+1 to pressure cookers. We find owning both pressure cooker and slow cooker to be very useful. Pressure cooker is particularly good for pulses that would otherwise take ages to cook. Seems to reduce cooking time by roughly 2/3 .e:g beetroot takes 15 mins at pressure instead of 45 to boil. Only problem with it is its all too easy to overcook stuff. needs timing carefully.
The marketing around pressure cookers (MAKE TANTALIZING MEALS IN 15 MINUTES!) always overlooks the time it takes for prep (~ 45 minutes), the times it take for the vessel to come up to pressure (~ 30 minutes) and time it takes to depressurize (~15-30 minutes).
Ultimately the results are better, but it’s lead to a couple of one hour delays on meal time in my household because I forgot to take into account the extra time. These often involved a “rapid depressurization procedure” of taking the Instant Pot to the deck, and holding the release valve up with a long wooden spoon.
We have a 14-yr-old Tower 6 litre stainless steel pressure cooker that sits on the hob like a normal saucepan. You can google that and in the UK there's a model on Argos for about £45. So not crazy posh or anything. Been very happy with it. To come to pressure, it takes a few mins just like bringing a pan to the boil. Bear in mind (a) shouldn't be all that much water in it, doesn't need anything like what you need for boiling or steaming (b) need to keep it all clean or this will affect it coming to and staying at pressure (c) rubber ring can perish affecting performance, having said that we haven't replaced that in years. Taking it off the hob it'll come off pressure in 2 mins or so. A trick of course with the older and/or inferior pressure cookers is you can simply run cold water from a tap onto the lid, for instant depressurisation. works a charm :). So I don't know why yours takes so long, but I think it shouldn't . something seems wrong to me. As for recipes with a lot of prep time, yes that can be true of recipes, same as for slow cooking. However , certain things cook really fast with barely any prep e:g beetroot, pearl barley, lentils. I'm. a big advocate of pressure cookers as both a time and energy saver. Good luck and bon appetit :)
My instant pot has a simple knob to release pressure. You can unplug it if you want to immerse it but it takes about 60 seconds to fully depressutre from high.
I bought a French brand pressure cooker about 10 years ago and use it almost every day (vegetables, pulses, grains). I usually boil water in an electric kettle first though - a 3kw kettle will have the water hot in 2 minutes, then I clamp the lid on the opposite cooker and it's at full pressure pretty quickly afterwards. If I'm doing potatoes I typically cube them, and they're done in 6 minutes on full pressure.
I'm not sure I've ever had it take half an hour to come to pressure, but you can speed up liquidy things by putting them on the stove while putting the ingredients in. I can heat things up much faster on my gas hob than with the heater in the instant pot.
Meal prep depends on the meal as well. Try a Colombian chicken stew - cut a few potatoes, some tomatoes and onions (rough, just into quarters) and chuck them in the pot with some chicken legs/thighs and bay leaves (and salt and pepper). That's minutes to prep, and doesn't have to be done just before dinner. 25 minutes and then release the pressure. I'm not sure why you carry it outside and use a spoon, you can turn the valve then leave it for a few minutes.
> The marketing around pressure cookers (MAKE TANTALIZING MEALS IN 15 MINUTES!) always overlooks the time it takes for prep (~ 45 minutes),
Most meals take a lot less time to prep than that, and prep can often be separated from cooking, some parts by days.
> the times it take for the vessel to come up to pressure (~ 30 minutes)
5-15 would be more accurate.
> and time it takes to depressurize (~15-30 minutes).
Instant pot quick release only takes a couple minutes; natural release takes longer, sure, but that’s usually included in recioe times that use it (many of which have partial natural release for a set time followed by quick release.)
For times when you need to do a full natural release because of the kind of food (to avoid fouling the valve) but want it to be faster, the Pro (and Duo Evo) Instant Pot models support an optional ice tray accessories that is placed on the lid to effect a rapid natural release.
> These often involved a “rapid depressurization procedure” of taking the Instant Pot to the deck, and holding the release valve up with a long wooden spoon.
The Instant Pot as a button (or pull switch on the Pro) for quick release, what is the purpose of your procedure besides gratuitous drama?
My times were spitball estimates. I'm slow to chop, and also defrost my meat in the microwave so I can saute.
There's probably an element of perceptual time compression involved too. Even if the total overhead time is actually 20 - 30 minutes, it might as well be 45 minutes.
Manual depressurization is messy. Yes, I can use a towel over the release valve to keep brothy splatters going on the wall, but now I have a brothy towel that I could have avoided if I waited 20 minutes.
I've been using an ikea stove-top pressure cooker for cooking bean soups and it takes very little time to pressurize and de-pressurize, your numbers don't reflect my experience at all.
Stove top pressure cookers generally heat up faster, and certainly can be cooled faster by pouring water over them. They also typically cook a bit faster (because of slightly higher pressure)
It's still true that your "15 min cook" is actually time_to_get_to_pressure + 15 min + time_to_cool
It's going to heavily depend on how much water needs to be heated and how the vessel seals. Mine needs a strongly rolling boil to seal. I use as little water as possible to minimize heating time. It's still 10-15m to pressure buildup at anything below max heat with our giant cooker and another 10-15m to 15psi for sterilization temps.
