Pressure Cooker
Definition:
What is a pressure cooker, and why choose a pressure cooker when preparing a food item? A pressure cooker is a cooking vessel in which the food to be cooked and a small amount of liquid is placed inside. Then the vessel is sealed tightly, and as heat is added to the vessel pressure builds up inside the cooking vessel as steam is created yet not allowed to escape the vessel during cooking.
This way, the food inside is quickly cooked using high amounts of saturated steam which bombards the food. After the food is cooked, the pressure cooker is removed from the heat source, and steam is allowed to slowly be released until the pressure cooker is cool enough to have the lid removed.
Because such a saturated source of steam is used, pressure cooking takes much less time to cook a food item than say steaming or boiling. In this way, both time and energy are saved by using a pressure cooker.
Pressure cookers come in a wide variety of sizes, and when deciding what type of pressure cooker to buy, you will need to consider what you will use the pressure cooker for. If you are using the pressure cooker for canning bottled food, and very large capacity would be required. If you are using the pressure cooker for cooking ordinary meals for a family or group, something closer to a six quart size pressure cooker may be a better choice.
What is a pressure cooker, and why choose a pressure cooker when preparing a food item? A pressure cooker is a cooking vessel in which the food to be cooked and a small amount of liquid is placed inside. Then the vessel is sealed tightly, and as heat is added to the vessel pressure builds up inside the cooking vessel as steam is created yet not allowed to escape the vessel during cooking.
This way, the food inside is quickly cooked using high amounts of saturated steam which bombards the food. After the food is cooked, the pressure cooker is removed from the heat source, and steam is allowed to slowly be released until the pressure cooker is cool enough to have the lid removed.
Because such a saturated source of steam is used, pressure cooking takes much less time to cook a food item than say steaming or boiling. In this way, both time and energy are saved by using a pressure cooker.
Pressure cookers come in a wide variety of sizes, and when deciding what type of pressure cooker to buy, you will need to consider what you will use the pressure cooker for. If you are using the pressure cooker for canning bottled food, and very large capacity would be required. If you are using the pressure cooker for cooking ordinary meals for a family or group, something closer to a six quart size pressure cooker may be a better choice.
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