Pressure Cooker Time Calculator

Work out pressure cooker time instantly with clear inputs, formula shown and shareable results.

About Pressure Cooker Time Calculator

A pressure cooker runs at about 120 C, cutting time by roughly a factor of three, and the standard altitude rule adds 5% more time for every 300 m of elevation. At altitude water boils below 100 C so even a sealed cooker reaches a lower temperature, which is why high-altitude recipes need the extra allowance.

Formulas

Base time

pressure minutes = conventional minutes / speed-up factor

Altitude allowance

add 5% per 300 m of elevation above sea level

Worked example

With the default values below, Pressure Cooker Time Calculator returns Pressure cooking time of 20.0. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Conventional cooking timeminimum 1 min: 60 min
Speed-up factorminimum 1.1: 3
Altitude above sea levelminimum 0 m: 200 m

Results

Pressure cooking time: 20.0 min
Time in hours and minutes: 0h 20m
Time at sea level: 20.0 min
Time saved versus conventional: 40.0 min

Step by step

1Values used
2Base time
3Altitude allowance
4Pressure cooking time= 20.0 min
5Time in hours and minutes= 0h 20m
6Time at sea level= 20.0 min
7Time saved versus conventional= 40.0 min

Assumptions and limits

The result is derived only from the 3 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax, fees or charges or compounding frequency into account.
Figures are rounded for display to 1 decimal place, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.

How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is the Pressure Cooker Time figure worked out?

pressure minutes = conventional minutes / speed-up factor. A pressure cooker runs at about 120 C, cutting time by roughly a factor of three, and the standard altitude rule adds 5% more time for every 300 m of elevation.

Why does this matter?

At altitude water boils below 100 C so even a sealed cooker reaches a lower temperature, which is why high-altitude recipes need the extra allowance.

What do I need to enter?

Enter conventional cooking time, speed-up factor, altitude above sea level. The defaults shown are a realistic worked example — swap in your own figures to get a result you can use.