Why a 2L cooker? (*Read here)

When buying your first 2L cooker, keep the following in mind. Any cooker works, but choose the ones that works best for you. It is like choosing between a petrol & diesel car. All have their own pros and cons. Understand them before making your choice. If possible, test out the cooker before buying by heating 1/4C water on high and check if you get a long and loud whistle in 1 to 2 minutes.

Shape:

1. Short and broad works well
2. Avoid fancy shapes
3. Avoid tall & narrow models.
4. Avoid inner lid models, as they are a pain to lock and a pain to clean.

Material:

Aluminium cooker – Pros:

1. Cheap
2. Cooks faster
3. Burns less

Aluminium cooker – Cons:

1. Reacts with very sour foods (Anodised models don’t)
2. Less durable
3. Scratches easily. Surface pits form after long usage.
4. Pain to clean
5. Does not work on induction (Steel bottom ones do)

Stainless steel cooker – Cons:

1. Twice as costly as Aluminium
2. Cooks slower
3. Burns more

Stainless steel cookers – Pros:

1. Does not react with any food
2. Lasts a lifetime

3, Easy to clean

4. Does not scratch easy. Maintains surface integrity
5. Works on induction

Valve:

Both fixed valve & floating valve cookers work well.

1. Fixed valve works marginally better, as pressure builds up faster.
2. Floating valve indicates when pressure builds up, so that you don’t need to worry/ keep checking.
3. Fixed valve cookers can double as short term food storage vessels. Floating valve cookers can’t.