My parents gave me an expensive pressure cooker. The brand is Fissler. They say it’s extremely safe. I keep reading on the internet. I am using it and loving although I feel anxious around it and I am too scared to get too close when something is being cooked inside it.
I just can’t convince myself it’s safe. It’s like many other fears of mine: big bugs, bees, dark etc.
I watch people on Youtube using a variety of pressure cookers with grace and ease and I feel jealous. I can’t touch the pressure cooker until I make sure no more pressure is in it.
This topic is probably more suitable to discuss with a therapist but still worth writing here I think.
As long as you make sure that there is nothing interfering with the operation of the relief valve, it’s pretty much as safe as any other thing in your kitchen.
OTOH, make sure that there is nothing interfering with the operation of the relief valve, as if there is, it’s a pretty dangerous device.
And, not so much about injury. If you happen to have your head over it when it goes, that’s a problem, of course. But the big concern if it were to explode would be the massive mess you’d be cleaning up. Had a pressure cooker blow up on me at a mexican restaurant once. We were still finding black beans months later.
I’m not sure to what degree this is a psychological malfunction on your part, and to what degree it’s a fear with some basis in reality. There certainly seem to have been pressure cooker explosions out there, based on a little googling. I don’t know if Pressure Cooker Accidents - Pressure Cooker Lawsuit is being fair, but their web site makes it sound like quite a problem.
On the other hand, I’ve never heard of anybody I know, or anybody they know, having this happen. And I hear about automobile accidents and see them plenty frequently, and occasionally am in a minor one, and yet I use cars frequently. If you want to make some kind of reasonable judgement about whether to accept the risk, there must be statistics out there.
I have heard of more than one pressure cooker explosion in my wife’s extended family. It is common for Brazilians to cook their black beans in a pressure cooker, and when cooking beans it is possible that the skin of a bean can get to the steam valve and clog it.
The most recent one in her family was some years ago–her cousin was cooking beans and left the pot unattended. Eventually a bit of bean skin clogged the valve and the pot blew up, straight up, with nothing going out the sides.
The key to preventing this particular problem is to keep an ear on the hissing sound–as long as it is hissing normally then everything is fine. If the hissing suddenly stops then it would be wise to immediately turn off the heat. Keep in mind that there is a substantial margin of error, and it would take gross inattention to allow the pressure to build to the point of exploding.
A couple years ago the pressure cooked exploded in my in-laws’ kitchen. Gratefully no one was in the rather small kitchen when this happened as the cook had just stepped out to put something on the dining room table.
Based upon the damage I have little doubt she would have been seriously injured or killed if she was standing by the stove. The stove top was twisted metal. Shrapnel pierced the refrigeration coils on the fridge ruining the fridge. And the pressure cooker itself was badly mangled. So the damage could end up being more than just cleaning up the splattered contents, it could be replacing a couple major kitchen appliances.
When your pressure cooker is new (not brand new, I just mean modern and with all its parts in place, as opposed to a piece of random yard-sale junk), and you allow yourself to become familiar and comfortable with operating it, you are safe.
I can think of five things could make you unsafe with a pressure cooker:
Approaching it with fear, instead of normal respect
Avoiding it, instead of getting used to it
Desperately paying attention to “everything” or to the wrong things, instead of calmly paying attention to what’s necessary
Using it in a way it wasn’t designed to be used
Using a cooker that has damage to its safety features
My mother used a pressure cooker without incident for decades. One thing that was necessary was occasional replacement of the rubber gasket. That should not be a problem for the OP and a brand-new pressure cooker.
Listen, 600 people worldwide die from TOASTERS each year. If you’re going to get nervous about something, keep your eye on that two-slicer sitting on the counter–or just don’t reach in with a knife while it’s plugged in.
Pressure cookers are safe. People think pressure=explosions, but the modern valve system pretty much guarantees that won’t happen, and current lid-lock systems make it impossible to remove the lid while the pressure is high.
As others have said, the messes you hear about are from people trying to cook stuff that’ll plug the vent, like spinach. But all that’d mean is a green ceiling and a story to tell on the next SD pressure cooker thread.
My Grandmother used to tell horror stories about pressure cookers. I had a stovetop one that I was terrified of, but I feel fairly confident using the Instant Pot.
The number one thing is to not over fill it. If it boils up into the valve, the valve can clog as noted above. This is a bad thing.
The number two thing is to ignore any recipes that refer to pressure-frying chicken. Pressure fried chicken is the greatest, most delicious food known to mankind. And like fugu, it’s not a dish to try and prepare at home. Spend the money to have it prepared by someone who knows how, and has the right equipment.
And the third thing is not to pressure cook while hungry. I know that sounds counter-intuitive, but if you are starving, grab a snack. If you find yourself tempted to flick the valve to see if you can get the safety release to open sooner, well, a few baby carrots are not going to kill your diet. Let the pressure dissipate.
I have the old kind, that sits on a stove burner and has a stop cock that I have to be careful not to lose in the junk drawer.
When Im done cooking, I put it in the sink and run cold water on the lid until it stop hissing, (only take about 5 seconds, which surprises me) then take off the stopcock, make sure it still doesn’t hiss, and remove the lid. There is a black rubber release valve in the lid, which presumably will blow out before there is enough pressure for the aluminum fuselage to explode.
I understand the OP’s fear, irrational though it may be. I was in the kitchen when my mother had an incident with a pressure cooker. I suspect the ceiling has long since been repainted, but otherwise a stain would still be there.
A modern pressure cooker has two valves in it. One is the main pressure control valve. This is the one that you use to set the pressure during normal cooking; it’s the one you hear hissing and gurgling during normal operation.
The second valve is an emergency relief valve. If the main pressure control valve becomes clogged with food bits or otherwise inoperable, the relief valve (see “safety valve” in this picture) will operate to prevent the pressure from exceeding the structural limits of the cooker. If the relief valve operates, it’s going to be a sudden, high-flow event. It’ll be startling, and it may blast a stream of par-boiled food at the ceiling of your kitchen. But it won’t kill you.
My mom used a pressure cooker all her life, no incidents. My dad used a pressure cooker in college once to cook for him and his roommates. He overfilled it, and sure enough, some bit of food clogged the main pressure control valve, and the resulting overpressure activated the safety relief valve, spewing a jet of hot stew at the ceiling. Made a big ol’ mess, but nobody got hurt.
It is certainly inconvenient that you can’t bring yourself to use this fine kitchen device but it is hardly a tragedy. I wouldn’t bother investing a great deal of time or angst into trying to overcome your fear. You can still live an almost normal life without ever once using a pressure cooker. I’m sure that billions of other people have managed to.
I’ve got to concur with nelliebly, if pressure cookers are considered too risky, you had truly best ditch the toaster in your house then.
I’ve been cooking with pressure cookers for 4 decades and had exactly one incident, where stew went on the ceiling due to improper handling of the vessel at peak heat. The weighted valve on top was jostled off. That was with a 1940’s style pressure cooker.
I’ve been using a modern electronic pressure cooker with all the safety bells and whistles now for over 20 years now with absolutely no glitches.
Otherwise, read that XKCD link and it really puts the danger into proper perspective.
I have a ‘modern’ one that’s probably about 10 or 15 years old. It’s a typical pressure cooker. I was always comfortable with it (Good Eats did pressure cooking episode once, maybe try to find that), but never quite got the hang of it. Mine doesn’t have a weight, so you have to watch for little wisps of steam to come out to know that you’re at just the right level.
I just recently got an Instant Pot. Since the heat is some how controlled, JFM I guess, you don’t need to worry about it. Put your food in, do what the recipe tells you to do and 10 minutes later you’re eating.
If you’re worried about it exploding, the instant pot doesn’t look like the old pressure cookers, so that may help relieve some of your fears. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a pressure vessel and things could go wrong, but at least it just looks like a fancy crock pot or rice cooker.
Modern ones are made to standards and all that I have seen have 2 forms of pressure relief. One the regulated type and the other by design as a failsafe. The only problem I ever had is when I forced it open - never ever do this, never - reason lower pressure instantly lowers the boiling point of water (or cooking liquid), which flashes into explosive steam bubbles within that liquid which sends hotter then boiling liquid shooting out of the pot at great velocity. Result minor burns (just due to luck), most of the meal lost (like 70%) and a big mess to clean up including behind the stove.
Just to add a old rubber seal just won’t seal, meaning it won’t get to pressure.
I assume the one you blew up most have been somewhat older. All the ones I’ve seen can’t be opened until the pressure is lowered. There’s typically a pin locking the lid to the pot that’s controlled by pressure.
IME, if you want to get it open sooner, put the entire thing in the sink and run cold water over it.
The Instant Pot also has a quick release. A valve that can be opened and let out the steam in a fast, but controlled way.
