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An electric pressure cooker is a product that helps to cook food under high temperature and pressure. You can use the electric pressure cooker to process a variety of dishes, all very quickly and easily. Moreover, the pot can also heat food, ensuring full retention of nutrients.
So, how does a pressure cooker work? Let us show you how it works properly.
Parts of a Pressure Cooker
The inside pot
The material of the electric pressure cooker is something you need to pay special attention to. Some pots use pure aluminium material, although it is lighter in weight, but has poor heat retention and durability. Therefore, it would be best to choose the pot using high quality cast iron, stainless steel or black crystal. These are materials with good bearing capacity, heat resistance, and high durability.
Also, it would help if you considered choosing cookware with anti-stick coating on the inside and outside of the shell, which are powder-coated to ensure insulation.
The Lid Lock and Safety Valves
The pressure cooker lid structure is somewhat similar to other ordinary pot lids; they are used to seal and keep the heat of the pot. However, the cover of a pressure cooker has a locking pin and rubber gasket to help close the lid. Besides, the lid also has a pressure relief valve to help keep the temperature better and ensure safety for the user.
Normally, the pressure cooker will be equipped with one main pressure relief valve and 1 or 2 auxiliary valves. Some pots also have a pressure release slot in the lid adjacent to the pot mouth to ensure the most effective pressure discharge.
The Housing
The pot body is the most important part of the electric pot because they are responsible for the transfer of heat. This unit is usually designed from steel coated with powder coating with decorative details or manufacturers’ logo.
The heat sink is the heating system of the cooker, which is the main heat generator. The heat sink has a structure similar to the electric stove, including the resistor wire placed in the insulated heat-resistant tube, installed on the tray at the bottom of the pot. There is a heat sensor in the middle of the tray, which automatically switches off when it reaches a certain temperature.
How Does a Pressure Cooker Work?
The pressure cooker is designed to keep the steam in the pot. Once turned on, the heater will heat up and pass through the copper wires to radiate heat onto the inner pot. Then, the pressure in the pot increases and the steam in the pot puts pressure on the surface of the water (liquid) in the pot, preventing the water (liquid) from turning into steam. At this point, the pressure valve plays an important role in retaining the pressure generated when the saucepan is heated inside the pot because, in a high-pressure environment, the boiling temperature of the water will rise to over 100. degrees C. Therefore, help food cook faster.
Pressure cookers use steam for cooking food
Even when you stop the heat supply, the temperature in the pot remains the same. When deflating, the valves will open. If the pressure restriction valve is blocked or does not release the pressure in time, the other two safety valves will assist the pressure release. This will ensure the balance of pressure in the pot.
Depending on the type of food you put in the pot, the cooking time will vary. The longer the cooking time, the more thoroughly the food will be cooked.
With electric pressure cookers, the setting of bones or grains such as lotus seeds and beans is easy. Even the toughest pork bones, when simmered with an electric pressure cooker, will soften. Moreover, vitamins and minerals in food are also not released by steam like boiling in ordinary pots.
How to Cook Using a Pressure Cooker?
The most common method of cooking with a pressure cooker is stew. This is a direct heat action method to cook food.
To ensure the cookedness and nutritional quality of the dish, when you cook you should only add about 2/3 of the pot capacity, you should also leave the meat and fish in whole pieces for better food. It would be best to use a little more water than usual as the evaporation will take place strongly.
The pressure cooker has a mechanism based on a heater designed inside the pot. The cooking process is completely automatic; thereby, you can save more time and effort. So this is a great product to own in your kitchen.
We hope that with our above answer for the common question “How does a pressure cooker work?”; you will find it helpful in choosing to buy one or using it.
If you still have any questions about this machine; please leave your comment below. We are always here to help.
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