How to Use a Pressure Cookers: Best Tips

Simply put, a pressure cooker cooks food under pressure, which saves a lot of time. Moreover, if you are in a hurry, you will find here my selection of the best pressure cookers in my pressure cooker.

You can cook either in steam (food does not soak in water) or in boiling water.

Table of Contents

How to Use a Pressure Cooker, How do They Work?

Place the food in the pressure cooker: either in the steamer basket or in the bottom of the pressure cooker.
Add water.
Close the lid and depending on the type of pressure cooker: turn on the valve or set the timer
Fire up to maximum.
Remember to position the programmer correctly: there is a steam purge position. If you stay in this position, your casserole will never go up under pressure.
After a few minutes, depending on your model:
the valve turns and makes noise
the red light is visible
the countdown starts
Switch to low heat. It suffices to maintain the pressure reached inside the pressure cooker.
Time from this point on (unless you have a utensil with a countdown timer).
When the cooking time has elapsed, carefully purge the steam:
remove the valve with anti-heat gloves change the position of the programmer to the purge position
Beware of the jet of steam: it can burn you
When the pressure has dropped (no more noise or the red indicator has disappeared), you can open your casserole dish and check that your dish is cooking properly.
Pay attention to the steam and water flowing from the lid: it is very hot.

Why do you cook faster in the pressure cooker?

This is its main advantage. We cook very quickly with a pressure cooker.

In fact, by design, the pressure cooker allows you to cook under pressure and therefore at a higher temperature than in a normal pressure cooker.

If you want more information, I will detail all of this in the page cooking speed?

But it’s physics and you don’t necessarily need it to cook.

Does my pressure cooker preserve vitamins?

I imagine, like me, you use a pressure cooker to prepare good, healthy and light meals. You are particularly sensitive to the quality of products and therefore to the preservation of vitamins, nutrients and mineral salts.

For example, studies have shown that cooking in a pressure steamer greatly limits the loss of vitamin, which is one of the most fragile vitamins.

Many phenomena come into play: exposure to heat, soaking, …

You can find more details on these issues by visiting my page on food preservation.

How much water should I put in my pressure cooker?

This kitchen utensil is truly versatile. You can steam, immerse, or even brown your food with oil, it is obvious that the amount of water you use will depend on the type of food and the cooking method chosen:

For vegetables, I tend to favor steaming: just 30cl at the bottom of the casserole dish.
for rice, I prefer cooking by absorption: in general, volume of water = 1.5 times the volume of rice

If necessary, I will give you more details in the pages that directly concern foods or in the following summary.