The steamy renaissance of the pressure cooker

There are two kinds of portable cooking device. Permanent fixtures – kettles, toasters, and in my case a rice cooker – which warrant a place on your kitchen countertop through frequency of use. And visiting players – appliances that get hauled out of a cupboard on a more occasional basis and risk being exiled to the garage from chronic disuse.

In most households, pressure-cookers and slow-cookers fall into the second category. But thanks to the cost-of-living crisis, these once unfashionable appliances are having a renaissance, vying for category-one status alongside the air fryer (often simultaneously, as many appliances combine the two). These cooking devices are appealing because they save time and/or energy and are considerably more cost-effective than conventional ovens or hobs.

A pressure cooker is a saucepan with superpowers

Thanks to a number of new cookbooks on the subject, and tech advances in equipment, the pressure cooker, last fashionable in the 1970s, is enjoying a hot second. I own an old-fashioned stovetop pressure cooker for making dhal. But Catherine Phipps’ Modern Pressure Cooking (Quadrille) has encouraged me to upgrade my model and broaden my scope. Alongside soups and stews, she offers guidance on how to steam an egg (not only quicker than boiling one but makes for easier peeling); poaching and pot-roasting a chicken (after prep, 15 minutes with natural pressure release); and making pasta bakes that don’t require browning under a grill. Her method for making risotto in a pressure cooker (time taken approximately 10 minutes, plus no stirring or mindful watching) has “converted no end of people [including] a few Italian food purists”, she writes. “Will this work in the pressure cooker?” she now asks herself, drunk on the possibilities and keen to avoid switching her oven on as much as possible. “Pressure cookers are not just for batch cooking or making marmalade,” she says. “You can use them every day. Boil your potatoes for mash. Cook your greens in seconds.”

She recommends choosing a stovetop or electric model depending on space and other criteria. She outlines these in detail on her Substack. But she particularly rates Kuhn Rikon stovetop cookers, which are “efficient, easy to use and [come in] great dimensions”; they start from around £175.

Of course, negative perceptions around pressure cookers persist. One is that they’re tools for lazy cooks to bung everything in and hope for the best. In Modern Pressure Cooking, Phipps includes a few one-pot recipes and dishes that require minimally prepped ingredients such as tomato soup and cooked beans. But the majority call for a more hands-on approach, often with multiple short bursts of pressure cooking. “A pressure cooker is a saucepan that cooks more efficiently and faster – a saucepan with superpowers,” says Phipps. “It’s not replacing cooking.” With the lid on, you can’t monitor a dish the same way. “But you learn to intuit when a dish is done in different ways,” she says, and a pressure cooker often eliminates that need for constant supervision. “As soon as it comes up to pressure, there is no risk of food burning. You don’t need to stir to prevent from catching. You also don’t need to check liquid levels as none is lost [with modern cookers].”

Under pressure

Kuhn Rikon duromatix inox pressure cooker, £186

Duo Crisp Instant Pot with air fryer, £199.99, instantbrands.com

Still, pressure cookers take getting used to as they can seem counterintuitive. For instance, you should set a stovetop cooker on high heat to bring it up to pressure as quickly as possible; using a low heat slowly will actually result in burning. There is also the matter of how much liquid to add, which you mostly learn from experience.

Another old-fashioned cooking appliance that is ripe for reappraisal is the microwave. In his upcoming book Microwave Meals (Hardie Grant), chef Tim Anderson notes how suited these energy-efficient devices are for boiling, steaming and frying food. You can cook pasta, brown garlic, make jam and prepare dishes from scratch such as caponata, saag paneer and mac and cheese.

The air fryer, meanwhile, dangles the possibility of “healthier” food that doesn’t compromise on crispiness or crunch. Plenty of people dismiss air fryers as a fad while also wondering whether or not to get one. If they’re lucky, someone else will get one for them. In 2022, air fryers were the number one Christmas present and they continue to be popular. TikTok has surely played a part: when my 12-year-old nephew, who otherwise shows no interest in cooking, requests an air fryer, you know something is up.

Many models on the market combine a pressure cooker with an insert that transforms it into an air fryer. Good for browning dishes such as gratins. Phipps has seen good results with Instant Pot’s Duo Crisp (from £199.99)  I love my air fryer most because it restored homemade chips to my repertoire after I swore off deep-fat frying. It also opened the door to dishes I wouldn’t have thought of trying. Bored of Lunch cookbook author Nathan Anthony’s most popular air-fryer recipes are his so-called “fakeaway” recreations of takeaway favourites. These include lamb doner kebab and honey chilli beef which “anyone would assume is deep-fat fried”, he says.

Of course, these appliances aren’t for everyone. I inherited an air fryer from my parents who bought into the hype but soon realised it didn’t suit their style of cooking. At their age, who needs the pivot? Food writer Lara Lee was gifted a slow-cooker by her mother-in-law when she and her now-husband moved in together. They slow-cooked beef bourguignon, coq au vin and chilli con carne. “However, we soon realised the joy of watching real food cook in real time while sipping Tesco Finest Châteauneuf-du-Pape,” she says, “as opposed to the early-morning rush to prep, plop and slow-cook in ‘the machine’.” The appliance landed at their local charity shop. “Not before it served its time as the foundation to a very happy marriage,” she adds. What cooker could hope for more?