eli5: how do pressure cookers get food cooked more quickly in a way that simply using a higher heat does not?

Question

obviously cooking on very high heat is faster but it wouldn’t mean you could have a huge hunk of meat nice and tender in a couple hours. but why. i don’t even understand enough to know if i chose the right flair.

In: 2

Answer 1

I always just imagined the pressure cooker forces the heat into the food with pressure. Whereas normal cooking just puts the heat around the food until it gets hot.