If you’ve ever considered giving your slow cooker the boot for a pressure cooker, this blog post is for you! This article will show you the pros and cons of each method of cooking, as well as some tips on what produce is best cooked with each. The question of whether or not to cook with a slow cooker or pressure cooker is a hard one to answer. Because both methods require you to use an appliance, there are pros and cons for both.
Whether it’s worth it for someone to switch from slow cooking (with a crock pot) to pressure cooking (using a pressure cooker) depends on what exactly it is that they’re leaving behind to switch.
What’s a pressure cooker?
A pressure cooker is a pot with a lid that seals in most of the steam and pressure that’s created within. This self-regulated amount of pressure creates an environment where cooking times can be reduced by about two-thirds, while also retaining more vitamins and minerals, and producing less overall water loss from the food being cooked.
What’s a crock pot?
A crock pot is a pot with a lid that seals in the vapor created from water and food cooking. This allows you to cook your food at a lower temperature for longer periods of time without using any added heat source. Crockpots are usually used to cook “low and slow” overnight. The food is only heated to about 175 degrees, which isn’t enough to completely cook the food, but it’s enough to keep the food from spoiling before you get up and go to work.
Similarities of Crock Pots and Pressure Cookers
Both of these can be plugged in and kept on the counter. This is a good option for people who don’t have a lot of space, or if they prefer to keep it simple.
Some foods can be cooked in both a standard pot and either a crock pot or a pressure cooker. This makes it extremely easy to switch between cooking methods for any recipe.
Both of these can be used to simmer food. The process is the same, but the simmering time will differ between the two.
Both of these can be used to steam food. The process is the same, but the steaming time will differ between the two.
Both the Instant Pot and the slow cooker are one pot solutions that make cleaning them easier.
Can crock pots and pressure cookers be used interchangibly?
Yes! Crock pots and pressure cookers can both be used interchangeably. You can even use them to cook the same things in both methods.
There are some instances where cooking with a pressure cooker isn’t viable. For example, if you were attempting to make spaghetti sauce in a crock pot, you would probably need to add more water than would normally be the case, because the steam inside of your slow cooker/crock pot would make it difficult for your sauce to get thicker or “sauce-y”.
Some people use one or the other, but that’s really up to you. Both methods are awesome and will produce awesome results. The best thing about both is you can use them interchangeably with the same recipes.
Key Differences between Crock pots and Pressure Cookers
Different Cooking Time
A crock pot cooks food much more slowly. The temperature usually isn’t enough to fully cook the food in a short amount of time, but it can be enough to keep food from spoiling until you wake up or come home from work.
The temperature of a pressure cooker is usually high enough to fully cook your food, which means that it doesn’t need as much time.
The Cost is different
A crock pot is less costly and can be used for many things like soups, stews, rice dishes, chili, and more.
On the other hand,a pressure cooker runs is more costly depending on brand. They are most commonly used for steaming meat.
The lid is Different
Crock pots have a removable lid, while pressure cookers have a clump on the lid that can’t be removed. The name of this type of lid is the gasket.
Difference in sealing of the lid
In pressure cookers, the lid is very tightly sealed since it’s principle of use is based on pressure arising from the pot being tightly sealed unlike in crock pots.
Ease of cleaning
Crock pots are very easy to clean, while pressure cookers are much harder to clean. The food that cooks in the crock pot tends to build up on the walls of the pot which makes cleaning easier, while the tightly sealed pressure cooker won’t have anything sticking to the walls and is much more difficult to clean.
Ease of Use
Crock pots are easy and simple, while pressure cookers require much more supervision
Preferred Recipes for crock pots
- Crock Pot chili
- Crock Pot Chicken
- Crock Pot Beer Brats
- Cornish Game Hen with Stuffing
- Macaroni and Cheese
- Bean Soup (Black bean, kidney bean, navy bean, pinto bean)
Preferred Recipes for pressure cookers
- Meatballs (chicken or beef)
- Burgers (chicken or beef)
- Ribs (chicken or beef)
- Steaks (beef or pork)
- Chicken wings
- Pork Chops
- Steak Fajitas
- Chicken Fajitas
- Cornish Hens (oven baked)
So which is the way to Go?
In general, the slow cooker makes a lot less mess and is better for cooking large amounts of food. This means that if you need to feed a large number of people, you should go with the slow cooker.
On the other hand, the pressure cooker is a much faster way to cook your food and will save a lot of time. If you need to cook a small amount of food every day, then the pressure cooker would likely be a better option because it can be used just as often as it needs to be.
Both are efficient devices for cooking and while everyone will choose any depending on various factors,the pot is most likely the way to go.