Pressure Cooker Conversion Calculator

How the calculator works

A slow cooker can be filled almost to the top. An electric pressure cooker cannot. It needs empty space above the food to build steam, and Colorado State University Extension notes that an overfilled cooker may not come up to pressure at all. So the first job when you move a recipe across is to check that it fits.

The calculator multiplies your pot size by the fill limit from the source:

most recipes: pot size x 2/3

beans, grains and pasta: pot size x 1/2

A 6 quart pot holds 6 x 2/3 = 4 quarts of food and liquid at most. A quart is 4 cups, so that is 16 cups. If the recipe is mainly beans, rice or pasta, the limit drops to 6 x 1/2 = 3 quarts, or 12 cups, because those foods swell as they cook.

The figure is the total in the pot: meat, vegetables and liquid together.

Worked example

You have a chili recipe written for a 7 quart slow cooker. It makes about 5 quarts, and it contains dried beans. Your pressure cooker is a 6 quart model.

1. The recipe has beans, so use the half mark: 6 x 1/2 = 3 quarts.
2. 5 quarts will not fit under a 3 quart limit.
3. 3 / 5 = 0.6, so make 60 percent of the recipe, or halve it.

With an 8 quart pot the limit for beans is 4 quarts, and four fifths of the recipe would fit.

This is the step that is easy to skip. The lid closes over a full pot without complaint, and the problem only shows when the cooker fails to pressurize.

Getting the liquid right

A recipe written for a slow cooker often carries more liquid than a pressure cooker needs. The source’s advice is to reduce the liquid to 1 to 2 cups for most recipes. There are three exceptions:

• Grains and beans. Use the amount they need to cook and fluff, plus a little extra for the other ingredients.
• Soup. Use the amount of liquid you want in the finished soup.
• Baked dishes. Quiche, bread, lasagna or cheesecake go in an oven-safe dish on the trivet. You still pour the minimum water, usually 1 to 2 cups, into the inner pot to make the steam.

A recipe that does not have enough liquid needs the minimum added, or the pot cannot build pressure. The minimum varies by model, so check the manual for yours.

What to leave out until the end

Three kinds of ingredient do badly under pressure. Add them once the cooking is done and the lid is off.

• Dairy. Milk, cream and cheese can coagulate and clump.
• Wine. Its flavor intensifies under pressure. Stir it in at the end and simmer with the lid off.
• Thickeners. Mix cornstarch or arrowroot with water and whisk it in at the end.

The source also says plainly not to use an electric pressure cooker to fry foods, so recipes with a fried or crisp coating are poor candidates.

Cooking time

Colorado State University Extension gives one worked figure, reached by trial and error: a meat dish that takes 8 hours on low, or 4 hours on high, in a slow cooker takes about 25 to 30 minutes in an electric pressure cooker.

That is a guide for meat, not a formula. It does not publish a chart by food, and this page does not make one up. For anything else, start from the times in your cooker’s manual. Cutting meat into smaller pieces shortens the time.

Tough cuts are where pressure cooking does best. Tender cuts may lose quality.

Cook in stages

Meat and beans need far longer than vegetables, so the source recommends cooking in stages. Meat, broth, grains and beans go in first. Vegetables go in near the end.

Its example is a dish of meat, rice and beans with a 20 minute cooking time. Release the pressure at 15 minutes, add the vegetables, close the lid, and pressure cook for 5 more minutes. The vegetables get 5 minutes instead of 20.

Natural release or quick release

• Natural release usually works better for meats.
• Quick release works better for vegetables, which carry on cooking and turn soft if they sit.
• Rice and beans do well with either.

A staged recipe is the exception for meat: you have to use quick release partway through to get the vegetables in.

Tips and common mistakes

Measure the recipe, not just the pot. Add up the quarts of food and liquid before you start, and compare the total with the fill limit above.

Brown meat first if the recipe calls for it. Use the saute setting, add the fat once the display reads hot, and brown in batches.

Do not thicken before cooking. Mix cornstarch or arrowroot with water and whisk it in at the end, as the source directs.

Keep the slow cook setting for recipes written for it. If your unit has one, the source advises using recipes formulated for that setting and planning for the longer time.