A pressure cooker is an airtight vessel that does not allow liquids or air to escape under a preset pressure. These vessels are commonly made of stainless steel or aluminium. In a pressure cooker, the pressure increases due to the boiling point of water and this pressure that is built up leads to the liquid to rise up enabling it to reach a higher temperature before boiling. Then, the relief valve opens avoiding the pressure from increasing any further and releases steam. Food cooks faster under this temperature. Pressure cookers are now used in almost all households as it saves a lot of time while cooking and saves energy as well.
Denis Papin formulated the first pressure cooker in 1679, called the Steam Digester. Today, pressure cookers that are used in hospitals to sterilize are called autoclaves. Pressure cookers help to cook green beans in three minutes, medium sized potatoes in five minutes and cabbage in a minute that’s the reason they are used so extensively in households. The stainless steel pressure cookers are expensive and have a three-ply, copper-clad or heavy bottom for consistent heating.
One can have a clean kitchen too with a pressure cooker as it does not deposit oil stains on walls as compared to the traditional open cooking vessels. Moreover, pressure cookers kill more germs as the food is cooked at a higher temperature. It can also be used as an ad hoc sterilizer like for jam pots. One can also reduce the number of utensils required by using pressure cookers. The pressure cooker has however, been criticised for the risk involved in cooking, especially risk of explosion. This was because the earlier cookers came with only one primary safety valve which if left unclean would lead to food residues to stick to the valve leading to an explosion. This tension has now been seized as the modern day cookers come with a variety of safety mechanisms. One of which is the gauge and a lid interlock that indicate the cooker is pressurized. The pressure within will not build up till the lid id tightly closed. Also, cookers come with a weighted stopper which is a kind of backup mechanism to release pressure, if the primary release mechanism fails. Another safety mechanism is the rubber grommet that just blows over to release access steam thus, avoiding an accident.
Today, manufacturers have come up with a variety of models of pressure cookers that come in colourful, vibrant colours. So now one can bring home a colourful pressure cooker that not just looks great but serves the purpose too.
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