Specially FriedKitchenCan You Boil Water In A Pressure Cooker?
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Can You Boil Water In A Pressure Cooker?

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Immad Amir
Written by
Immad is a talented home cook and editorial director at Specially Fried. With his culinary expertise, love for gadgets and creative flair, he brings a fresh perspective to the world of food blogging.
Reviewed by

Amelia is the kitchen appliance expert behind Specially Fried. She thoroughly reviews the latest appliances, making sure readers have access to the best appliance insights.

Can You Boil Water In A Pressure Cooker
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Pressure cookers have been a staple in many kitchens for decades. It is your go-to pot if you are running out of time and want to get something prepared with less cooking time.

Pressure cookers are super useful in any type of kitchen as they can prepare a myriad of dishes. With its endless possibilities, you might wonder if you can boil water in a pressure cooker.

If you don’t have your stovetop boiler at hand and you want to boil water, then you start looking for alternatives. Many might undermine the capabilities of their pressure cooker. So, keep on reading to find out whether or not your pressure cooker can boil water along with its do’s and don’ts.

Yes! You can boil water in a pressure cooker. However, you need to be extra careful while working with a pressure cooker. Besides boiling, it can steam cook your greens as well!

How do you boil water in a pressure cooker?

You might ignore the possibility of boiling water in a pressure cooker. As simple as it seems, it is actually really important for a beginner as well as a professional to know how to boil water. These basics are what make you able to use your kitchen utensils and dishes to their fullest potential.

Many people tend to ignore the pressure cooker deliberately due to the decade long connotations of it exploding in the kitchen. With recent advancement in technology, there are pressure cookers being developed that are much safe to be used in the kitchen.

Here’s what happens when you boil water: the water changes to the more energetic gaseous or vapor state. Using an open appliance, the gas molecules are bound to escape in the air. In a pressure cooker, these vapors get trapped inside and this creates more pressure.

The basic attribute of your pressure cooker is that it creates pressure within the pot, making the food or liquid cook quicker than usual. Similarly, the pressure cooker will not allow the vapor to escape out, creating more pressure and getting the water to boil quicker.   

Follow these steps to boil water in a pressure cooker:

  1. Pour water in the pressure cooker.
  2. Place the lid on and ensure that the valve is at the correct position.
  3. For electric cookers, set the pressure setting to high and for stovetop pressure cookers set the pressure setting to high and turn on the stove.
  4. Set the timer for 4-6 minutes on your pressure cooker.
  5. Allow the pressure to build up inside the pot.
  6. After 3-4 minutes, your pressure cooker will beep indicating that the water has boiled. Then it will automatically switch to keep warm mode.
  7. At this point you can turn off your pressure cooker.
  8. Leave the lid on for some time so that the pressure inside the pot can be released.
  9. Open the lid and you have your water boiled!

How long does it take to boil water in a pressure cooker?

Due to the increased pressure within the pot, the vapors have no place to escape. This is why water boils in 4-6 minutes in a pressure cooker.

What different kinds of boiling can you do on a pressure cooker?

There are two kinds of boiling you can do in a pressure cooker. One is a full boil and the other a slow boil.

A full boil, also known as a real or rolling boil, takes place at 212 °F. When the water in the pot has fast-flowing waves of bubbles, it indicates a full boil. Your pressure cooker boils water at a full boil.

The other kind of boil – the slow boil takes place at a temperature of 205 °F. The water bubbles are just at the surface and not as intense as a full boil, this indicates a slow boil.

You’ll see fast and slow moving bubbles too. A slow boil will happen if you turn on the sauté function on your pressure cooker.

Does water boil faster with higher pressure?

The atmospheric pressure inside the cooker is around 15 pounds per square inch (psi) which increases the boiling point of water from 100 °C (212 °F) to 121 °C (250 °F). This is what makes your water boil faster in a pressure cooker in much lesser time. Water boils quickly at a higher temperature, same happens in a rice cooker.

Hot water will boil much faster, so if you want it to boil even quicker besides maintaining the high pressure. You can set your tap water to the hottest setting and fill your pot with hot water. It will boil even quicker!

You might wonder if you can stop a pressure cooker early if you believe the water has boiled before time.

What will happen when you increase the pressure of the water that you are boiling?

Increasing the pressure of the water you are boiling will increase its boiling point. This means that the water will reach its boiling point quickly in a high pressure making it boil much faster.

Programs you can use to boil water in an Instant Pot

The latest pressure cookers known as Instant Pots have numerous new programs that you can use to boil water. Some programs that can come in handy while boiling water are:

Manual/Pressure Cook

This is the most commonly used feature or program on all Instant Pots for conventional pressure cooking. You can manually adjust the pressure level on old or new pressure cooker by using the +/- keys to increase or decrease the boiling or cooking time respectively.

Sauté

This feature gives you a slow boil capabilities. This mode is always used with the lid off as it heats up the inside of the pot quickly. The maximum sauté time is with 30 minute intervals – as a safety precaution.

Keep Warm

This program is to keep the food warm within the pot once it has been cooked. It is to hold the food in temperature safety zone. Most Instant Pots will automatically switch to keep warm once the food has cooked within the set amount.

Can you boil water in an Instant Pot with its lid?

You can boil water in an Instant Pot with the lid on in as quickly as 3 minutes. The conventional way of boiling or cooking in a pressure cooker is by keeping the lid on, therefore it is still safe to do so with an Instant Pot as well.

Wrapping up my views on boiling water in a pressure cooker!

A pressure cooker is not as dangerous as you think. Used correctly, it can come in handy in a number of situations. The entire process along with the safety measures, cooking time and pressure settings have been talked about in detail in this article. You can save time and energy by boiling your water in a pressure cooker.


Immad Amir
Written by
Immad is a talented home cook and editorial director at Specially Fried. With his culinary expertise, love for gadgets and creative flair, he brings a fresh perspective to the world of food blogging.
Reviewed by

Amelia is the kitchen appliance expert behind Specially Fried. She thoroughly reviews the latest appliances, making sure readers have access to the best appliance insights.

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