Pressure Cooker — The Complete Guide

A pressure cooker is a sealed pot that traps steam, raises the internal pressure above atmospheric, and lifts the boiling point of water from 100°C to roughly 121°C. That extra 21°C is the entire point: collagen-rich cuts of meat that need three hours in a regular pot break down in 45 minutes; dried beans that need overnight soaking and 90 minutes simmering go from dry to creamy in 35 minutes flat. Modern electric pressure cookers (Instant Pot and friends) added timers, safety locks, and the ability to brown food in the same pot you cook it in. The cooking science did not change — pressure cookers have been doing this for a century — but the user experience finally caught up.

This guide covers what is actually different about pressure cooking versus other methods: timing (much shorter), liquid (often less than you would think), and the things that do not pressure-cook well (delicate fish, anything you want crispy). KitchenConvert handles the conversion side. Paste a slow-cooker recipe and the app will tell you what to adjust for pressure cooking — usually less liquid, shorter time, and watching for natural-versus-quick-release. Adapt a traditional braise from a French cookbook and KitchenConvert converts cups to grams, Celsius to whatever your pot displays, and scales the servings to fit your six-quart or eight-quart pot. None of that replaces understanding the technique, which is what the rest of this guide is for.