hermetically sealed pot which produces steam heat to cook food quickly. The pressure cooker first appeared in 1679 as Papin's Digester, named for its inventor, the French-born physicist Denis Papin. The cooker heats water to produce very hot steam which forces the temperature inside the pot as high as 266 F (130 C), significantly higher than the maximum heat possible in an ordinary saucepan. The higher temperature of a pressure cooker penetrates food quickly, reducing cooking time without diminishing vitamin and mineral content.