# Let's say I don't have a pressure cooker. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 4, 2008, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-say-i-dont-have-a-pressure-cooker/466442 "2008-10-04T13:51:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ace309](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ace309/32/1050_2.png) [@Ace309](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ace309)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2008, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-say-i-dont-have-a-pressure-cooker/466442/1 "2008-10-04T13:51:38Z")
I’m learning to cook Indian food and a number of the recipes involve the use of a pressure cooker. I don’t have one and am not interested in spending the money to buy one. Is there an easy way to convert “five minutes in pressure cooker” to other methods? ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2008, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-say-i-dont-have-a-pressure-cooker/466442/2 "2008-10-04T13:53:38Z")
> [@Ace309](#): > > I’m learning to cook Indian food and a number of the recipes involve the use of a pressure cooker. I don’t have one and am not interested in spending the money to buy one. > > Is there an easy way to convert “five minutes in pressure cooker” to other methods? Yeah. Just put everything in a covered pot and cook until it’s done. Most of what pressure cookers do is heat things quickly. So if you just give yourself more time, you can come up with the same thing with a pot on top of the stove. ---
**Author:** ![Ace309](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ace309/32/1050_2.png) [@Ace309](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ace309)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2008, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-say-i-dont-have-a-pressure-cooker/466442/3 "2008-10-04T13:58:43Z")
Thanks! I was just curious whether there was a specific conversion factor or something, but if I just have to eyeball it that’s cool. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2008, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-say-i-dont-have-a-pressure-cooker/466442/4 "2008-10-04T14:18:18Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > Most of what pressure cookers do is heat things quickly. I’ve often wondered just how much higher pressure cookers go in heat? The pressure increase has to be minimal so the contents can’t be, what, no more than 10° above non-pressurized? ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2008, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-say-i-dont-have-a-pressure-cooker/466442/5 "2008-10-04T15:13:47Z")
\*Most pressure cookers have a working pressure setting of about one atmosphere (100 kPa or 15 psi gauge pressure), the standard determined by the United States Department of Agriculture in 1917.[3] At this pressure boost relative to sea-level atmospheric pressure, water boils at 125 °C (257 °F). The higher temperature causes the food to cook faster; cooking times can typically be reduced by about 70 percent. For example, shredded cabbage is cooked in one minute, fresh green beans in three minutes, small to medium-sized potatoes cook in about eight minutes (depending on thickness and type), and a whole chicken takes only twenty minutes. Brown rice and lentils and beans can be cooked in ten minutes instead of 45.\* > **[Pressure cooking](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pressure_cooker)** > > Pressure cooking is the process of cooking food under high pressure steam and water or a water-based cooking liquid, in a sealed vessel known as a pressure cooker. High pressure limits boiling and creates higher cooking temperatures which cook food far more quickly. > The pressure cooker was invented in the seventeenth century by the physicist Denis Papin. It works by expelling air from the vessel and trapping steam produced from the boiling liquid. This is used to raise the internal pressure up ... I thought the pressure also caused the spices etc. to permeate the meat better.