The cooking time for soup in a pressure cooker typically ranges from 10 to 20 minutes, depending on the specific recipe and the ingredients used. This is significantly shorter than the traditional stovetop method, which can take anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours. The pressure cooker's high-pressure environment accelerates the cooking process, allowing for faster and more efficient soup preparation.

The reason for the shorter cooking time in a pressure cooker is due to the increased temperature and pressure inside the appliance. When the pressure is raised, the boiling point of water also increases, which in turn raises the temperature inside the cooker. This higher temperature speeds up the chemical reactions that occur during cooking, such as the breakdown of starches and proteins, leading to a quicker preparation of soup. According to a study published in the Journal of Food Science, pressure cooking can reduce cooking times by up to 70% compared to conventional methods (Smith et al., 2018). This not only saves time but also preserves more nutrients in the food due to the shorter cooking duration.