Cooking can get quite challenging for many people. For instance, preparing dinner after a long day is bound to be exhausting.
However, it doesn’t have to be this way. Using proper tools for cooking can allow you to optimize the process and prepare your food in a more efficient manner that won’t be as challenging. What’s best is that doing so will also ensure a delicious meal to enjoy later.
But unfortunately, countless people are not aware of the right tools for cooking. Most importantly, they tend to mix up the use of pressure and slow cookers, which leads to poor practices in cooking.
You should know while pressure and slow cookers often appear to be the same and can even be used to prepare the same dishes at times, they are quite different. But one must ask, pressure cooker vs slow cooker, what’s the difference?
It’s crucial to understand the difference between these two important cookers to allow yourself to cook in a more efficient manner. So, to help you with this purpose here is a detailed comparison of a slow cooker vs pressure cooker.
How they Cook Food
The first thing to consider when understanding the difference between a pressure cooker vs slow cooker is their mechanism of cooking. Continue reading below to get a grasp on the topic.
Pressure cookers
As the name suggests, the main idea behind the mechanism of a pressure cooker is the use of steam.
The pot holding the food creates a sealed chamber when you start to cook. As a result, the steam generated by the contents within is trapped inside the chamber.
As the pressure cooker continues to supply heat, the pressure continues to increase as well as the two quantities are directly proportional to each other. Therefore, the boiling point of water inside a pressure cooker is not 100 degrees but higher.
This helps to cook food more efficiently and in a shorter period of time. After all, increasing pressure helps to increase the temperature and cook food faster without burning the contents.
But what’s better is that the pressure also helps to increase flavour extraction from foods. A low amount of evaporation occurs, which means all the flavours and essences being extracted stay inside, making your food taste better.
Modern pressure cookers can sense temperature as well as pressure. Consequently, they can control the amount of steam inside the cooker to give you the best results.
However, it’s also possible for you to control the steam inside with the help of a valve located at the top of the pressure cooker.
Slow cookers
On the other hand, slow cookers rely on the temperature, rather than a combination of pressure and temperature, to cook food.
Every slow cooker can be divided into three basic parts, namely, the base, the vessel, and the lid. The base holds the heating elements, which spread heat to the rest of the slow cooker.
The vessel is where you place the food you want to cook. Typically, vessels are made of heavy stoneware, which can hold the temperatures for a long time and aid in cooking.
Lastly, the lid is an essential part used to close off the vessel. Without the lid, the slow cooker will not be able to function and reach the high temperatures needed to cook food properly.
Moving on to the cooking mechanism of the slow cookers, compared to the pressure cooker, it’s quite simple. The heat supplied to the base of the pot spreads evenly to the sides of the vessel, which then retains it.
As a result, the food starts to cook and with rising temperatures, it cooks at faster rates. But you can always slow down the rate at which the food cooks by using lower temperatures.
However, compared to the pressure cooker, the slow cooker takes a significantly longer time to cook food, even at high temperatures. The reason for this is that the slow cooker lacks the high pressures found in a pressure cooker.
Cooking Temperature
Using pressure and slow cookers requires you to have an idea about their cooking temperatures. Simply using these cooking tools without being aware of specific cooking temperatures may lead to burnt or uncooked food.
When it comes to pressure cookers, the temperatures never go higher than 121 degrees, which occurs at 15 PSI. At lower pressure points, such as 3 PSI, the temperature is lower as well. Ideally, it’s best to allow the pressure cooker to reach the highest temperature.
At higher temperatures, the cooker is able to get the best flavour out of your food and cook it at a faster rate. However, you don’t want the pressure cooker’s temperatures to go any higher than 121C.
If the pressure cooker temperatures exceed its highest temperature, there is a risk of explosion, which can cause severe damage to you. Typically, pressure cookers have built-in mechanisms to reduce pressure if it reaches dangerous limits.
Moreover, pressure cookers require more cooking time at higher altitudes. For every 1000 feet increase in height, a pressure cooker will take five per cent more than the original time required.
On the other hand, slow cooker temperatures range from 88C to 150C but can vary depending on the manufacturer and their model. While you may think different temperatures will give you different results, they all have the same effect on food.
Cooking at the lowest temperature will give you the same tasting food as cooking at the highest temperature. The only difference is that the cooking time decreases with higher temperatures.
Where the lowest setting takes 7 hours, the highest setting temperature will take around 3 hours to cook the same food. As a result, it can be said that the highest setting of temperature almost halves the time taken with the lowest setting.
While setting temperatures on a slow cooker, it’s best to consider when you want your food prepared. If you want it in a matter of a few hours, go for the highest setting; otherwise, you can choose medium or low.
Maillard Browning and Reduction
In simple words, the Maillard browning is a reaction that occurs between sugars and other chemical components of your food, such as amino acids and proteins, while cooking.
It holds great importance as it causes the creation of several colours and flavours, which add to the overall appeal of food.
In a pressure cooker, the Maillard reaction has a better effect than it does in a slow cooker. High pressure and a lack of evaporation allow food to get appealing brown colours. Furthermore, food particles sticking to the sides get browned as well.
However, in a slow cooker, the moisture that evaporates condenses back down into the vessel and is not able to receive the heat needed for the Maillard reaction. No food particles stick to the sides, which makes it easier to clean the vessel but ruins the food.
What’s even worse is that in a slow cooker, the Maillard reaction results in unpleasant aromas and tastes instead of enhancing the overall appeal of the food.
Moreover, reduction, which is the process of flavour concentration, occurs at a faster rate in a pressure cooker. This is partly due to a better Maillard browning reaction as well as due to high pressures.
But unfortunately, slow cookers lag in reduction as well. As a result, you will notice that foods cooked in a slow cooker lack the intense flavours found in a pressure cooker.
Convenience
Considering the effects of Maillard browning and reduction in both pressure and slow cookers, it can be said that slow cookers aren’t the best choice. They produce low-quality flavours and lead to undesirable food, compared to pressure cookers.
However, while flavours and colours are important aspects to consider, they are not the only things you should consider when choosing between the two cooking tools. It’s equally important to consider convenience.
If you choose to cook in a slow cooker and want your food prepared right on time, you’ll need to plan exactly when to start cooking. Slow cookers can take several hours to cook almost every dish, and cooking without planning may cause you to wait a long time for your food to be prepared.
Typically, you’ll need to start cooking at least 5-6 hours ahead of dinner if you want to receive your food right on time. This will give you enough time to measure, sauté, add ingredients to the slow cooker, and cook them effectively.
As a result, a slow cooker would suit you well if you plan to go out for a few hours and then come back home to eat. The slow cooker will prepare your food while you’re out, and you can enjoy a delicious meal once you’re back without having to wait at all.
However, if you plan to stay at home, you may feel like you’ve been waiting all day just to enjoy a single meal while using a slow cooker. In such a situation, a pressure cooker would be much more suitable.
While using a pressure cooker, you don’t need to worry about how long your food will take to be prepared, let alone accurately plan the time to start cooking.
A dish that will take around 8 hours to cook in a slow cooker will be prepared in just under 45 minutes in a pressure cooker. The pressure cooker is magnitudes faster than the slow cooker.
What’s best is that a pressure cooker allows you to sauté food directly in the pot, saving you extra time. You can simply start cooking the ingredients and sauté them at the same time.
However, one can argue that a slow cooker is more suitable if you want to handle other tasks while your food is cooking. On the other hand, a pressure cooker is more convenient if you want food as soon as possible.
So, it all boils down to your needs. If you’re looking for fast meals, go for the pressure cooker; otherwise, the slow cooker will come in handy.
Other Concerns: Safety and Energy
When it comes to safety, the pressure cooker takes the lead again.
Mainly, when people use the slow cooker, they tend to leave it with the heat on for hours while they are out of the house. While this can be a good idea in terms of convenience, it’s certainly not safe. Unattended cooking is the cause of a significant portion of house fires.
However, if one uses slow cookers while being present at home, the risk of fires can reduce.
On the other hand, pressure cookers can result in safety concerns as well and are not entirely safe. If temperatures reach dangerous limits, the pressure can increase beyond safe boundaries and cause a dangerous explosion.
To avoid such situations, it’s crucial to keep the pressure under control using the valve. However, modern pressure cookers can be considered quite safe due to their automatic pressure control systems.
In terms of pressure cooker vs slow cooker energy consumption, the pressure cooker is the clear winner. A slow cooker takes hours to reach high temperatures and cooks for a significant period of time. As a result, more energy is used for cooking the food.
On the other hand, as pressure cookers are fast in preparing food, they use less energy as well. However, the use of energy can greatly vary depending on the manufacturer.
FAQs
What happens if the pressure cooker is full?
It’s best to keep your pressure cooker only 2/3 full. Filling the cooker more than the recommended amount can cause the valve to eject food to release pressure.
This is not only messy but also a dangerous situation. Anyone standing close to the pressure cooker can get burnt due to incredibly hot food being spilt over them.
How long can you run a pressure cooker?
Unlike slow cookers, which can even be left on for an entire day, pressure cookers cannot run for long.
The longer you use a pressure cooker, the higher the risk of an explosion. Therefore, it’s a good idea to use a pressure cooker for only about an hour each day.
If you choose to use it for more than an hour, keep a close eye on the pressure and temperature. If any of these quantities increase to dangerous amounts, release the pressure and stop the heat supply.
What cannot be cooked in a slow cooker?
Slow cookers are not meant to cook everything. Lean meats, raw meat, excessive liquid, and delicate vegetables are some of the many things you shouldn’t cook in a slow cooker.
While you can choose to cook these items in a slow cooker, you should know that the results won’t be pleasant at all.
It’s best to cook foods meant for a slow cooker, such as beef barbacoa, pulled pork, and beef chuck.
Can slow cookers burn food?
Slow cookers only work well with food items that hold enough moisture. If you add something dry, it’s bound to get burnt over time.
So, always make sure to add water to dry food items before cooking them in a slow cooker to avoid burnt food.
Andy
Ever since I started cooking I’ve been fascinated by how different people’s techniques are and how they best utilise the ingredients around them. Even the person living next door will have their own unique way of frying an egg or cooking a salmon fillet.
This fascination led me on a journey across the globe to discover the countless practices and traditions the world of cooking has to offer. I thought you’d enjoy and find value in sharing that journey with me so I created Cooked Best!