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Scared of pressure cookers. Am I crazy?
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Capitalchick




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Feb 23 2014, 6:14 pm
I've always been scared of pressure cookers. I'm intrigued by them and would love to use one, but I have this fear that it'll explode and kill someone!

Nobody I know has one (or at least that I know about...and admittedly, it's not something people would talk about! LOL), so I haven't been able to see one in use.

Are they safe? Do they explode?
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Dolly Welsh




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Feb 23 2014, 6:22 pm
In the days of my mother, z"l, there were some concerns.

Not now.

Do indeed read the instructions carefully and do what they tell you. Think.

Make sure the little holes are not clogged every time you use them. That's done by looking at the kitchen ceiling light through the holes.

It is a serious piece of machinery and deserves to be used carefully and with attention.

That said, I have two and love them.

Mine aren't electric; I hear there are electric ones, so you need no stove, just an outlet that can handle this amount of power usage.

You don't leave the house with one in use; you don't let children in your kitchen anyway.

It is the opposite of a slow cooker. That is easy and slow, this requires thought and is fast. Very, very fast.

If you find something isn't quite cooked enough, you can just put it back on the stove, bring it back up to pressure, and cook it a little more.

Keep the pamphlet recipe book that comes with it, and follow their instructions.
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elisheva25




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Feb 23 2014, 6:31 pm
I don't own one, put they have digital once now versus the old fashioned stove tops.
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sneakermom




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Feb 23 2014, 7:03 pm
I'm also afraid. Don't like potentially explosive equipment in the house. My toaster oven is risky enough. Especially if it needs to be cleaned Smile
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welcome home




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Feb 23 2014, 7:17 pm
Capitalchick wrote:
Nobody I know has one (or at least that I know about...and admittedly, it's not something people would talk about! LOL), so I haven't been able to see one in use.


One of the contestants of The Taste used it a couple of times, it was pretty interesting to watch. I am sure that you would find demonstration clips on youtube as well if you do a search.
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The Happy Wife




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Feb 23 2014, 7:29 pm
I have an electric one and love it. There is no danger. It won't build up too much pressure, and it won't open before it is safe to do so. I am also afraid of the regular ones.
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anonymom




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Feb 23 2014, 7:35 pm
I'm scared of pressure cookers. I'm also scared of in-sink garbage disposals. I think because my parents had one and sometimes they needed to stick their hand inside to unclog it and I was always terrified someone would turn on the switch while their had was in. I refuse to have one in my kitchen.
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Dolly Welsh




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Feb 23 2014, 7:45 pm
Everybody loves their own machines, that they have worked on learning to use properly.

True story: I owned a food processor for six months before getting up the courage to use the thing. I just looked at it.

One day somebody else nonchalantly ground up a salad in a few minutes, while I sat and watched in awe.

Not to be left behind, I pondered the directions, scowled, read some more, made notes, scowled some more, got used to it, and I now am glad to have it. I am careful around that, too.

Happy Wife, it's just a different heat source.
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chocolate chips




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Feb 23 2014, 9:22 pm
Yup me too.
I know they are so great for cooking soups and stuff and my mother has one but I am honestly so scared of them especially when they start hissing and Im like "help what do I do now!"
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Dolly Welsh




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Feb 23 2014, 9:43 pm
What you do when it starts hissing is set a timer, because cooking has started. The hissing means you are at pressure. The little stopper thing can rock back and forth. It's supposed to hiss and rock.

They were invented at the time of Napoleon.

They work because water gets hotter than its usual boiling point temperature when air pressure is greater. I think.

Ah soup. That would be a good use. You can't put little bitty beans in though, only kidney size beans.

It also is not for rice. The rice cooker is for that.

They are good for cheap meat cuts because they tenderize well.

When it's time, you set the pot under running cold water until the little indicator drops. Then the pressure is normal and you can remove the top. Otherwise it won't come off. That's good, not bad.
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oliveoil




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Feb 23 2014, 9:50 pm
They are scary. Aside from the exploding fear, the steam can also give terrible, terrible burns if someone doesn't open it correctly. I would never have one in the house.
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Dolly Welsh




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Feb 23 2014, 9:52 pm
Mine won't open at all, not one bit, until the pressure is down. Of course as with any hot pot you open it with the steam going away from you.

You do need those little holes to not be clogged, so you look through them at the light before each use. They release the pressure properly.

One can certainly live without one but it might be convenient for people who cook a lot.

The electric ones may make a sound when done, or shut themselves off. I don't know.
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MiracleMama




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Feb 23 2014, 10:04 pm
I'm scared too. I was on the fence about it for years, then resolved to get one. Sitting in my car on my way to BB&B specifically to buy one, a news blurb came on the radio about a woman whose leg was torn off by an exploding pressure cooker. So I turned around and never bought one. I know it's a highly rare occurrence but hearing that story while on my way to get one just freaked me out.
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thanks




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Feb 24 2014, 2:06 am
My mother had an electric one, and we were not allowed in the room when it was on.

I have a stovetop pressure cooker, and I love it! I make my chicken soup and apple sauce in it every week. Saves loads of time, and tastes great! (Once, when I was too lazy to wash it, I made my applesauce in a regular pot. Huge difference. So much more flavorful from the pressure cooker.)

Also, makes stew meat so soft and tender. Great for soups.

It remains locked when it is under pressure. Since it gets the food to such a high temperature, I put my soup in it Friday night, and do not even need a blech/platta. It's still hot when it's time to serve it.
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AlwaysThinking




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Feb 24 2014, 2:28 am
I have one - got it as a wedding gift from someone who knew that my mother A'H used one. I am really terrified of it.

I used it once to make chicken soup - in 2 hours it was ready, usually I cook chicken soup for 6 or 7 hours... made a delicious soup, all the veg. were cooked. Amazing to be able to put up a chicken soup 2 hours before shabbos and have it taste like it's been cooked all night...

When I was using it I made sure DH was home (for the emotional support, I guess. Not like he knew anything about pressure cookers!) and any time it hissed I would give a little yell. And when there was water leaking out I was sure I'd done something wrong. And then when it was quiet I was sure it wasn't doing anything even though the little pressure thing was still saying it was under pressure. But it was working, and the soup was good. I think I'm going to use it this week as well. Maybe I'll be less terrified!

I've also heard the modern ones don't explode. I know there is a safety catch on mine, and it doesn't let it go over a certain pressure somehow.

The old ones definitely used to explode. I have an older relative who in the 1950s exploded a pressure cooker, blew the glass out of the windows in her kitchen. Just before leaving to go to the store, she had turned the gas flame up by accident instead of down. Luckily no-one was home.
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LisaS




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Feb 24 2014, 2:39 am
I'd also be scared to use a pressure cooker in a house with young kids after reading about a burn story. Although burns can happen in the kitchen in so many different ways. But that is one more thing to worry about.
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Sanguine




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Feb 24 2014, 2:50 am
A necessity for anyone who only thinks to make supper at 5:00. I have the very old kind that sits on the stove and has a little cap to take off when you see the button is down (you can open it earlier but you'll blow the roof off your house). My kids are going to grow up with the fear of pressure cookers cause every time I use it I give them so many warnings not to go near (my kids are big enough to not even think of it). I use it for mushroom barley soup too cause otherwise the barley never seems cooked enough

Last week I almost blew up the house - I was cooking pupiks for the soup in the pressure cooker - that's how I always do it cause then I wash them off and add them to the soup. If you ever cook pupiks you know that the water (and fat) go up up up and if you don't lower your gas they boil over the top of the pot and make a mess of the stove. So that's what happened. I put them in the pressure cooker and made the gas high to get the pressure going but I then went upstairs and never turned the gas down. Suddenly I hear a loud PSSFSSSTSSSPSSS... I thought one of my kids knocked the cap off - Not likely, cause I was on the floor above and I hadn't shot through the roof. The water had bubbled till the top and pushed itself through the rubber seal on the pot. DD had quickly shut the gas but the pot was still pressuring. My kids wanted me to run out of the house with them but I said if the gas was off the pot will now cool off.

Later, when the button went down, I opened the pot - there wasn't a drop of water left (it was all on the floor). I'll use the pot again - If it doesn't seal it also won't pressure. If it seals it will pressure, so what's the problem. My kids will go nuts when they see me using it again (I came down after DD had set the gas - they're the ones traumatized)

I do remember running whenever my mother used her pressure cooker - guess I got over it Very Happy
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etky




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Feb 24 2014, 3:12 am
I've also been hemming and hawing for years about possibly adding a pressure cooker to my pot collection. I'm very anxious about safety and having a potential bomb in my kitchen makes me nervous.
I think Sanguines' post has decided this one for me.
Now I think maybe not.
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Sanguine




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Feb 24 2014, 3:17 am
etky wrote:
I think Sanguines' post has decided this one for me.
Now I think maybe not.


Read it again - My pot is old. I plan to keep using it. It's a necessity in life.
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etky




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Feb 24 2014, 3:39 am
Sanguine wrote:
Read it again - My pot is old. I plan to keep using it. It's a necessity in life.


Well, I've reached middle age w/o ever having cooked with a pressure cooker. Maybe it could come in handy but it's too late to teach an old dog new tricks - moreover potentially explosive ones. I have a microwave for dinner emergencies, which for me more often than not involve something frozen that needs to be defrosted really quickly. Now, that's one appliance I really can't live without....
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