How to Use Safely Use a Pressure Cooker

Tips on How to Safely Use a Pressure Cooker

Pressure Cookers are extremely useful tools, but they definitely have their unique dangers.   One must take care to avoid scalding pets and young children.  This post will help you to understand some basic facts about pressure cookers than can help you to avoid a kitchen catastrophe

Pressure cookers use very hot steam to cook food and since the cooking vessel is completely sealed, the heat inside the pressure cooker will be extremely high.  This steam will cause serious burns in direct proportion to the pressure it is under, so the first thing that you want to understand is the PSI rating of your pressure cooker.

From this context, we see plainly that the higher the PSI rating, the more dangerous is the pressure cooker.  You want to be sure that your pressure cooker can handle the pressure for which it rates.

This does not mean that you need to subject your pressure cooker to a battery of stress tests to ensure integrity.  The manufacturer will have done that for you.  What you want to do is to understand your pressure cooker.  The more dangerous your pressure cooker it is likely to be, the more safety features will be installed.  You need to understand how to check, clean and to replace those safety features.

Watch Your Gasket

Perhaps the “front line” safety feature of your pressure cooker is the rubber seal or gasket just inside the pressure cooker lid.  This item deserves some thought, because some of the newer model pressure cookers have removed the need for this gasket.

This can be dangerous to someone just buying a new pressure cooker, since if the gasket is not included – a novice just might conclude that their cooker does not use them.  This might never happen to you – but let us be sure that it happens to no one.

If the gasket is required, it must be of good integrity, and you should replace it often.  If the gasket should give way under pressure, a hot jet of steam coming at you might be your only warning.  Be sure that you understand your gasket requirements.

The best advice we can give is to read up on your pressure cooker, study all the included manuals, study the safety warnings, the parts of the cooker, replacement parts lists and of course, read the product reviews.  If there is a problem, you can always count on an irate customer to tell you all about it.

• We list a few reviews covered on site at Sincere Product Reviews to help you avoid trouble. You can click these links to explore them.  There are more reviews on cookers and canning tools on site in the review archives at Sincere Product Reviews.  You can find this yourself by using a site search.

• 1.    Presto 4Quart Stainless Steel Pressure Cooker Review
• 2.    American Quart Pressure Cooker and Canner Review
• 3.    Instant Pot IP-LUX60 Programmable Pressure Cooker Review

Verify Your Safety Equipment

The next crucial area to explore is the safety equipment.  The higher the pressure your cooker will experience, the more crucial it is that you know your safety equipment, and you understand how to maintain it.

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Again, the previous reviews on the subject of pressure cookers will really help you to understand the kinds of safety equipment that you are looking for.  These reviews will also spell out any “gotchas” and offer advice on how to take care of your cooker – and how to take care of yourself.

The reviews on site at Sincere Product Reviews can help you come to grips with the requirements of a particular cooker – but here we are speaking more generically.  Next, then, we will build a list of generic safety items that you should observe.

Using Your Pressure Cooker

1. Never over-fill your pressure cooker.  This can cause it to exceed the pressure rating for attached safety equipment, including lid latches that can fail – and you do NOT want THAT to happen.  Do not fill your pressure cooker more than two-thirds full unless your manual specifically tells you that this is ok.  When filling, remember that some foods (beans, rice etc.) will swell in the cooking process, and you want to allow for the extra room.  NEVER use your cooker without water, as the results are likely to be very distasteful.
2. Never use cooking oil inside your pressure cooker or the gasket might melt.  When you are new to using a pressure cooker then you should confine yourself to using specific recipes from a pressure cooker cookbook.  This should keep you safe until you gain the experience to start creating your own recipes.
3. A very important thing to know about your pressure cooker is how to release the pressure properly once the cooking process is done.  How this is done will depend mainly on the size and model of your pot.  Usually tools like special valves are provided to help you do this safely.  To understand things properly, always read the instruction manual for your model cooker to learn how to do this correctly.
4. When using your pressure cooker, always use potholders or gloves even when handling the cooker by the handles.  If you decide to use the quick release method by opening the steam release valve, make sure that you know which way the steam will vent, and turn it away from your face.  Watch for hot condensation that can silently make its way to your hands.

Use the above tips and read customer reviews (so important for safety) and read everything in the box with your pressure cooker, and you should have no major issues working up that next meal.

As usual, if you have pets or children you want to keep them away from any area where the cooker is in operation.

Have fun – and don’t forget to call me in time for dinner.

Later,

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