Instant Pot vs. Pressure Cooker- Which One You Should Buy?

Instant Pot vs. Pressure Cooker

We are living in an era, where things are getting advanced so fast, and it gets difficult sometimes to cope up with the new advancements, but things get an upgrade for our convenience. Like previously, people used to cook in normal cooking pots and then came pressure cooker, which made the cooking much easier and faster. Now they have come up with this instant pot thing, which I have not tried myself but it looks good to me though.

Before jumping to the conclusion as to one which should help you buy. It is important to understand what is the difference between the two and what do they do and then I will tell after considering all the pros and cons that which one would be better.

What Is A Pressure Cooker And How Does It Work?

A pressure cooker is all about steam pressure. It is a pot that tightly sealed, keeping the steam inside and building up the pressure. Which in turn results in faster cooking. You can cook almost anything using the pressure cooker and that too in a very short time. You can cook peas or chickpeas in much less time. But it’s generally used for cooking pulses, beans, stews, and vegetables.

It is different from the conventional cooking, in this method of cooking you are supposed to wait for the cooker to get all heated up, and then you add the ingredients. After that, you let it cook for a certain time (depending on what you are cooking) by closing the lid and keeping the pressure-cooking on a certain pressure level.

You can see the charts available on the internet or in the manual to know how much pressure level a certain food needs and how much time will it take to cook that certain food.

Read Pros and Cons: Instant Pot vs. Pressure Cooker

Pros

It consumes less energy and creates pressure much faster than other appliances.If you are looking for something that cooks your meat beautifully brown, then this is the best option for you.It also helps in reducing toxins from the food, making the food healthier for eating.It requires less water as compared to the amount of water you use for boiling.As the food cooks faster, the vitamins that get washed away in the normal method of cooking will still be there when going for the pressureYou can cook multiple meals at a time in a pressure cooker, using the steamer basket.And also can use the pressure cooker to sterilize baby bottles and other bottles as it kills all the harmful germs.You can adjust the pressure according to the recipe and how you want to cook it.

Cons

It makes a lot of noise when releasing pressure.It is much more costly than the normal saucepans having the same size.The gasket needs to be cleaned carefully and after every use to clean the entire food residue, and you have to change the year once in a year or when it is damaged.If your gasket has lost its flexibility, then your pressure cooker will take time to heat up.And you also can’t taste the food or look at the food to see how is it cooking, and if you want to see you will have to open up the lid every time, making the cooking time longer.There are certain foods that you can’t cook in a pressure cooker like noodles, pasta, cranberries, cereals, oatmeal, etc.

What Is Instant Pot And How Does It Work?

It an upgrade of the pressure cooker, you can do all types of cooking using this, i.e. slow cooking, steamer, rice cooker, etc. And comes with different cooking options that you can select and let it cook on its own, as it will do all the work on its own you don’t have to go and check on how it’s cooking. Also usually comes with the following programs:

Slow cooker
Rick cooker
Pressure cooker
Steamer
Saute
Yogurt maker
Warmer

Pros

It comes in different sizes and models to meet your requirements.You select the method of cooking and the pressure setting, and you can leave it on its own.It less noisy as compared to a pressure cooker.Has an automatic lid lock and lid detection feature that prevents the food from exploding.And keeps the veggies fresh and green by keeping the food away from the air.It takes a small space on your countertop and cooks your meals much faster.

Cons

There are so many options and functions to use, that you will not even need or understand many of them.Because of so many options, people find it difficult to use.It takes time to build up the pressure and heat up.

Other models come with added features like egg maker, cake maker, sterilizer. You can insert different types of dishes in it to cook your food like cupcake folds and spring foam pans.

Conclusion:

Very important conclusion of Instant Pot vs. Pressure Cooker. We have been using the conventional cooking appliances for so long, that I think it is time for some change, a good change. We have given enough chances to pressure cookers. And now it’s time to give the instant pot a chance to prove that is it worth it or not. Secondly, it’s going to reduce your cooking time to half; you will not need to go again and again to check up on your food. Lastly, it’s an improved version of the pressure cooker and is good in many ways keeps you away from the toxins your food have, it’s less noisy and it can be used for multi purposes like a slow cooker, rice cooker, egg cooker, cake maker, etc. Therefore, I would recommend the instant cooker.