Which One is Better for You? Pressure Cooker vs. Slow Cooker

My guess is that you love home-cooked meals, but the home-cooking part gets hard to maintain throughout the week. That’s normal and expected… so what we need are a few clever tools that help make it simpler!

There are two in particular which, in my opinion, every healthy kitchen should have.

Both make cooking easier – especially after a long day…

Both appliances are brilliant for convenient and hands-off cooking…

Both produce the kind of food that tastes like you’ve been slaving over it all day…

And they each do it in a very different way.

We’re talking about pressure cookers vs. slow cookers. The most old-school of appliances, but you know what – they work! And my question is, which one is better for you?

Depending on your cooking style, let’s look at which tool you might want in your kitchen.

The Pressure Cooker

Most people who’ve never used a pressure cooker are terrified of them! Imagining lids flying off! I hope to demystify that today.

How Do Pressure Cookers Work?

Pressure cookers have an air-tight sealed lid that, once the heat rises inside – it’s impossible to take off until it cools back down. Any liquid inside, present in the food and ingredients, turns into steam that infuses back into the food cooking it under high pressure.

You can find electric pressure cookers, or stove-top pressure cookers. I’ve only tried stove-top and it’s brilliant!

What can you cook in a pressure cooker?

Everything! High pressure cooking quickly breaks down veg, meat and beans. You can do a pulled pork, roast chicken or bean stew (from dry) in a fraction of the time. (around 30 – 40 minutes!)

Suggested resource: Hip Pressure Cooking has a ton of recipes for you

What’s the biggest pro?

Time – you get that same slow-cooked flavour, without having to plan in advance. If you come home and decide that you want to cook dried beans for dinner, tonight – you can make that happen.

What’s the biggest con?

I’ll be honest, I’m a pressure cooker fan – I can’t think of a con. I would say that, getting to know cooking times will take some learning… but that’s like anything!

A day in the life of person using a pressure cooker.

Here’s the scenario: you’ve come home with the biggest craving for bean chili with melted cheese and saltine crackers… but you forgot to soak the beans. You can’t wait 5 hours!!

Ordinarily, you’d need a “Plan B” but with a pressure cooker, you can speed cook dried beans in less than an hour, and eat that bean chili you so crave.

I want one, what’s the best pressure-cooker?

The Presto Stainless Pressure Cooker / $49.00

The Slow Cooker

It’s a very handy tool that cooks long and slow – like a gorgeous pot of tomato ragu, that’s been lovingly looked after by your Italian grandmother.

How Do Slow Cookers Work?

Slow cookers, also called crock pots, are electric cookers that cooks at a very low temperature. It’s safe to leave it on for hours through the night, or even if you leave the house.

What can you cook in a slow cooker?

Everything! From stews, soups, beans and even cuts of meat to make pulled pork or braised beef. Anything that you’d want to cook for hours in an oven or in a big pot, will be perfect for a slow cooker. A lot of people are even experimenting with making cakes and sponges in them!

Suggested resource: 365 Days of Crockpot has a ton of recipes and tips for you

What’s the biggest pro?

Hands-off. The best recipes for slow cookers are ones that you throw all the ingredients in, close the lid, set it on low and forget about it.

What’s the biggest con?

Time. The entire point of a slow cooker, is that it’s slow. That means there’s a bit of planning involved, ie: I’d like to eat in… 8 hours.

A day in the life of person using a slow cooker.

Here’s the scenario: it’s the early morning and you’re already thinking about tonight’s dinner. You know you’ll be busy all day, so you decide to prep something now. You throw in some chicken, potatoes and herbs, a splash of stock and wine and set it on low. When you come home from work 8 hours later, dinner is hot, and ready.