page_title: Pressure cooking
section_title: Third generation "electric pressure cookers"
hierarchical_section_title: Pressure cooking / History / Third generation "electric pressure cookers"
caption_attribution_description: English: Pressure cooker 4.5 l Perfect Ultra manufactured by WMF Deutsch: WMF Schnelldrucktopf 4,5 Liter Perfect Ultra Köngigsbau Stuttgart, vielen Dank nochmals an die freundlichen WMF Verkäuferinnen!
context_page_description: Pressure cooking is the process of cooking food at high pressure, employing water or a water-based cooking liquid, in a sealed vessel known as a pressure cooker. High pressure limits boiling, and permits cooking temperatures well above 100 °C to be reached.
  The pressure cooker, invented by the physicist Denis Papin, works by expelling air from the vessel, and trapping the steam produced from the boiling liquid inside. This raises the internal pressures and permits high cooking temperatures. This, together with high thermal heat transfer from the steam, cooks food far more quickly, often cooking in between half and a quarter the time for conventional boiling. After cooking the steam is released so that the vessel can be opened safely.
  Almost any food that can be cooked in steam or water-based liquids can be cooked in a pressure cooker.
context_section_description: After the stove-top pressure cookers, in 1991 came the electric pressure cookers, called the "third generation" pressure cookers.
  These include an electric heat source that is automatically regulated to maintain the operating pressure. They also include a spring-loaded valve (as described above). This type of pressure cooker cannot be opened with a cold water quick-release method and should be operated with caution when releasing vapour through the valve, especially while cooking foamy foods and liquids (lentils, beans, grains, milk, gravy, etc.)
  An electric pressure cooker integrates a timer. Depending on cooking control capability, there are three generations of electric pressure cookers:
  First-generation Electric, with mechanical timer. There is no delayed cooking capability.
  Second-generation Electric, with digital controller. Delayed cooking becomes possible and the controller shows a countdown timer when working pressure is reached.
  Third-generation Electric, with smart programming, which includes pre-set cooking times and settings based on heating intensity, temperature, pressure and duration.
  Some pressure cookers are multifunctional (multicookers): pressure cooker, saute/browning, slow cooker, rice cooker, egg cooker, yogurt maker, steamer, sous vide, canner, and stockpot warmer that can also be used to keep cooked food warm. Since 2018, with the release of the game-changing Ninja Foodi pressure cooker, which became famous for being the first pressure cooker to possess the ability to air fry, several other pressure cooker manufacturers, including Instant Pot, have come out with their own pressure cookers that can air fry, which are now known as pressure air fryers. Pressure air fryers have two separate lids, one for pressure cooking, and one for air frying. Air frying lids for electric pressure cookers typically come in one of two configurations: 
  The first configuration consists of the air fryer lid hinged to the main unit, and is non-removable; the air fryer lid flips up when using the removable pressure cooking lid, and then after the pressure cooking lid is removed, the air fryer lid flips back down. This is the configuration used by the Ninja Foodi line of pressure cookers.
  The second configuration consists of a completely removable air fryer lid, with a protective pad for storage. This is the configuration used by most other pressure cooker manufacturers, including Instant Pot.
caption: Stove top pressure cooker with battery operated timer
exif: {}