22 August: Pressure cookers

Born on this date in 1647 was Denis Papin, a French inventor and physicist who invented the pressure cooker. 10 things you didn't know about pressure cookers.

1. Denis Papin was a scientist known for his studies of steam. He invented something called a steam digester in an attempt to reduce the cooking time of food. He presented his invention to the Royal Society of London in 1681. However, steam digesters weren't very safe and so it was a while before such devices caught on.
2. As technology improved, several inventors produced improved variations of Papin's idea. They included Georg Gutbrod of Stuttgart, who made cast iron pressure cookers; Jose Alix Martínez from Spain and Alfred Vischer from New York who patented the first pressure cooker for home use.
3. The first recipe book for pressure cookers was published in 1924 and was written by José Alix. It was called "360 recipes for cooking with a pressure cooker."
4. How does a pressure cooker work? It traps the steam from boiling Water, which increases the pressure inside the cooker. Using a normal saucepan, the temperature you can cook your food at is limited to the boiling point of water, 100 degrees centigrade at standard pressure. The boiling point of water increases as the pressure rises, resulting in superheated water. Food can therefore be cooked at a higher temperature.
5. This is particularly useful at high altitudes where the boiling point of water is lower, which can result in food being undercooked.
6. Some food toxins can be reduced by pressure cooking. A Korean study of aflatoxins in rice showed pressure cooking could reduce aflatoxin concentrations to 32% of the amount in uncooked rice, compared to 77% from ordinary cooking. They can also kill Bacteria which can survive ordinary boiling, which means they are sometimes used in canning food. An autoclave, a device used by hospitals and laboratories to sterilise equipment works on the same principle.
7. The term ‘pressure cooker’ first appeared in the Journal of Home Economics in 1915.
8. In 1950 about 37% of American households had a pressure cooker. Their popularity has waned somewhat in recent times thanks to microwaves and frozen foods.
9. When storing a pressure cooker, it's important to keep the lid off because odours from the last meal you cooked in it can become trapped and affect the taste of whatever you cook next. It's also recommended that you wash the rubber seal and rub it with mineral oil after each use to extend its lifespan.
10. Terrorists have used pressure cookers to make bombs. The 2006 Mumbai train bombings, 2010 Stockholm bombings (which failed to explode), the 2010 Times Square car bombing attempt (also failed to explode), the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, and the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing all used pressure cooker bombs.

My latest books

Closing the Circle

A stable wormhole has been established between Earth and Infinitus. Power Blaster and his friends can finally go home.

Desi Troyes is still at large on Earth - Power Blaster has vowed to bring him to justice. His wedding to Shanna is under threat as the Desperadoes launch an attempt to rescue their leader. 

Someone from Power Blaster's past plays an unexpected and significant role in capturing Troyes.

The return home brings its own challenges. Not everyone can return to the life they left behind, and for some, there is unfinished business to be dealt with before they can start anew.

Ben Cole in particular cannot resume his old life as a surgeon because technology no longer works around him. He plans a new life in Classica, away from technology. Shanna hears there could be a way to reverse his condition and sets out to find it, putting herself in great danger. She doesn't know she is about to uncover the secret of Power Blaster's mysterious past.

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Completes The Raiders Trilogy. 

Other books in the series:

Book One

Book Two