between a multi cooker, slow cooker, and pressure cooker
Pressure cookers vs multi cookers
How would you like one cooker that does everything? Enter… the multi cooker.
The key difference between a pressure cooker and multi cooker boils down to the term multi function. If you're short on space and need one appliance to handle everything, a multi cooker is for you as these have both slow cooking and pressure cooking functions.
Multi cookers will also cook rice and some even have separate air fryer lids such as the Instant Pot Duo Crisp + Air Fryer. Models like the Instant Pot and Crock-Pot Express are firm favourites and come with an inner pot that can be removed as well as one-touch operation.
Instant Pot offers a range of extra parts as well such as interchangeable inner pots in both non-stick and stainless steel, which you can buy separately to fit their models, as well as additional silicone sealing rings that come in different colour so you can separate sweet dishes from savoury.
Pressure cookers vs slow cookers
Pressure cookers typically offer similar results to slow cookers in the sense that they tenderise meat and are ideal for batch cooking. However, pressure cookers are a lot faster and don’t require you to leave them on for hours.
Want to learn more? Check out this blog on Pressure Cooker vs Slow Cookers.
Which one should you buy?
It all comes down to your lifestyle. If you love to cook in a variety of ways but don't have the space, go for a multi cooker. If you find yourself always short on time but care about getting all the goodness out of your meals, a pressure cooker is the one for you. If you want low maintenance dinners that you can set and forget, slow cookers will be a great fit.
Meals you can make in a pressure cooker
You can create all sorts of dishes in a multi-use pressure cooker from bbq beef ribs to nachos and oatmeal to risotto. It can even be used in place of a rice cooker.
We like:
Brands we know and trust
Brands like Tefal, Scanpan, Hawkins and Fissler are all excellent choices for your wishlist and typically come with a warranty of three to 10 years.
Tefal
Versatile, user friendly and generously sized, Tefal pressure cookers offer the best of all worlds and are very safe to use. Most parts are also dishwasher safe.
Scanpan
With high safety ratings, fast cooking results and a sturdy, corrosion resistant stainless steel construction, Scanpan pressure cookers are renowned for being reliable and trustworthy.
Hawkins
Hawkins pressure cookers are considered best-in-class and are designed for added safety thanks to a superior pressure regulating system.
Fissler
Fissler pressure cookers are made in Germany and are elegant, robust and designed to make flavourful meals quick and easy.
FAQs:
What does a pressure cooker do?
Essentially, pressure cookers are designed to do what most slow cookers do, but in half the time. You can prepare all sorts of one-pot meals in a pressure cooker and do so using less energy. Use it to brown, boil, steam, poach, saute, and stew as well as for making soups. Just be mindful of overcooking food due to the speedy and high pressure nature of the cooking process.
What are the benefits of a pressure cooker?
Pressure cookers reduce cooking times, lock in nutrients, tenderise tough cuts of meat for rich flavours and are very energy efficient; great for making restaurant-quality meals without having a slow cooker or multi cooker on for hours.
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