Pressure Cooking
Pressure cooking means cooking in a totally covered container and not allows air or liquids to get away under a fixed pressure. Pressure cooker is necessary for every house for the quick preparation of whole grains and beans. Long bean soaking times can also be avoided by using a pressure cooker.
This type of cooker cooks the grains and beans with the help of pressure and steam present inside the cooker. Inside the cooker what happens is that the amount of liquid in the cooker is boiled inside a preserved airtight chamber. The steam present in the container is superheated and steam also increases as the liquid boils, which totally covers the cooker inside chamber and increases the pressure to a great extent. This pressure generally forces the steam and its maximum heat into and through any food that is placed in the chamber, cooking and tenderizing the food at the same time. That is why pressure-cooking is very fast to cook the food.
Generally stainless steel and aluminium materials are used to make a pressure cooker. Aluminium material used in these pressure cookers may be shaped and polished or anodized, though placing these pans in a dishwasher regularly may cause damages for pans. The stainless steel material pressure cooker may have bottom plated or it is brazed with aluminium or copper for homogeneous heating of cooker bottom. Gasket or rubber ring is considered to be the most essential part of any pressure cooker, as this gasket makes the pressure to increase inside the pot. And it is placed tightly on the edge of the lid. It is very important to keep the gasket dirt free and also make it free from any small food particles presented in that in order to ensure a proper seal. Latest pressure cookers are available in the market with minimum of three valves for the safety operation. These three valves are best suited for automatic release of pressure mainly in case of high pressure inside the container. Different varieties of valves are available based on the cooker size and model.
Main Advantages of Pressure-cooking:
Nutritional Boost: A pressure cooker consumes less time and water in cooking food and the airtight seal for container prevents loss of nutrients. It is perfect to hold minerals and vitamins present in food compare to conventional cooking methods.
Timesaving: Cooking food in a pressure cooker is a fast process, which makes you to cook food speedily. You can place all the items together and do other work as well, in the time you would normally take to prepare food.
Energy Efficient: Pressure cooker takes less amount of time to prepare food at the same time it also reduces the amount of energy consumed.
Cooler Kitchen: With the use of Pressure cooker kitchen remains cooler compared to conventional methods of cooking because all the heat and pressure is trapped inside the cooker.
Cleaner Kitchen: There is no need for cleaning the untidy splashes you would generally required after completion of cooking because all the food is cooked within a covered pot.
Another advantage of Pressure-cooking is it tenderizes meat quickly so less expensive cuts can be used.
In this way pressure cookers are best suited for Pressure-cooking. Nowadays different shapes and sizes of pressure cookers are available at affordable prices. These are very useful for fast cooking and also for getting healthy food.