Pressure Cookers

ay the words “pressure cooker” to someone who’s never used one, and they’ll probably think “danger.” It isn’t hard to imagine what’s going through their heads—visions of flying lids, exploding kettles, or much, much worse. Even people who have used a pressure cooker will sometimes get a little leery around one.

But while such hazards may have been possible in the past, they’re practically fiction today. Pressure cookers are safe to use. More than that, they’re incredibly useful. In this age of speed, efficiency, and optimization, there are few tools in the kitchen more suited to cooks who demand good food quickly. If you’re on the fence about buying a pressure cooker—or if you’re an especially obstinate hater, this article is for you.

A Brief History of Pressure Cooking

The origins of the pressure cooker can be traced to a 17th-century French physicist and mathematician named Denis Papin. Papin, who shared notes with such legendary brainiacs as Christiaan Huygens, Gottfried Leibniz, and Robert Boyle, is best known for his 1679 invention of the “steam digester,” the precursor to both the pressure cooker and the steam engine. Also known as the “bone digester” (such a hardcore name!) or “Papin’s digester,” the device was designed to extract fats and collagen from bones; after extraction, the rendered bones could be ground into bone meal, to be used as a dietary supplement or fertilizer.

The steam digester consisted of a closed pot with a tight-fitting lid. As food and water heated up, the vessel trapped steam, raising the pot’s internal pressure. Papin’s initial designs didn’t include any pressure-release mechanism, which resulted in various explosions early on. Fortunately, Papin subsequently invented a steam-release valve to keep such accidents from happening.