Advantages Of Pressure Cooker

Te Puke Times, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 13, 18 February 1949, Page 1

Advantages Of Pressure Cooker

HISTORY OF ARTICLE RECALLED

FULL FLAVOUR AND VITAMIN CONTENT RETAINED

.Must people' today have heard something about cooking by pressure, and already to many a pressure cooker has become one of the chief standbys in their kitchen, and I've no doubt they frequently bless modern inventors and inventions, states Maro'ueriie Batten, one of Britain's leadin''- domestic science experts, Actually, it is wrong' to suppose that pressure cooking' is one of fhe .many marvels of the 20th century.

It Wins devised, although certainly not extensively used, in the 17lh century. There is’ an interesting paragraph in John Evelyn’s diary, which is rather interesting:

.‘‘John Evelyn, the diarist, mentions how, on. April 12, 1682, he went to a super with several members pf .the Royal Society, where all the food, both fish and flesh had been cooked in a digester with less . than 80/.s of coal. (The digester was really a large saucepan with an air-tight lid fitted with .a safety valve. Evelyn says that the •hardest bones were made as soft as cheese, that the food was delicious, and that this philosophical supper caused mirth, amongst us.”

Although Evelyn’s digester may not have looked so attractive, as the modern universal cooker, it was undoubtedly the same in principle —an airtight saucepan with a weighted valve—fair that is just what constitutes a pressure cooker. When liquid is put into it, because the pan is airtight-and has a weight on top, steam cannot escape as it docs in an ordinary pan. It therefore builds up inside the pan and so produces a very high- pressure. To be accurate, -the pressure inside is 151bs per square inch, i.e., equivalent to a boiling ' point of approximately 250 degrees F. Even in these days women are not so much interested in .how scientific inventions work, but in 1 heir practical value. Several interesting points arise in the description of. Evelyn’s digester. The first that it cooked both, flesh and nsh, the second that it was all done on 80/.s coal, and the third, and perhaps the most important, that the hardest bones were made as ;■ soft as cheese, that the food was delicious. Marguerite Patten says she would very much like to know just what intriguing menu the diners of the Royal Society had before them on. that occasion. It doesn't make it very clear whether the fish and flesh were cooked together at one, and the same time,, but that is one of the joys of pressure cooking—should two such different foods be put into t*ie cooker together, they will cook perfectly without there being any intermingling of flavours. It sounds unbelievable, but it’s quite 1 rue. It is, therefore, perfectly possible to put a piece of fish into the cooker at the same time as vegetables, Think how useful that will be.

One thing not mentioned in this report is the incredible saving of time when yon cook with a; pressure sauce-pan-green vegetables- taking approximately 2 minutes, slewed meat, about 15 minutes, roast meat 10 minutes and chicken 5 minutes to each lb, and steamed puddings just one third of the usual time. That explains the' small quantity of coal, or in modern times the saving in gas or electricity. Imagine Coming in late and yet being aide to pul a small joint on the table Within h.alf-an-hour, and accompanied by vegetables nil cooked to perfection. Being men at this parly, it is certain they • appreciated the good flavour of the food, That is the first-, thing people rear; uk whim they eat anything cooked in this modern way. "What a delicious flavour.” The vegetables are cooked so rapidly and with sucli a small quantity of liquid that, all the natural value is retained, and additional seasonings will only spoil this flavour. During the war years in England, when there were no citrus fruits available, vegetables were relied upon to provide the “fruit vitamin," that is Vitamin C. This vitamin is essential to combat infection and keen the skin clear and healthy, . If vegetables are conked 100 slowly or for too long a period, it is lost. The vast majority of housewives learned then to cook their vegetables rapidly in covered pans and with the. minimum of liquid. However rapidly cue., c onks in ail ordinary pan, j; rained eonmn.V.e 1" the speed "f cook-. ir,;v in a Pressure, nan.-. .Remember, green

veget'bios .will be cooked in 2 minutes pressure eon-king time. Therelore, the

verv maximum quantity of this precious vitamin is-, retained. Added to that, the mineral salts are not lost either. Bor use vegetables have been particularly mentioned, that doesn’t mean they are the only foods improved almost beyond recognition bv pressure cooking. Meat has a tenderness not met with before, and in broths and slews the gravy is just lull of flavour.