How to choose your pressure cooker model

When choosing a pressure cooker and due to the variety of models that we can find in the market, we can enter numerous doubts, what material do we choose, size, locking system, safety, and one of the most common, fast or super fast cooker?

The first thing to know is that all Magefesa pressure cooker models are 100% safe, as they have numerous modern safety systems. For our part as users, we must read the instruction manual carefully, and follow the handling and maintenance advice correctly.

In terms of manufacturing materials, there are two main materials: stainless steel and aluminum.
Each one has some advantages and differentiating characteristics.

Stainless steel is an alloy of iron and carbon, which also contains chromium and nickel in different proportions. The stainless steel used in the manufacture of Magefesa pressure cookers is always of the highest quality, stainless steel 18/10 which refers to the chromium content 18%, and nickel 10%.

Its main advantages are:

• Prolonged useful life. Unalterable to corrosion indefinitely, retains its original appearance for a long time.
• Mechanical and physical hardness. Resistant to shocks, scratches, thermal variations, withstands food acids.
• Hygienic. Very easy to clean, smooth surface that prevents the accumulation of mold and bacteria.
• Cooking. Totally neutral, it does not alter the organoleptic properties of the elaborations, there is no transfer between the material and the food. It is the most accepted material in the professional world.
• Ecological. Stainless steel is 100% recyclable.

Within aluminum, we can find several proposals; forged, cast, anodized or hard anodized, but basically all of them have very similar properties in common:

• Physical properties. Aluminum is a light and soft material that has the property of being a good conductor of heat, diffusing it quickly and uniformly.
• Chemical properties. It oxidizes quickly forming a thin matte layer that protects it from corrosion, this layer is attacked by acids such as vinegar and lemon. The electrolytic chemical treatment called hard anodizing gives it characteristics of hardness, resistance to abrasion and chemical agents similar to those of steel.
• Comfort. Aluminum is a very light material, so that in pots of a certain size it can be an advantage to take into account.

Once we know the characteristics of each manufacturing material and taking into account that Magefesa has the most extensive catalog of models on the market, let’s try to find our ideal Magefesa pressure cooker through a few simple questions.

Have we used a pressure cooker before?

If we are used to cooking with pressure cookers, it will be relatively easy to get used to the use of any model. But if, on the contrary, our experience is scarce or null, we will look for pressure cookers easy to use, preferably without pressure selector and with a medium or low working pressure, between 60 and 80 kPa. Recommended models:

• Mod. Favorit

We can also look at the ease and convenience of the opening and closing system of the pot. Recommended models:

• Mod. Prisma
• Mod. Nova

How many people do we usually cook for?

Another important factor when choosing our cooker is the ratio between diners and the volume of the cooker needed. Magefesa has a wide range that includes from 3-liter pots suitable for one or two people, to pots for large communities of up to 22 liters.

To choose the volume that best suits our needs and always bearing in mind that cooking broths is not the same as cooking vegetables, legumes, fish or meat, we leave you an approximate correspondence between the capacity of the pot and the number of diners:

• The pots of 3 and 4 l. are indicated for between 2 and 4 diners.
• The pots of 5 and 6 l. are indicated for between 3 and 6 people.
• The 8 and 9 l. pots are suitable for 5 to 8 people.
• The 10 and 12 l. pots are suitable for 7 to 12 people.
• For a higher number of diners, we will opt for the pressure cookers Magefesa model Chef and Alustar of 15 and 22 l.

What type of stove do we frequently use?

The most common types of stoves currently used in our homes are four: electric, gas, vitroceramic and induction.
To each of these stoves, we can assign a Magefesa pressure cooker model to get the most out of our preparations, saving time and energy.

Electric stoves require pots that transmit heat easily and quickly, the recommended models are those made of aluminum such as the Avant model.

For glass-ceramic stoves, which generally have low power and are somewhat slow, we recommend models with a good thermo-diffuser bottom that accumulates temperature while providing stable cooking, and models with high working pressures, between 80 and 100 kPa.
The recommended model is; Practika Plus

Gas and induction stoves are the most versatile stoves and have a very similar behavior. While for gas stoves we can use most of the Magefesa cookware models, when cooking with Induction, we must look for cookers suitable for this type of cooking.
The pressure cookers manufactured by Magefesa indicate at the bottom the type of cooking for which they are suitable, therefore we will look for the induction symbol to ensure proper operation.

The pots suitable and recommended for induction are; Star, Nova, Prisma, Practika plus and Favorit.

What foods do we cook most often?

We must take into account that a Magefesa pressure cooker can cook all kinds of food, from delicate ingredients such as fruits, vegetables, fish and seafood, to much more resistant foods such as dry pulses, vegetables or smooth meats containing a lot of collagen.
But, either this statement is sometimes unknown, or because of eating habits we tend to use the pot more frequently for a certain type of food.
In this section we are going to know which model of cooker is more indicated for according to the type of food we want to cook and for it.

Magefesa has three types of pressure cookers:

• Fast cookers where we find the models; Star, Chef and Alustar, they are pressure cookers that work at a pressure of between 55 and 60 kPa.
• Super fast cookers such as the Favorit, Nova, Prisma or Avant models, which work at a pressure between 70 and 80 kPa.
• Pots with two working positions in which we can select the pressure depending on the ingredient or cooking technique. The working pressure is between 60 and 100 kPa. and the model is; Practika Plus. These cookers combine the two options, fast pressure cooker and super fast pressure cooker.

We can summarize this point by saying that the higher the working pressure, the higher the internal temperature, the shorter the cooking time and the smaller the amount of liquid required.
So, why choose one or the other? Well, because all foods do not behave in the same way, nor do they need the same treatment.
The fast cooker is recommended for soft or delicate foods such as vegetables, potatoes, fish, seafood and for steaming.
Cooking in a super fast cooker is ideal for preparing broths, meat stews, legumes, and hard or resistant foods in general.

How much time do you spend in the kitchen?

Without a doubt, pressure cooking is one of the healthiest cooking techniques we can use, but at the same time, it is one of the fastest cooking methods that exist.

In just 6 minutes we can cook any type of rice, in 12 minutes we have excellent stewed lentils and the toughest meats, such as oxtail or osso buco, we can enjoy them in about 45 minutes, something unthinkable if we use any traditional cooking method.

By using Magefesa pressure cookers we save time and energy, by raising the temperature we cut cooking times, dividing the traditional ones between three and four times. Once the working pressure is reached, the heat power must be reduced, which also saves energy.

Do you use the steaming technique?

Many times, when we buy a pressure cooker, we don’t really know the amount of elaborations and techniques that we can do with it.
Among the many functions of our Magefesa pressure cookers, there is the steam cooking of food.

Certain models of Magefesa pressure cookers incorporate a basket with support that we can use for steaming, we also have the possibility of acquiring some of the accessories that are sold separately as the Pastaiola Nova, ideal for cooking Italian pasta and perfectly compatible with the steaming technique.

The main use of these accessories is to separate the food to be cooked from the liquid needed to create steam.

And other utilities that we can give to the basket with support or to the Pastaiola Nova, outside of steaming, can be:

• Separating foods with different cooking times, foods that we later want to discard, or foods that we want to serve separately, vegetables, legumes, rice, etc.
• If we use the pot to sterilize preserves, we will use the basket to separate the jars from the bottom of the pot.
• It is also useful for cooking flans and terrines in a bain-marie.

Do you attach importance to healthy eating?

Apart from being able to use the healthy technique of steaming, which we have seen in the previous section, when cooking in a Magefesa pressure cooker we will obtain many other advantages both gastronomic and healthy, this is mainly due to three very important characteristics of pressure cooking.

• Foods cooked in Magefesa pressure cookers require less water or cooking liquid than what is usually used in traditional cookers.
• The necessary cooking times are sensibly lower, being able to be cut by up to 75%.
• The water or cooking liquid under pressure reaches temperatures of more than 100 °C, and can reach 126 °C.

And because of these three important characteristics of pressure cooking, we can assure that:

• Foods cooked in less water or cooking liquid, concentrate more of their natural juices, aromas and flavors.
• By reducing cooking times, ingredients retain more nutrients, vitamins and minerals than in traditional cooking.
• Cooking under pressure preserves better the original textures and colors of the food.

With our Magefesa pressure cooker, we can steam vegetables, fish, seafood, poultry, etc.
We must always read and follow the advice, given in the instruction manual of our pressure cooker, regarding the minimum amount of liquid necessary for steaming.

Water in liquid state with temperatures above 100 °C. is known as superheated water, the molecules are more soluble in superheated water, even some molecules that in normal water are insoluble, become soluble when the temperature is raised, thus enhancing flavors and aromas.

What storage space do you have at home?

Last but not least, is the availability of storage space in our kitchen. Among the wide variety of Magefesa models available, the Star, Prisma or Nova models are the ones that, due to the design of their handles, will take up less storage space.