Are Pressure Cookers Healthy to Cook with OR Even Safe?
(We'll also cover what Sally Fallon Morell from the WAPF & Kaalya Daniel said about pressure cooker broth in their book, keep reading…)
Right off the bat we can get the safety issue out of the way. Most modern pressure cookers have built-in safety features, so as long as you follow directions and use common sense, you don't have to worry about kitchen explosions or getting injured while making dinner. These were worries with the very old models that our grandparents used.
When it comes to convenience, pressure cookers SAVE THE DAY!
Below I'll share exactly why I'm completely comfortable using our pressure cooker to serve healthy meals to my family, but first I'll tell you why I love it from a convenience standpoint:
Apparently I have too many things going on around here everyday (like all of you I'm sure!) and most of the time I can't seem to get my head out of my ___ and remember to pull meat out of the freezer early enough in the day so it has time to thaw, cook and be done by suppertime. A pressure cooker comes through BIG because food takes only a fraction of the time to cook, and especially for work-outside-the-home parents: what a lifesaver for you especially!
What about health-wise, are pressure cookers healthy to cook with?
This issue is still hotly debated, but I've been convinced that this is A-okay, and here are a few reasons why…
- Are pressure cookers healthy to cook with? #1: It’s like arguing that food cooked in Miami (where the boiling point of water is 212*F) is somehow less nutritious than food cooked in an Andean or Himalayan village (where the boiling point of water is 190*F) just because the air pressure and boiling point are higher in Miami… The only reason one took far less time to cook was that the higher air pressure meant that you could cook it at a higher temperature before you started losing too much water and overcooking the food. (Source)
- Are pressure cookers healthy to cook with? #2: Many say, “Pressure cooking denatures proteins.” To that, Kris, the Toledo Weston A. Price chapter leader, replies, “Collagen is an insoluble protein that must be denatured to produce soluble gelatin that we can consume, but that does not mean the amino acids or proteins are destroyed or that gelatin is not useful. Enzymes lose their function if they are ‘denatured' but collagen is not an enzyme. I am not convinced that pressure cooking is as harmful as some say. I get a fabulous gel from my pressure cooked broth. My husband who is very sensitive to glutamate, drinks the broth daily with good results and never has a problem with it. The broth is very flavorful also. I have no plans to give up my pressure cooker!” (Kris is quoted with her permission.)
- Are pressure cookers healthy to cook with? #3: There is good evidence that pressure cooking helps food retain nutrients and bioavailability, AND reduces acrylamide, lectins, and phytic acid!
Researchers estimate the nutrients in our foods have declined dramatically (up to 50 percent in some foods) due to the depletion of nutrients in the soil. When you combine that with many cooking methods, which destroy or drain nutrients away from your food, the result is meals that just don’t provide the nutritional value your body needs.
A pressure cooker can greatly reduce the time it takes to cook your food. This directly correlates with the loss of fewer heat-sensitive nutrients. Let’s take a look at the research:
• In Plant Foods for Human Nutrition, researchers found that pressure cooking was the best method for retaining both vitamin C and beta-carotene in spinach and amaranth.
• A study published in The Journal of Food Science found that pressure cooked broccoli retained 90 percent of its vitamin C content. Compare this to boiling (66 percent retention) or steaming (78 percent).
But using a pressure cooker won’t just help boost the levels of nutrients you get from your food… it can also help reduce health harming compounds, as well.
Because a pressure cooker basically uses “steam under pressure”, foods stay moist. They are literally bathed in steam as they cook. This translates to juicier, better tasting food. It also helps eliminate two cancer-causing compounds (acrylamide and heterocyclic amines) which are often produced by other high-heat cooking methods.
And if you’re concerned about lectins and phytic acid – two anti-nutrients which can bind to minerals and make them indigestible – the pressure cooker can help there too.
In fact, another study published in Plant Foods for Human Nutrition showed that when peas were soaked overnight and then boiled, their phytic acid content was reduced by 29 percent. On the other hand, when they were soaked overnight and then pressure cooked, the reduction in this unhealthy anti-nutrient was almost double (54 percent). (Source)
- Are pressure cookers healthy to cook with? #4: From Nourishing Broth by Sally Fallon Morell and Kayla Daniel: “Neither Sally nor I use a pressure cooker, but we know many people who love them. Pressure cookers seem to help achieve the gelatin we value so much. In terms of nutritional value, we have not done comparison testing of pressure cooker broth vs. stockpot vs. slow cooker. We’d love to do lab testing for a long lists of nutrients, but that gets very expensive very fast. If you know anyone who’d like to give us about $20,000 for a small study, we’d like to move forward with that testing. In the meantime, I see no reason for you to stop using your pressure cooker.” (Read my review of this book here or find out how to make pressure cooker broth here.)
Hopefully that information has made you comfortable using a pressure cooker, and now for which one to buy…
- Note that if your family is smaller and a 6 quart is big enough for you, click here to get the Instant Pot 7-in-1 multi-function pressure cooker. (You can also purchase extra Instant Pot accessories if you'd like.)
- If you really want to geek out and are okay with the 6 quart, click here to check out this Bluetooth Instant Pot. It says you can, “Program and monitor cooking with a free app for Android/iPhone/iPad; Expand functionality by upgrading the free app and adding other recipe apps.“
- But if you need a bigger model, you can get what I ordered, click here for the 8 quart 8-in-1 multi-function pressure cooker. It's a pressure cooker, rice cooker, bean cooker, yogurt maker, food warmer, steamer, sauté, slow cooker, and egg maker. (You can also purchase extras separately: a glass lid if you're using it as a slow cooker and/or an extra stainless steel inner pan.)
- Be sure to click here for one of these electric pressure cooker recipe books so you know how to make everything come out well in the electric pressure cookers due to the lower psi as mentioned above.
There are SO many easy meals you can make in it for FAST dinners
It's been my sanity-saver on many occasions!
More you might like:
- Want to make meal time and meal planning even easier? Check out these easy interactive meal plans!
ra says
https://amzn.to/2VnkvYo
Do you have any idea how your pressure pot compares to this one?…must be before the 4th generation?..no idea …I ordered it and after reading reviews and comments on the one i ordered am now having second thoughts as to if I want to unbox/use it?…what is that aluminum insert thing in the lid?..can you pressure cook without it?…..do you think the condensation from cooking and then dripping from the aluminum onto the food will cause any negative health affects? does yours have that screw in the lid the woman is having an issue with? I really enjoy reading your articles as I find the time…found this article in the year’s roundup email you sent today…wish I had seen it earlier(before I bought this particular go wise pot) Can you see any major difference in your model and this one? I appreciate any thoughts you may share on this topic…
Lularoechericanchola says
Hey girl…I’m looking into the 12 qt model
Can you tell me, cuz I can’t find it, if that has stainless as well and all the same features as the 8 qt?
I saw the 12 qt had enamel basket
Isvthe basket what you cook in?
Or is that in addition to the inside?
Thanks we have 7 children so looking bigger;)
KitchenKop says
Wow the 12 quart size would be great for a big family! By the looks of the picture, it has all the multi-function features of my 8 quart. It says that the cooking pot in that one is coated with ceramic, and as far as I know, that’s safe, but maybe in the reviews you could find more info about it. When they talk about the “basket”, I think they mean a stainless steel basket that goes inside, which I use mostly so far for hard-boiled eggs. (They are SO easy to peel, here’s my post about it: https://kellythekitchenkop.com/easy-to-peel-hard-boiled-eggs-in-the-pressure-cooker/).
Hope that helps!
Kelly
KindFoodFarm says
I got a Fagor stove-top stainless-steel pressure cooker for free from Macy’s about a year ago. They have so many sales and sometimes multiple coupons apply. It all added up to paying nothing for it! It works pretty well, but comes with a minimal cookbook, so I’m usually winging it. Eventually I’ll buy a pressure cooking cookbook.
DeLeslyn Marie Stephens says
Thanks…. We wanted it more for the pressure canning side – rather than pressure cooking …. So I stopped looking….?
Doreen Hulett says
I opted to keep my workhorse in the kitchen instead of the Instant Pot. I was afraid to let my Fagor go.
Elaine Albrecht says
In researching this the Go Wise pot, it apparently doesn’t have a saute function. Could anyone who owns one verify this for me? (Kelly the Kitchen Kop or Hayley?) For me that is a deal breaker from a recommendation standpoint. I use my saute function nearly every time I use the instant pot.
Kelly the Kitchen Kop says
Elaine Albrecht — are you looking at the newer version that I linked to in my post?
Elaine Albrecht says
Reading reviews on the 6 qt. but I really want to know if the newer model has a sauté function. My sister is super interested, but needs that function. The instant pot can sauté with the lid open. I don’t want to see her buy something she won’t be happy with, but don’t want to see her miss a great sale if is what would work for her.
Kelly the Kitchen Kop says
Elaine Albrecht This is the one I got and it does have saute: https://amzn.to/1QrmuW0
Elaine Albrecht says
Thanks Kelly! Does it work with the lid off? I am excited for you. I love using my electric pressure cooker. Headed down to make bone broth now.
Leesa Robinson says
I love my Instant Pot! I find it to be as useful a tool in my kitchen as my VitaMix! No turning back for me. I use the slow cooker setting as well as saute and make yummy yogurts, etc. It makes some of the best bone broth I have ever prepared! Yep it’s a kitchen tool I brag about!
Chris Walker says
My two favorite kitchen tools as well!!
Tone Sparling says
If you use the slow cook option on the Instant Pot, is it safe?
Kelly the Kitchen Kop says
According to the reviews on both of the electric pressure cookers (I like the other one better than Instant Pot, which I explain in the post), they are both awesome for slow cooking, and for all the other features they have!
Tone Sparling says
So, just to be clear, the only method that is not recommended is the pressure option. Thanks, just want to make sure I have this straight to share with another group, and because I thought the Instant Pot was a good product, it gets so confusing.
Tone Sparling says
Just re-read article and got the answer to my question. 🙂
Kelly the Kitchen Kop says
Tone Sparling Okay, good, because yes, pressure cooking IS recommended as well. 🙂
Hayley Ryczek says
I’m a go wise fan – I’ve tested them up against the instant pot and they simply out perform in addition to being less expensive and larger capacity. The instant pot is roughly 10% longer cook times.
Kelly the Kitchen Kop says
Go to know, thanks Hayley Ryczek — I think I’ll like the one I got. 🙂
Hayley Ryczek says
I’ve been shouting from the roof tops that the instant pot isn’t all that for about a year….. What’s even funnier is that there’s so many people who don’t understand that it’s a pressure cooker and the recipes are universal – instant pot isn’t proprietary technology 😉
Barbara Pardee Novak says
chose a go wise upon Hayley’s recommendation and love it.
Elaine Albrecht says
Hayley, does yours allow you to saute with the lid off?
Hayley Ryczek says
Elaine – I know there are issues with the saute function from other people – I’m pretty old school and particular in my cooking – I’d never get the same sear on meats using an electric multi cooker as I can in a cast iron pot/skillet so by default that’s how I always saute/brown mine, stove top.
Nicky Lerma says
Is a pressure cooker different from a pressure canner? I’ve been wanting to learn to can, would the cooker you mention in the article work for that?
Kelly the Kitchen Kop says
I believe that certain pressure cookers can be used for canning as well (I saw it somewhere in the reviews or questions on the products I was looking at), but don’t know now which ones because I read so many!
Stephanie Bogan says
The difference is , in Pressure cookers used for canning will have a Weighted Pressure – either by weights or by gauge, the pressure will be measured , so you “can” under a certain weight pressure for a certain length of time ,and each item to “can” being different.
Sabrina Breuker says
Some of the electric ones claim you can use them for canning but the psi does not go high enough to safely can anything.
Kelly the Kitchen Kop says
By the way, anyone out there, if you have one of the electric pressure cookers with a warm setting, a friend is wondering if it works well for perpetual broth??
Karen Leszczuk Bader says
I make broth in the instant pot in two hours!
kchristi8 says
Yeah, it never made sense to me when people would argue that cooking with a pressure cooker denatures proteins. Ummm, that’s what cooking does. Denatured proteins are what causes a cooked egg to turn from clear liquidy to white. That’s just how it works.
Viv Webb says
I use a good stainless steel stove top model. Love it .
KitchenKop says
Joyce, you’re right, sorry about that, I have read so many reviews and Q & A’s that my head is spinning! I just fixed the post, thank you!
Kelly
KitchenKop says
Liz, I’m glad I’m not the only one that does this a LOT! 🙂
Joyce says
Kelly, does your manual say that you can CAN in your pressure COOKER? I followed the link and I don’t see where you can use it to can. A cooker has a thinner wall…..which heats up more quickly and cools down more quickly. When you can, the time given for each food to be canned includes warm up and cool down time. I’m afraid you could be inviting botulism or some other food poisoning if you try to can in your pressure cooker.
Joyce
Liz says
Now I’m really excited to consider this option! It would be amazing to have a back up plan for when I forget to pull the meat out….ahem…:))
KitchenKop says
One more thing — I just remembered that at my other post on this from a while back (https://kellythekitchenkop.com/top-rated-pressure-cookers/) there was a nice, long, helpful comment/review from a reader friend, Anna, so I went to see what she said about the keep warm setting, and she did say that in the Bluetooth model, there were THREE keep warm settings. Go check out that comment to read more, because maybe that’s the case in ALL models?
Kel
KitchenKop says
Good question Susan, I can’t help you on that one though since I don’t have mine yet, but I’ll ask on FB tomorrow. Also, did you check on Amazon in the Q&A’s? There were TONS of questions there and you could maybe do a search (command F on your keyboard for a Mac, forgot the key on a PC) for “broth” or “warm” and see if those words bring anything up?
Keep an eye out on FB tomorrow!
Kel
Susan says
Kel-
One thing I’m curious about, and hopefully either you or one of your readers can answer this for me….
Can I use the Instapot for continuous broth? I found that I was so much better at drinking broth every day, all day, when I kept a crockpot going with continuous broth. But after a while I began to notice that the low setting on my crockpot was actually at more than just a simmer, and my broth was now at a continuous boil for several days. It began to affect the taste and it concerned me that the crockpot was so hot on the low setting that it was keeping the broth at a pretty rapid boil. Eventually I just stopped making it. I know I’ve read over the years that other people had this problem too.
Any feedback from Instapot users out there? Thanks!
Great post, btw, Kel!! 🙂