What comes into mind when one comes across a multi-cooker, pressure cooker, and a slow cooker? They are all cooking appliances that effectively help one prepare meals. This discussion will help one distinguish each of the three kitchen appliances while looking at their advantages and disadvantages to help you make an informed decision.
Pressure cooker
A pressure cooker is simply a cooking appliance that has a pot that is airtight and ensures one cooks quickly under steam pressure. Technological advancement has enabled the emergence of pressure cookers with easy-lock systems and detachable timers.
With pressure cooker recipes, all cooking times should only be taken when the pressure level is reached. Upon getting the desired pressure level, one should lower the heat but at the same time try maintaining the same level of pressure for the timed set. Turning the heat up and down during the process is acceptable as well as moving the pan to different-sized gas rings.
It is worth noting that pressure cooking is a wet cooking method and one should always ensure that anything they cook has about a two-centimeter layer of liquid at the bottom of it. Pressure cookers are perfect for making stews as well as making tough cuts tender while maintaining the liquid level.
With a type of pressure cooker known as stovetop, one can release pressure in a couple of ways. To begin with, one can place the pan under a cold tap to enable the pressure to drop quickly or allow it to just drop in a natural way and that simply means that as the food continues cooking, the pressure drops.
Advantages of a pressure cooker:
Saves time as it cooks in about a third of the usual time
Saves you money on fuel by cooking in a short time
Pressure cooking preserves the nutrients in some foods
Disadvantages of using a pressure cooker:
They are not ideal for delicate foods like green vegetables, fish, etc. due to the high level of heat it cooks at
Slow cooker
A slow cooker which is also known as a crock-pot, is a countertop electrical cooking appliance. It is commonly used to simmer at a lower temperature as compared to other cooking methods like frying, boiling, and baking. This allows for unattended cooking for many hours for dishes that would generally be boiled. One can cook dishes like soup, cocoa, stews, and many more.
Slow cookers normally requires little preparation. One simply needs to just chop the food they are cooking. If its meat and vegetables, simply chop them into smaller chunks and then pre-heat the cooker. It is worth noting that rooted veggies take longer to cook hence they should be placed at the bottom. Then add the neat at the top and add some liquid. Ensure that the slow cooker is at least a third the way full to prevent overcooking. Then after setting up all ingredients, set the temperature and the timer.
Advantages of using a slow cooker:
Slow cookers make cooking healthy meals quite easy
Slow cookers use less electric power as compared to any other average cooker
Slow cookers are able to produce food with a much fuller flavor as compared to traditional cooking methods
Disadvantages of slow cookers:
A slow cooker does not work for every recipe
Water condensed on the lid will drop off to the meal and will dilute the flavors and spices
Multi-cooker
A multi-cooker is an electric kitchen appliance that uses a timer to enable automated cooking. A multi-cooker can do a lot of things. It will help you save time and space in your kitchen and it’s also flexible. It can be used to prepare slow-cooked meals or quick meals too. One can use it to make baked food like cake, biscuits, pastries, and even casseroles. It can also be sued to roast while slow cooking.
A multi-cooker can do pressure cooking for you. All you need to do is put on the pressure cooking setting. It will enable you to cook your desired meal quickly and save you time. It also has a frying setting that will allow you to fry your crispy hot wings, mozzarella, and potato fries quickly. You just have to add sufficient oil inside to add your food plus the flavoring. The preset it to fry mode and the multi-cooker will make the cooking for you. It also has a pasta setting which generally stops to remind you of an ingredient you are supposed to add.
Advantages of a multi-cooker:
It enables one to cook a healthy meal easily and quickly
It enables one to cook a variety of foods as it has different settings
It is easy to clean
Disadvantages of a multi-cooker:
You cannot put different food items into it and expect them to cook evenly