Difference Between Instant Pot and Pressure Cooker: A Brief Comparison

Things that require time and attention, like cooking food properly has always been a priority for home cooks. We don’t have enough energy left over after dealing with everything else in our lives; why does this need be one more thing?

We have a plethora of appliances to cook food quickly but that one appliance that steals the limelight is pressure cooker. Pressure cookers are around since decades but the instant pot is a new invention that has taken the spotlight everywhere. This electric pressure cooker can be used to cook different types of food in just a few minutes, making our lives easier with its many innovative features.

We all have different preferences when it comes to cooking and some people may be hesitant about trying new ways. If you’re looking into changing up your old pressure cooker, then it’s time to check out this newer device called the Instant Pot. It’s just like any other kind but with some nifty features that will make life easier.

In this article, we will have a closer look at the difference between instant pot and pressure cooker and by the end of the article, you will be able to make up your mind whether you should go with regular, traditional stove pressure cooker or the latest and the greatest Instant pot. Alright!

Difference Between Instant Pot and Pressure Cooker

Instant pot Vs Pressure Cooker: What’s better?

The decision to choose between Instant Pot vs Pressure cooker depends on your cooking style and what exactly you need. Both the pressure cooker and instant pot have pros and cons and your choice will solely depend on what exactly is that will cater to the cooking requirements of your family.

Here is a detailed analysis of how Instant pot and pressure cookers work differently in various cooking modes.

Quick Cook

When it comes to quick cooking, the Instant Pot vs electric pressure cookers are about as different and similar. The basic mechanism for both appliances works similarly in that they can bring food from raw into submission with minimal effort on your part.

Slow Cook

There are some dishes that taste the best when cooked for hours and that’s where instant pot’s slow cook settings come in handy. You can pop in the ingredients and leave it there for several hours to cook perfectly as you like. With traditional pressure cooker, there is no slow cooking feature available and it comes with single setting. On the other hand, instant pot has a variety of slow cooking settings to cook a range of meals as you like them.

Easy to Operate

A regular pressure cooker is extremely easy to operate thanks to its single setting. All you have to do is, pop in the ingredients into the cooking pot, place the lid and turn it on. There are no complicated digital menus or knobs involved, its like plug & play!

On the contrary, instant pot has a wide range of settings to choose from in accordance with the ingredients and dish you are going to prepare. Using the right settings for the right food is the key to cook perfect and delicious meals with Instant pot. Some of the instant pot models have simpler settings but the advanced ones have tons of settings to navigate. Some models like Instant Pot Duo Nova and Evo Plus has 40 presets to work with. So, there is this need of practice and experimenting with settings and recipes to get things right.

Multifunctional and Versatile

Since pressure cooker comes with single settings, it can cook a very few dishes, but instant pot is packed with an array of preset and preprogrammed cooking settings and menus so it offers more versatility and functionality when compared to traditional pressure cooker. In fact, there is no comparison at all!

Which one is Noisy?

Both instant pot and pressure cookers make noise especially while releasing pressure and steam. The instant pot also makes beep signal when the cooking cycle is over. In case of pressure cooker, they don’t make any beep signal when the cooking cycle is over due to the absence of timer. But when it comes to noise, both the appliances are noisy.

Price

Instant pots are expensive in comparison to electric or stovetop pressure cookers. The amount of technology, versatility, features, presets, and artificial intelligence packed in a single appliance makes it expensive.

Pressure Cookers

We all know that water boils at different temperature when it is under pressure and pressure cookers make use of the same rule to your advantage. Usually, water boils at 212F but it is hard to increase temperature in a regular and standard kitchen pot. Instead, the water will evaporate in form of steam.

However, pressure cooker does not let the steam escape and retain it inside the pot which increases the air pressure inside the cooker and ultimately it also increases the temperature of liquid inside. So basically, pressure cooker cooks quickly due to high temperature and pressure built inside.

 

Quickest way to prepare meals

Budget friendly

Easy to operate

Preserve nutrients

 

Single cooking setting

No preprogrammed settings

 

Instant Pot

Instant pot is a powerhouse and an ultimate cooking appliance. The basic cooking mechanism is same as that of a pressure cooker however, it offers versatility and functionality which is absent in a regular pressure cooker.

As we stated earlier, some models by Instant pot have 40+ cooking settings and 100s of preset menus to choose form while their companion app offers thousands of recipes to try. With an instant pot you can prepare soup, stew, beans, cake, eggs, sauté, pressure cook, slow cook, multigrain, rice, porridge, steam, yogurt and more. Once you get to know how to manipulate and play around with the settings, you’d know you can cook anything at all.

 

An array of cooking settings

Customizable cooking programs

Multiple useful accessories to assist in cooking

Dishwasher safe accessories

Durable Nonstick coating

 

Expensive

Learning curve

 

Final thoughts

When it comes to choosing between Instant pot and pressure, it is as simple as it could be. If you are looking for a versatile and multifunctional cooking appliance, then instant pot is the way forward. However, if you do not cook often and all you need is a pressure-cooking functionality, a budget friendly regular pressure cooker will be just fine.

Instant pot is a great investment but it only will yield benefits when you start using it. If you aren’t going to use the range of features it offers, we would recommend sticking with the traditional electric pressure cookers.

If this article helps you making a decision between Instant pot and pressure, do let us know. We value our reader’s valuable feedback.