# Are pressure cookers really safe?



## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

How safe are they?

Do you use one?


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Safe so far as I know, and I use one. Just make sure the steam vent hole is kept unplugged (a pipe cleaner works well). If it _does _go over-pressure, there's a separate blowout plug up top.

You need to be a bit careful when opening it because the steam is HOT. You can place it under cold water to remove the internal pressure or just let it cool by itself -- the recipe will specify. Modern models won't open at all until the pressure is removed.

Here's the one I use. There's really no reason to get a more expensive one, IMO.

http://www.amazon.com/Presto-6-Quar...d=1411071912&sr=1-2&keywords=pressure+cookers


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

Sure, why shouldn't they be safe? I often use one of my mum's kitchen proverbs, "if You are an [accident] prone person You should not be cooking anyway"! (I was six and she was teaching me basic knife skills! I'm very grateful to my mum teaching me to cook!)

I've been using a 6 litre Fissler Vitavit (German Quality, one of the best kitchen utensil investments of my life) for a few years and its works magic with my tomato sauce and the ragu (meat stew) for the pasta, it really brings out the flavour in less then half the time it did when I used to do them in a regular cast iron casserole. I use Heston Blumenthal's tomato sauce recipie, it is the best I've ever tasted outside of Italy!

/ptr


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

I have heard stories of them blowing up or overflowing.

I saw it happen live once on HSN.


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

With the right incentive any pot or pan will blow up! Used properly, now worries!

But to be honest, I have very little experience of "home cooking" over there in the Twilight Zone, the times I've stayed over its mostly been take-out's... Are You saying that Twilight Zoners are Blow-up prone? 

/ptr


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

"Nothing is safe from the ministrations of fools."


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## Guest (Sep 18, 2014)

Ukko said:


> "Nothing is safe from the ministrations of fools."


With this quote I have decided to remove Ukko (or whatever the hell his _nom de plume_ is or was) from my ignore list.


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

I have a T-fal Nutricook which is essentially a pressure cooker for idiots. A computer walks you through the pressure cycle. There is a backup pressure relief valve in case the main steam regulator valve fails. It is impossible to open it while pressurized as you must first turn the dial to the pressure dump setting to do so.


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

Itullian said:


> I have heard stories of them blowing up...


One that my sister had blew up, but it was her own negligence: she forgot about it and went outside to mow the lawn. Luckily, she wasn't in the kitchen when it happened, as the dent in the ceiling was deep and the pot was bowed out of shape! Luckily, nothing caught fire!

I have one, the 4 litre Fagor Futuro, made in Spain. It has short handles for compact storage and easy handling. I use it all of the time, mostly for cooking legumes. They come out as tender as butter and tasting so delicately delicious, that it is difficult to imagine that they could just be beans. The secret, I believe, is to adjust the element on the stove to the lowest possible setting that will still maintain the desired pressure. This way, foods are cooked, but not overcooked, and flavours are preserved.


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## scratchgolf (Nov 15, 2013)

They aren't safe in Iraq or Afghanistan. I know this first hand.


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

I do remember random bits of metal flying off my mum's pressure cooker when I was a kid- but that wasn't as scary as the mushy grey vegetables that emerged when the explosions were over...


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

I never liked them. I'd rather cook a more normal way with more time. You can really get seriously hurt. It's similar to what those two a-holes used at the Boston Marathon to kill and maim all those innocent people.


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

TalkingHead said:


> With this quote I have decided to remove Ukko (or whatever the hell his _nom de plume_ is or was) from my ignore list.


How could you ignore Ukko? He's the man.


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

I think you are far more likely to seriously injure yourself cooking with hot oil on a stove-top than using a modern and reputable pressure cooker. There are multiple redundant safety features so you would have to be both totally negligent and have multiple jeopardy instances of failure. It's no more likely than the temperature regulator and safety valve on your hot water heater failing and blowing up your house.

The pressures inside are only around 100 kPa. I may be tainted because I work in a chemical plant around 14,000 kPa steam, but that isn't a lot.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

brotagonist said:


> The secret, I believe, is to adjust the element on the stove to the lowest possible setting that will still maintain the desired pressure. This way, foods are cooked, but not overcooked, and flavours are preserved.


Yes, best to wait until the steam comes up to pressure and then reduce heat just to the point where the steam keeps coming out -- a bit. Easy on a gas range! A more vigorous heat shouldn't make much difference in the cooking, since the temperature will still be abut 250 degrees, but you may boil off all the liquid over time, which would be unfortunate.


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## Headphone Hermit (Jan 8, 2014)

If you try hard enough then you could make one dangerous in a normal kitchen, I suppose, but otherwise they are probably safer than pans with hot oil, pans with loose-fitting lids and boiling water, microwaves, potato peelers, cheese graters, knives, forks .... blah blah blah


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## Triplets (Sep 4, 2014)

Itullian said:


> How safe are they?
> 
> Do you use one?


My mother, who is a terrible cook, used to use them for everything. She used to make Thanksgiving Turkeys that would have sent the Pilgrims scurrying back over the Pond in terror.


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## mirepoix (Feb 1, 2014)

Headphone Hermit said:


> If you try hard enough then you could make one dangerous in a normal kitchen, I suppose, but otherwise they are probably safer than pans with hot oil, pans with loose-fitting lids and boiling water, microwaves, potato peelers, cheese graters, knives, forks .... blah blah blah


Yes. And in any case, it's good to live dangerously once in a while.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

My mother used one to good effect, but I'd never dare - I'm extra certain of that now I've read Ukko's caveat about the 'ministration of fools'.
I am lucky I survived my teens, once trying to prise toast crumbs out of a live electric toaster with a metal knife...


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## Triplets (Sep 4, 2014)

Ingélou said:


> My mother used one to good effect, but I'd never dare - I'm extra certain of that now I've read Ukko's caveat about the 'ministration of fools'.
> I am lucky I survived my teens, once trying to prise toast crumbs out of a live electric toaster with a metal knife...


While standing barefoot in the shower?


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

Ingélou said:


> My mother used one to good effect, but I'd never dare - I'm extra certain of that now I've read Ukko's caveat about the 'ministration of fools'.
> I am lucky I survived my teens, once trying to prise toast crumbs out of a live electric toaster with a metal knife...


Hah. I'm pretty sure that you are no fool in the general sense. I've known a few geniuses who had/have voids in that genius though, and not just 'driftiness'. The safety devices on a modern pressure cooker serve everyone.


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