It’s no surprise that pressure cooking is faster than slow cooking, but did you know that you can get the same fall-apart tender results using a fraction of the energy too? Here’s an infographic with side-by-side comparison of slow cooking in the crock pot or braiser vs. pressure cooking that covers common cooking times, benefits, energy use and quick explanation of why pressure cooking is faster than any other cooking method.
We want to get everyone pressure cooking so please feel free to share, download, pin, post, blog, print and otherwise distribute this infographic. Thank you!
Ready to convert your favorite slow cooker recipe to the pressure cooker? Post your recipe the forums!
This Infographic contains the following Information:
- Cooking Temperature – Get the same results faster!
- Slow cooker 160-180°F
- Oven Braiser 200°F
- Pressure Cooker 250°F
- Common cooking Times
- Beef Stew: Slow Cooker 360 , Oven Braise** 165, Pressure Cooker* 40 minutes
- Shredded Pork: Slow Cooker 480 , Oven Braise 120, Pressure Cooker 60 minutes
- Beef Roast & Potatoes: Slow Cooker 480 , Oven Braise 285, Pressure Cooker 45 minutes
- White Beans (soaked): Slow Cooker 360 , Oven Braise 75, Pressure Cooker 25 minutes
*Includes time to reach and release pressure
**Includes 15 minutes to pre-heat oven - Pressure Cooking is fast because…
- Boiling Point: Pressure cooking 243-250°F (121°C); Conventional Cooking 212°F (100°F)
- Lid seals shut locking in steam and pushing out air
- The cooking environment is oxygen-free
- Pressure built by steam raises internal pressure
- Food cooks at higher temperature
- Boiling Point: Pressure cooking 243-250°F (121°C); Conventional Cooking 212°F (100°F)
- Pressure Cooker: NO a.m. cooking!; NO hot oven!; NO all-day odors!
- Side-by-side Comparison of Slow Cooker (SC), Oven Braiser (OB), and Electric Pressure Cooker (PC)
- Last-minute Cooking: PC
- Energy-saving: PC
- Kills Bacteria: PC
- Saute’ in same Pot: OB, PC
- Used as regular Pot: OB, PC
- Fall-apart meat: SC, OB, PC
- Infused Flavor: SC, OB, PC
- Set it and forget it: SC, OB, PC
- Pressure cooking saves energy!
- Energy to cook Pot Roast & Potatoes: Slow Cooker 1080Wh; Electric Oven 3130Wh; Pressure Cooker 315Wh
- Includes graphic showing energy used during cooking time at 10-minute intervals.
- Calculations made with the following data: Slow Cooker 6qt, 240 watts “high” setting/ 120watts “low“ – 60min at “high” & 420min “low” (no thermostat cycling); Electric Oven operating at 2400watts – 10min pre-heating at max watt & 260min (25% cycling on and off); Electric Pressure cooker Fagor 6qt, 1000 watts -10min max heat to pressure & 35 min cycling (25% cycling on and off)
- More pressure cooker benefits…
- No cooking smells in the whole house.
- Kills bacteria responsible for food-borne illness.
- No extra pan to brown meat and saute veggies.
- Pressure cook meat from frozen!
This is great! One small issue, though, is that your bar graph should be labelled as “watt-hours” (or kilowatt-hours), not “watts”.
Yes, that is the technically-correct name, but since most of the people viewing it would not be engineers I thought it might be confusing since the colloquial “watt hours” and the technical meaning of “watt-hours” differ. : )
Ciao,
L
I’ve since received a couple of e-mails about this – so it looks like my attempt to over-simplify created confusion! I have updated the infographic with watt-hours (Wh) for technical accuracy.
Thanks, again Harlan and the sharp readers who took the time to drop me a line!
Ciao,
L
One of my big likes about the pressure cooker are that most recipes I have tried seem to be pretty scientifically thought out. And while pressure cookers vary in temperature/psi they seem more consistent overall to slow cookers and even some stoves I have used.
And while times etc. may vary on charts, most/all recipes I have tried from experts like yourself seem to work. If in doubt I cook 5 minutes less and then add 5 minutes more if necessary. Generally it is, which just goes to prove that the recipes are accurate as is.
To me that is a big advantage as I don’t like overcooked food, and have never met a modern slow cooker that does not over cook. I have probably had 10 of them.
Browning in the pressure cooker is not working out for me as the stainless insert takes a long time to clean compared to any type of skillet, but no big deal to brown and deglaze in a skillet.
As usual a most informative article.
Helen
Helen, that’s a great observation from someone who sounds like she has slow cooked quite a bit! My mother slow-cooked a few dishes but I’ve never had the time for it. When I finally had time to figure it out (when I stayed home to raise the kids) I was already in Europe where (then) they didn’t sell slow cookers. In Europe pressure cookers were more common – so the rest is history. If I had remained in the US maybe I would have started hip slow cooking, instead. ; )
When I was doing research for this infographic I found out that slow cookers operate at different wattages and that equates to each one cooking at a different temperature. There is no “thermostat” to control the temperature (except for some of the newest high-end ones) nor any clear definition between brands of what “high” and “low” settings are for Slow Cookers translate to. So the recipes, too, are likely all over the place.
While with pressure cookers, even though they may differ in pressure, it’s easy to figure out adjustments because the PSI is directly connected to the temperature.
BTW, the Instant Pot can also be de-glazed (with cooking liquid you’re going to be adding to the recipe or just water). I’ve had some “brown” remain after dish-washing my Instant Pot liner.
I don’t do this often but when I’ve had something settle on the keep-warm setting or I’ve made a mess of a particular experiment I take care of that with some “Cif” which is the equivalent of the American SoftScrub. I get the version with bleach (which is a natural de-greaser) spread it evenly and leave it on for just three seconds (not more because bleach is also corrosive to stainless steel). Then I use the scrubby-side of my sponge and scrub the brown patches away. My insert looks shiny and brand new again. I then re-wash inside and out with dish-washing detergent because you don’t want to leave any trace of something meant to clean your bathtub in your food!
Ciao,
L
Probably I am over cautious in the cleaning as I have scratches on the bottom of my pot despite never using anything metal as a utensil. Baking soda is the strongest abrasive I have used.
I will get over this and use stronger abrasives as time goes on I am sure. The new cookware syndrome:)
And I totally agree on the wash and rinse. I don’t want any cleaning products in my food.
I, for one, am glad you went the pressure cooking route. The older slow cookers worked wonderfully, but regulations increasing minimum temperatures put an end to that except in some areas that really really like overcooked food. Try ordering a rare steak in Tennessee.
I have tried at least 6 of your recipes/methods and even with screw ups on my part, they all turned out pretty much like the pictures, and same with Instant pot recipes from their website. And lots from other sites. All turned out good or perfect except for one and that is because I did not like the flavour.
You do a wonderful job and your videos are always a pleasure to watch.
Helen