This article is about a vessel for cooking food in high pressure steam. Pressure cooking is the process of cooking food under high pressure steam can i pressure cook steak water or a water-based cooking liquid, in a sealed vessel known as a pressure cooker.
High pressure limits boiling, and creates higher cooking temperatures which cook food far more quickly. The pressure cooker was invented in the seventeenth century by the physicist Denis Papin, and works by expelling air from the vessel, and trapping steam produced from the boiling liquid. Almost any food that can be cooked in steam or water-based liquids can be cooked in a pressure cooker. Modern pressure cookers have numerous safety features to prevent the pressure cooker from holding too much pressure. After cooking, the steam pressure is lowered back to ambient atmospheric pressure, so that the vessel can be opened. A safety lock prevents opening while under pressure on all modern devices. Part of the decline has been attributed to fear of explosion, although this is extremely rare with modern pressure cookers, along with competition from other fast cooking devices, such as the microwave oven.
In 1679, French physicist Denis Papin, better known for his studies on steam, invented the steam digester in an attempt to reduce the cooking time of food. His airtight cooker used steam pressure to raise the water’s boiling point, thus cooking food more quickly. In 1864, Georg Gutbrod of Stuttgart began manufacturing pressure cookers made of tinned cast iron. In 1918, Spain granted a patent for the pressure cooker to José Alix Martínez from Zaragoza.
Martínez named it the olla exprés, literally “express cooking pot”, under patent number 71143 in the Boletín Oficial de la Propiedad Industrial. In 1935, the Automa pressure cooker was introduced. Mountaineers attempting to climb Mount Everest took it along with them to cook in higher altitudes. In 1938, Alfred Vischer presented his invention, the Flex-Seal Speed Cooker, in New York City. Vischer’s pressure cooker was the first designed for home use, and its success led to competition among American and European manufacturers. Aluminium body, polyamide lacquered with an embossed aluminium lid and a stainless steel stirrup. On display at the Musée gallo-romain de Fourvière, Lyon.
