Cooking Ham Hocks In An Electric Pressure Cooker

(Pocket-lint) - Pressure cookers can be real life-savers if you're feeling a bit worn out and just want to stick some ingredients in a pot, let them stew together for an amount of time that won't have you starving all evening.

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That said, there are countless cheap options on the market that might not actually satisfy you too much, while more trusted brands have got cookers that will get you the results you're hoping for.

We've gathered together some of the most respected names in cookware, and found the very best pressure cookers on the market for you.

Best pressure cookers available to buy

Instant Pot

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Instant Pot Duo

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Instant Pot is very much the premier name in pressure cookers, to the point where many people wouldn't consider going with any other brand. This 7-in-1 beauty can do all manner of cooking tasks for you, from steaming to rice cooking, but its real heartland is pressure cooking.

It won't rattle or hiss aggressively and has a whole range of pre-set options included to let you easily cook certain ingredients without any guesswork. Plus, its buttons are all clearly labelled and it's nice and easy to use. That's a great set of recommendations for a pressure cooker, let alone one that is so incredibly well-priced.

Tower Pro

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Tower Pro Sure Touch

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Looking for a slightly more affordable option, though, we turn to this elegant cooker from Tower, which drops all the extra functions to just offer plain-and-simple pressure cooking that works impressively given its price.

The lid locks easily, while it's got a solid capacity to make sure that you can cook plenty of food at once.

A pressure indicator will make sure you can keep track of how things are doing, and a built-in timer is similarly useful. It won't win awards for innovation, but this cooker is a solid budget option.

Fissler

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Fissler Vitaquick

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At the other end of the price scale sits Fissler, which has pedigree when it comes to cookware. Its Vitaquick cookers are available in a range of capacities, and all have a gleaming metallic finish. This is an exceptional cooker, but it's also a simple one, meaning that you again don't get the degree of adaptability that Instant Pot offers.

That said, it's a superbly constructed pot with solid materials and a good heft, and is easy both to open and to lock closed. If you're looking for a simple and classy pressure cooker and have a bigger budget, this might be the pick for you.

Sage

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Sage the Fast Slow Cooker Pro

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Slipping into the middle of the price range we've looked at so far is the Pro model, which is a bit more complex, as suggested by its buttons and dials. It's got a range of presets to help you cook various ingredients and styles, and its digital display will give you useful indicators of temperature and pressure.

We're not quite as fond of the Fast Slow Cooker Pro's looks, which are more than a little functional, but that's hardly a huge issue for a piece of functional cookware, and the performance you'll get is really solid.

Tefal

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Tefal Cook4Me+

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This pressure cooker is also the most expensive on our list, from the heat-management experts at Tefal. It's also probably the smartest of the bunch, with over 100 recipes built into it and a Cook4Me app with hundreds more to make the cooker's name accurate.

Getting walked through a recipe by the app and cooker itself feels as close to automated fresh cooking as you're likely to get right now, and even if you use it more simply you're getting a really good pressure cooker with easy controls and plenty of information to display. It may be expensive, but this feels a little like the future.

Writing by Max Freeman-Mills. Originally published on

4 May 2020.