Rice To Potatoes, Foods You Should Never Prepare In A Pressure Cooker

A pressure cooker is your best friend if you are always running late to prepare your meals or just like to take the easy route while preparing food. Most women prefer cooking in pressure cooker over a pan as food gets ready quickly and it is more like a fuss-free cooking option. However, you may not be aware of the side effects of preparing certain foods in a pressure cooker. Scroll down to know more about it.

There has been a lot of debate over the harmful effects of preparing food in a pressure cooker in the past. A lot of theories suggest that preparing some foods in the pressure cooker kills the nutrients of the food cooked and makes it unhealthy. Some others also state that it solely depends on the food prepared that the nutrition value decreases or not.

According to a lot of experts, preparing starch-rich food in a pressure cooker can be harmful for your health. This is because when starch-rich food is prepared in a cooker, you can end up ruining your cooker or your meal or both of them. So, here are a few food items you should never prepare in a pressure cooker.

Rice

© Provided by Her Zindagi
rice cooking

Rice is one of the most commonly prepared food items in a pressure cooker but it is harmful! It is believed that cooking rice in a pressure cooker creates a harmful chemical called acrylamide which can lead to a lot of harmful diseases. Also, consuming rice prepared in a pressure cooker can cause obesity. When cooking in a pressure cooker, you don’t remove the water from the rice and this leads to weight gain.

Don’t Miss: How To Prevent Food From Sticking At The Bottom Of The Pan While Cooking

Potatoes

© Provided by Her Zindagi
potatoes cooking cooker

A lot of us boil our potatoes in a pressure cooker. It is the easiest and quickest way of doing it. However, potatoes have starch and they shouldn’t be prepared in a cooker. Cooking potatoes in a pressure cooker put your health at stake and lead to a lot of health diseases like cancer and neurological disorder.

Pasta

© Provided by Her Zindagi
pasta in cooker

Pasta is another food item rich in starch and you should not cook it in a pressure cooker. Preparing pasta in a pressure cooker can put your health at risk. It should always be cooked or boiled in a pan.

Don’t Miss: Harmful Metals To Avoid For Cooking Food

There are some foods that shouldn’t be prepared in a cooker. However, many other food options can be safe and beneficial. A pressure cooker helps in reducing the lectin content from the food. Lectin is a harmful chemical that reduces the nutritional value of the food by absorbing the minerals.

Basically, pressure cooking comes with its pros and cons and you can always experiment and try different cooking methods.

Things To Keep In Mind While Cooking In A Pressure Cooker

A lot of women are intimidated by the idea of cooking in a pressure cooker. There are a lot of things that you need to keep in mind before cooking in a closed pot.

• Overfilling the cooker with food can make the preparation swell or leave it uncooked. You must only fill 2/3rd of the cooker to avoid any problem.
• A pressure cooker can’t work without a liquid as the food is prepared by the steam. It is important to build steam to make your food cook properly.
• It is important to release the pressure in a safe way else you can put yourself to risk. An easy way is just taking the cooker off the flame and let it sit until the pressure naturally releases. Another way is keeping the cooker under cold water.

To stay healthy and keep health issues at bay, make sure you don’t prepare these foods or other starch-rich foods in a pressure cooker. For more tips, stay tuned to HerZindagi.com