Why meals are cooked faster in a pressure cooker?

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Why meals are cooked faster in a pressure cooker?


A pressure cooker is like any other pot but with a more elaborated lid that seals the pot completely. When you heat water inside the pot it boils and the steam cannot escape, so it remains inside and starts to build up pressure. Under pressure, cooking temperatures raise much higher than under normal conditions (higher than the boiling point of water, that is 100ºC), so then the food is cooked much faster. Cooking times can be reduced by a factor of three or four.

Besides cooking faster, this method retains more nutrients present in the food than other methods. And did you know that a pressure cooker is often used by mountain climbers? Without it, water boils off before reaching 100ºC because of the lower atmospheric pressure at high altitudes, leaving the food improperly cooked.

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