Why are pressure cookers back in vogue?
Because of the taste and quality of the food they can produce so easily. And we think these can be great to take on your caravan holidays.
Meals can be cooked in between a third and a half of the time an oven, or boiling pan, would take.
So after a long day out exploring, it’s conceivable to throw together a tasty and nutritious treat, from scratch and with fresh ingredients, in less than half an hour.
Because many pressure-cooker recipes use them as a ‘one-pot’ solution, you won’t be jostling for space on the hob, either.
And once you’ve devoured your efforts, it’s great to know that instead of a pile of pans to scrub clean, there will probably be just one. Convinced yet?
It’s time to test
We started our tests by factoring-in each product’s capacity against the cooker’s footprint – after all, many caravan hobs are somewhat compact.
To ensure that the widest range of recipes can be followed, it’s always best to opt for a unit with two pressure settings, and to improve your chances of cooking the entire meal in the one pot, we preferred models that come with steaming trays for vegetables. Although these are available separately, for a fairly reasonable outlay.
Next we scrutinised the lids to see how easy they are to remove. If it has a stiff bayonet-type action, it might be tricky – not ideal with a large pan of hot food!
Talking of heat, we made sure that models could be used on all types of stovetops and how evenly around the cooker the heat spread, which is essential when preparing full meals – and especially if limited space on the hob means that you can’t position the cooker centrally over the heat source.
Additional points were awarded for useful extra features, and we recognised the unparalleled versatility of stove-top models – some electric versions are excellent, but they are unusable off-grid.
Kuhn Rikon Duromatic Comfort with side grips – four stars
- Price: £213.95
This is the perfect pressure cooker for beginners, especially those who love their gadgets. That’s because Kuhn Rikon has grafted a tiny bit of electro-wizardry into the lid, which means the cooker can communicate with your mobile – iOS and Android – through Bluetooth.
Simply download the app, tell your phone what you want to cook, and it’ll tell you how much water to use, when to raise and lower the heat, and even when the cooking’s finished.
This, of course, bumps up the price considerably but, clever stuff aside, this is a premium piece of kit anyway.
Capacity is 4.0 litres (larger sizes are available), it’s made from top-quality 18/10 stainless steel, and it comes backed by a 10-year guarantee.
Buy the Kuhn Rikon Duromatic Comfort with side grips here from Amazon
Kuhn Rikon Duromatic Supreme – three stars
- Price: £129.95
With few pressure cookers dropping below three litres, we imagined this 2.5-litre version would be bang on for compact caravan hobs and kitchens.
But Kuhn Rikon has favoured squat styling, which means that it is only a couple of centimetres smaller in diameter than the much higher-capacity Comfort model we’ve just looked at.
Having said that, the multi-layer base spreads heat super-evenly, so it doesn’t matter too much if the cooker isn’t dead central over the hob.
Also, as with the Comfort, the Swiss brand’s quality really speaks for itself – there’s that 10-year guarantee, and the unit is made from quality stainless steel.
Buy the Kuhn Rikon Duromatic Supreme here from Amazon
Pressure King Pro 3.0-Litre – four stars
- Price: £49.99
Another good – and somewhat cheaper – choice for pressure-cooker novices, thanks to this unit’s preset programs for fish, meat, pasta and countless other foods.
Better still, clever electronics allow this to be more than just a pressure cooker. It can be used as a steamer, a slow cooker, a food warmer, and even for sautéing and browning.
A 24-hour timer also allows it to get your dinner ready for when you get back in from a long day out.
Because the Pressure King is mains-powered, hook-up is obviously essential, although its 700-watt demand is well within what even a 4A connection can supply.
Buy the Pressure King Pro 3.0-Litre here from Amazon
Prestige High Dome 4L Pressure Cooker – four stars
- Price: £40
Prestige has been in the pressure-cooker market since the beginning, and its experience shows here.
This unit’s high-dome lid, for instance, is so shaped to avoid culinary obstructions. And the natty divided steaming basket is perfect for cooking several different types of vegetable at the same time as the meat or fish below.
The only disadvantage is that the unit is ultra-traditional, with quite an old-fashioned valve and lid-locking set-up. But the cooker comes into its own for caravan usage.
Being made from aluminium, it’s lightweight, although unsuitable for induction hobs.
And despite its 4.0-litre capacity, its lofty shape means that its footprint is still only 20cm in diameter.
Buy the Prestige High Dome 4L Pressure Cooker here from Amazon
Raymond Blanc Stainless Steel Pressure Cooker – four stars
- Price: £100
With a capacity of 5.5 litres, this unit is ideal for small families.
As with the Prestige model, the pan’s tall, upright silhouette means that the large capacity doesn’t translate into a large, hob-hogging footprint.
In many ways, this unit is a thorough reinvention of the pressure cooker, but not in a too-clever-by-half electronic way.
For instance, the lid can be positioned anywhere: it’s opened or sealed by simply pressing a button, which makes one-handed removal/refitting possible.
There are two pressure modes, too, so delicate ingredients can be cooked successfully.
Buy the Raymond Blanc Stainless Steel Pressure Cooker here from Amazon
Lakeland 3.0-litre Pressure Cooker – five stars
Practical Caravan Editor’s Choice
- Price: £79.99
A great all-rounder from Lakeland that is essentially a traditional compact pressure cooker brought bang up to date.
As well as the choice of two pressure levels, opening the lid is a single-handed affair because, as with the Tefal and Raymond Blanc models, you simply press a button to seal or open it.
In fact, Lakeland provides a second glass lid, too, allowing the unit to be used as a standard large pan.
Better still, the glass lid and base are oven-safe – up to 180 ̊C – so it’s also a great stockpot substitute.
Our only niggle is that the unit’s squat styling makes the 21.5cm diameter somewhat portly for the 3.0-litre capacity.
Buy the Lakeland 3.0-litre Pressure Cooker here from Lakeland
Lakeland CookQuick Pot – two stars
- Price: £79.99
When is a pressure cooker not a pressure cooker?
Well, when it’s this: Lakeland’s CookQuick Pot. In our tests we found that, although quicker than a normal pan and lid, the unit trails conventional pressure cookers quite significantly in the speed stakes.
The advantage is that the lower pressure makes the pot rather more user-friendly.
The clever lid-top release valve is a doddle to use and it’s certainly less of a hassle to frequently remove said lid – to either sample the food or add other ingredients – than with a conventional pressure cooker.
Its capacity is 4.0 litres and the unit can also be used for steaming.
Buy the Lakeland CookQuick Pot here from Lakeland
Tefal Clipso Plus Pressure Cooker – three stars
- Price: £139.99
Another premium-quality entry, boasting a family-size 6.0-litre capacity and the sort of modern design touches that set the Lakeland and Raymond Blanc models apart from the rest.
Again, the unit can work at two pressure levels, and the lid takes the simple button-operation idea one step further.
Tefal’s take is to replace the two buttons with a single central fold-down handle. The extra leverage this gives certainly makes the process smoother and easier.
While a steamer basket is supplied, and the triple-layer base spreads heat super-evenly, we’re not sure that the Tefal offers enough over the Raymond Blanc model to justify its higher price.
Many pressure-cooker recipes use them as a ‘one-pot’ solution, so you won’t be jostling for space on the hob
