Is your cook top sabotaging the pressure cooker? how gas, induction and electric cooktops affect pressure cooking
Each cook top has its own quirks. The speed of induction and sluggishness of electric cook tops can affect the performance of the pressure cooker. Here’s how to get the best from your pressure cooker in any situation.
The dirty little secret of the “industry” is…
… that most pressure cooker recipes, and timing charts, are written for pressure cookers working under ideal conditions. Immediate heat, immediate and precise temperature control and an average predicted time for the cooker to reach pressure. In other words, they are written for pressure cookers on gas cook tops.
A reader poll taken earlier this month, revealed that over half (54%) use their pressure cookers on a gas cook top; 18% used electric and only 5% induction cook tops; about a quarter (23%) use electric pressure cookers so there’s no worry of sabotage in their kitchens!
Here are the adjustments that need to be made for pressure cooking according to the type of cook top that’s being used.
Electric and Halogen Cook Tops
Although halogen cook tops heat-up in seconds and turn off immediately, their ceramic cover does not, leaving the cookware heated by it in similar conditions as an electric coil or element: slow to heat and slow to cool – compared to gas. These are both important considerations since a pressure cooker is brought to pressure at maximum heat, and then when it reaches pressure the mechanism expects the cook to immediately turn the heat down to the lowest heat the cooker requires to maintain pressure. Not doing this could result in scorched food, or worse, the secondary pressure release valve to kick-in (which releases large plumes of vapor) to stop the pressure form building further than the cooker’s design can safely handle.
Solution: Do the switcharoo! While bringing your cooker to pressure on the largest burner, turn on a smaller burner at lower heat. When the cooker reaches pressure, gently move it from the large hot burner to the smaller low pre-heated burner and begin counting the pressure cooking time.
Induction Cook Tops
Induction cook tops can bring a cooker up to pressure 60% faster than gas – that’s in just 4 1/2 minutes instead of 11 starting with a “cold” cooker.1 The contents can boil, generate vapor, and bring the cooker pressure even before the the lid is hot!2 Once the “heat” is turned off pressure cookers on induction burners cool down 20% faster than gas (9 minutes instead of 11 – in our tests) . The mechanics and efficiency of induction cooking reduce the heat transferred to the sides and top of the cooker and concentrate it in the base. Less overall time to pressure and a smaller area of residual heat to continue cooking during natural release translates into undercooked food.
Solution: Increase the recommended pressure cooking time 2 to 3 minutes for a recipe that begins in a “cold cooker” and 1 minute for a recipe that begins in a pre-heated cooker (for example, a recipe that begins with sauteed onions). Instead, if the recipe indicates the cooker be opened with Natural Release (which uses residual heat), increase the total recommended pressure cooking time by 5 minutes . Don’t worry, your induction burner is still faster than cooking on gas since there is virtually no waiting for the cooker to come to pressure with induction.
Gas Cook Tops
For gas cook tops there is not need to take any additional steps. Simply follow recipe directions and recommended cooking times as given.
Your pressure cooker is not being sabotaged by your gas cook top!
See also:
- My Favorite Time-Cutting Gadgets and Tips on using, storing and cleaning them! - for induction burner buying tips.
Hi Laura, to me “ideal conditions” are better matched by induction cooktops, not by gas. Gas does not offer “precise temperature control” while induction does. It is faster as you point out, and it often has an integrated timer that will switch off automatically when cooking time ends. I would not use other thing with my pressure cooker.
It seems your audience is mainly from the US? I guess induction is used much more broadly in Europe than your reader poll suggests…
Best regards!
Enrique
Enrique!
I always appreciate your thoughtful comments. I plan to write a detailed article about induction cooking at some point in the future, but will try to answer all of your questions.
Right now, the norm is that induction only heats a metal disk at the bottom of cookware – this means that the during induction cooking sides and top are cold or colder (this is significant difference for tall, narrow pressure cookers). When cooking with gas, for instance, although pre-heating is significantly longer the whole cooker will become hot creating a reservoir of residual heat.
Instead, with induction, only the disk is heated and the rest of the cookware (sides and top) are primarily heated by a transfer of heat from the disk to the food (and liquid), and from the food to the metal. So, what is actually happening when you turn off the induction “heat” is that there is no residual heat in the sides and top of the cooker to continue cooking the food. In fact, the opposite is happening – the colder sides and top of the pressure cooker are slowly absorbing heat from the food and cooling it down quickly.
The longer time the pressure cooker operates the less impact this difference in heat distribution has on the recipe. But, since most pressure cooker recipes are under 20 minutes at pressure the differences are noticeable.
Sorry if this is not completely clear, when I have time to organize my thoughts and write a proper article about it, I will.
Ever since I tired induction in Germany I’ve been fascinated by the science behind it all. I just purchased a burner a few weeks ago and can’t stop using it. Dinner now only takes 15 minutes, instead of 30!
Ciao,
L
P.S. Right now, about 80% of the readers are in the U.S. – but I have plans for world domination!
Thanks for your answer Laura!
It’s true induction has the differences you mention with respect to gas, I find they are perfectly explained in the article and your comment. My only point was that induction better fits the “ideal burner” for me :-) That is, the overall best option for homes. Fast, precise, easily cleanable, integrated timer…. All advantages except maybe not valid for some pans you may already have, and the slightly different way of heating that you describe.
Ciao!
Thanks for this! I _love_ using the pressure cooker on an induction burner. But you’re right, the timings are consistently a bit off, and your explanations make perfect sense why.
Incidentally, for those who haven’t used them, low-end portable induction burners are now less than $100, and they are incredibly fast at putting heat into a pressure cooker.
Just be sure to get a burner that is 1800W or higher -otherwise you may not notice a difference in speed! Thanks for stopping by, Harlan!
Ciao,
L
I had such trouble with using a pc on my electric stove — I was constantly running back and forth checking on the pressure. I finally got an electric pc and love it, and gave the stovetop one back to my mother. And now we just moved and I have a gas stove! Oh well, I do like my electric pc.
When I lived in Austria I had an electric cook-top. I have to say that regulating pressure was less of a guessing game once I figured out to have the smaller burner clicked down to number two.
With gas you have to get the “feel” for the right flame size and it took me a lot longer to adapt! Each brand has it’s own requirements so since I cook with all at least four different brands of pressure cookers, I still get confused about which needs what.
You are not alone, about a quarter of the readers have electric, too! So, I think it’s a trend that can’t be ignored. I will get one in-house soon (it’s in the mail.. oh goodie!) and I will be writing and photographing electric cookers, too.
I really like the idea of running errands all morning and coming home to a hot piping ragu that has has just finished cooking under pressure!
Ciao,
L
Thank you for this post.
No matter what kind of burner you use, once you get usd to it (if you can whcih LoriM didn’t), you can make any necessary adjustments.
When I teach, I teach on gas, butane, electric, induction and none of it seems to make much difference in the results, especially if you start with good, tested recipes.
And, as an experienced cook, I can always adjust.
Induction burners are not all that popular in the US yet.
Jill, thanks for stopping by!
Yes, induction requires an investment in quality cookware. My sister, for example still uses a very durable and expensive non-stick set – so I don’t see her investing in new cookwkare. I have cheap Euro Shop (Dollar Store) stainless steel cook-ware and it does not seem to work as faston my induction burner as my higher-quality pressure cooker.
However, the advantage here and why I think readers would be interested in induction cooking even if it’s not popular in the US, yet. Is that almost all new pressure cookers are compatible with induction cooktops and, as Harlan said, they are getting cheaper!
Plus, there are a few more advantages. Like Enrique mentioned, you can set the timer during pressure cooking time to turn off the burner automatically to semi-automate pressure cooking!
Ciao,
L
When I had an electric stove I used a ‘simmer mat’ (heat diffuser) for the pressure cooker otherwise it nearly always burned or I had to move it from burner to burner. So glad we have a new gas stove since it’s so much easier to control the heat. The simmer mat worked great but I did bring it up to pressure off the diffuser. My mother had an induction cooker and she regretted that decision. I may buy a one burner induction to use when the summer heat starts.
wilkwise[at]live[dot]com
Anonymous, go for it! Get a 2000w burner if you can (minimum 1800) with integrated timer. Mine is extra wide and can accommodate both my 6l’s and pressure pans.
Ciao,
L
Interesting! I had never thought about the influence of cooktop type of pressure cooking, but it makes perfect sense. Of course, I have a gas cooktop so I can relax… :=)
In my Pressure Perfect cookbook it recommends a heat diffuser when cooking on electric cook top for certain recipes. In a comment above it says they used a heat diffuser or had to move it to another burner. Will moving it to another burner work as well as a diffuser? I have a small kitchen and don’t want to buy a diffuser unless I absolutely need to. Thanks.
Since you have limited space, try the “switcharoo” first. If that works and keeps food from burning at the base of your pressure cooker you don’t need a heat diffuser.
If, instead, you consistently get burned food stuck to the bottom.. invest in a “light” heat diffuser (aluminum not cast iron) like this one (you can simply “store” it by leaving it on the cook top)!
Ciao,
L
Great article, thank you. For the additional time needed for induction does it change depending on the cook time? For example I could see a difference adding 2-3 minutes to something cooking for 15 minutes but what if I am making stock and pressure cooking for 2 hours. Adding 2 minutes to that doesn’t seem like it would make a difference.
Could you not just heat the pressure cooker on a lower setting on the induction stove so it would take longer to reach pressure or should I always use full power for initial heating?
Will be picking up a kuhn rikon duo set at lunch today. Already have a fissler blue point 8.5L but the safety valve on it vents too early before it’s up to the second ring.
That’s right, the longer the food cooks, the less critical the time difference becomes. I would say that you can just start using the regular pressure cooking time for anything that needs 30 minutes or more.
I have not tried starting at a lower heat setting in all scenarios. Great idea.
The Fissler over-pressure kicking in too early means that the pressure regulator needs to be replaced. If this happened straight out of the box, the warranty may cover it as a manufacturing defect. Otherwise, it’s considered “wear and tear” and you will need to buy a replacement valve.
I have stopped using my Fisslers altogether. I love them to death but all their valves are shot and I got tiered of installing one defective replacement valve after another. Unfortunately, the Fisslers are neatly stacked and wrapped in plastic collecting dust on the top shelf in my pantry.
Ciao,
L
Thanks Laura,
The fissler is about 18 months old. It’s done this from the start but I didn’t actually contact fissler about it until a few days ago.
Maybe it is working correctly, it’s hard to tell as the pressure indicator is kind of lop sided so if looking at it from one side (the side with the handle) the second line is fully visible but if you look from the opposite side it is only about 1/4-1/2 visible.
Usually it will only hiss mildly with no visible steam coming out when at full pressure. Maybe that is normal but I assumed it would be completely silent and no venting at all.
A few days ago I made the pressure cooked marinara from modernist cuisine and the safety valve was hissing and venting a ton as soon as it reached the first pressure indicator. Perhaps that was because it was such a small amount (one large can tomatoes and an onion and carrot) in such a large cooker. Hence why I am buying the smaller duo set today.
Anonymous, you definitely have a bum valve.
The Fissler pressure cooker should reach high pressure without hissing. If it worked correctly, it would hiss (or release extra pressure) only after the second ring is clearly visible and out of the housing. You might want to mention the “crookedness” of it to Fissler, it may be an indicator of a manufacturing defect – this is how I was told to spot the defectiveness of the valves from another model (with the yellow, green and red rings). I don’t know if the same would apply to the Blue Point, which is what I’m guessing you have from your description.
I “had” a Blue Point fry-pan and it worked perfectly until the lid was dishwashed a few times. Then the valve began behaving much like yours did. BTW, the Blue Point lids note in the instructions that they are dishwasher safe!!! : (
Ciao,
L
Thanks Again. Fissler is sending me a new top under warranty.
Rob
Fantastic, this is great news!!
Ciao,
L
Great, thanks for the advice Laura. I did mention the crooked indicator in my support email. Haven’t heard back from them yet (sent it tues night).
It is the blue point.
Rob
I am having the same exact problem – early hissing and releasing before second ring shows fully and crooked indicator as well. First try out of the box. Will be calling about warranty tomorrow. Sigh.
So happy to have the option of induction and gas! I use the induction burner to bring pressure up quickly, then switch to the slow, even heat of gas for the rest of the cooking time. Great post!
What a great idea, Patrick! Thanks for sharing it.
Ciao,
L
So here’s a question for you… What would your recommendation be for someone using a wood cookstove? :) We just started using ours and I’m thinking of getting a pressure cooker. This article got me wondering if there’s anything I need to take into consideration when using it on the wood stove..
Cindi,
I’m sorry, I do not have any personal experience with a wood stove. Perhaps readers with a similar set-up can jump-in with suggestions.
You will need the equivalent of “high” and “low” heat, so if it is not adjustable you’ll have to move the pressure cooker around until you find just the right spot for it to maintain pressure.
Ciao,
L
I have an induction hot plate that I sometimes use during the summer months but haven’t used it w/the pressure cooker. I considered induction when purchasing a new stove but we bought gas instead since my first cousin has a pacemaker and was advised by her physician to remain at least 2 feet away from any operating induction cooker. I didn’t want her to feel nervous or afraid sitting at our kitchen table. Her Dr. may be over cautious but I suppose it’s better to be safe.
maynekitty///at///live///dot///com