Well, I guess I won't be getting a pressure cooker

[Evil_Captor]

@kayaker

The nice, modern pressure cooker I recently bought was surprisingly expensive, but very well made. I cannot see how this one could possibly go wrong.

Famous last words!

[pulykamell]

@TriPolar

Unless you leave it unattended there’s zero chance of anything going wrong, assuming you know how to use it. Once it’s up to pressure you have to reduce the heat just to the point where some steam is still coming out, usually in little spurts. After that, as long as the steam keeps coming it can’t explode.

Now if someone comes to the door and you open it and the dog runs out and you lunge after him but the door slams shut behind you and you don’t have your keys, or maybe there’s just something really good on TV, then things might get interesting.

I’m sure you know this stuff puly, just getting it into the thread.

It’s a good point to mention. I didn’t get my first pressure cooker until about 3 or 4 years ago. My family never used one. I was always a bit :dubious: of the idea of having what seemed to me to be a big bomb sitting on my stove. But one day I decided to finally give it a shot, and once I saw how it worked and the safety mechanisms it had intact, it didn’t cause me any consternation. I don’t use it religiously, but once or twice a month, it’s great, especially when I want to get a stew or broth/stock done in a very short period of time. I mean, this thing takes cooking a stew from a 3+ hour job to a 1-ish hour job. Pretty impressive.

[bldysabba]

@TriPolar

Unless you leave it unattended there’s zero chance of anything going wrong, assuming you know how to use it. Once it’s up to pressure you have to reduce the heat just to the point where some steam is still coming out, usually in little spurts. After that, as long as the steam keeps coming it can’t explode.

Now if someone comes to the door and you open it and the dog runs out and you lunge after him but the door slams shut behind you and you don’t have your keys, or maybe there’s just something really good on TV, then things might get interesting.

Could you explain the mechanism by which an unattended pressure cooker may blow up? As long as there’s a functioning automatic pressure release valve(and I’ve never seen a pressure cooker without one) I don’t think even unattended pressure cookers would blow. Pressure cookers get used a LOT in Indian cooking (sigh. Brown people and potential bomb components. Lots of fun all round). I haven’t heard any stories of cookers blowing up.

[TriPolar]

@bldysabba

Could you explain the mechanism by which an unattended pressure cooker may blow up? As long as there’s a functioning automatic pressure release valve(and I’ve never seen a pressure cooker without one) I don’t think even unattended pressure cookers would blow. Pressure cookers get used a LOT in Indian cooking (sigh. Brown people and potential bomb components. Lots of fun all round). I haven’t heard any stories of cookers blowing up.

Anything that can foam up can clog up the release valve. Even that is hard to do. If you don’t have the heat too high it will take a long time before the pot explodes anyway. If you see my post before that one you’ll see that I find most exploding pressure cooker stories dubious.

[HazelNutCoffee]

My aunt once asked my uncle to keep an eye on the pressure cooker (she was cooking rice) while she went to take a shower. She told him to turn down the gas once the rocker started clanging. When she got out of the shower the entire house was filled with the smell of burning rice. The rocker was going mad. “Why didn’t you turn the gas down?” she demanded. “It wasn’t clanging, it was making a swishy sound,” said he. “I was waiting for the clanging.”

The rice was burnt beyond redemption, but the cooker remained unexploded.

[stui_magpie]

@Drain_Bead

I have an electric one. As safe and easy to use as a crockpot.

Just a lot faster. I have one too.

Anyone know where I can buy a 2000 foot extension cord?

[bldysabba]

@TriPolar

Anything that can foam up can clog up the release valve. Even that is hard to do. If you don’t have the heat too high it will take a long time before the pot explodes anyway. If you see my post before that one you’ll see that I find most exploding pressure cooker stories dubious.

Sure, I am just skeptical that anyone who’s just cooking can get a pressure cooker to explode, and was trying to understand how it would happen. From Wikipedia

For first generation pressure cookers with a weighted valve or “jiggler”, the primary safety valve or regulator is usually a weighted stopper, commonly called “the rocker” or “vent weight”. This weighted stopper is lifted by the steam pressure, allowing excess pressure to be released. There is a backup pressure release mechanism that releases pressure quickly if the primary pressure release mechanism fails (e.g., food jams the steam discharge path). One such method is a hole in the lid that is blocked by a low melting point alloy plug and another is a rubber grommet with a metal insert at the center. At a sufficiently high pressure, the grommet will distort and the insert will blow out of its mounting hole to release pressure. If the pressure continues to increase, the grommet itself will blow out to release pressure. These safety devices usually require replacement if they are activated by excess pressure. Newer pressure cookers may have a self-resettable spring device, fixed onto the lid, that releases excess pressure.
For second generation pressure cookers with selectable pressure and (often hidden) spring valve operation, a common safety feature is the gasket, which expands and releases excess pressure downward between the lid and the pot. This release of excess pressure is forceful and sufficient to extinguish the flame of a gas stove.

@HazelNutCoffee

The rice was burnt beyond redemption, but the cooker remained unexploded.

This has happened to me more times than I care to admit

[AaronX]

I know a guy who opened one while pressurized. I personally know him; this isn’t a friend of a friend story. His hand and face got burnt, but I think he recovered almost fully, with only some slight scars now. I heard they’re very hard to open when pressurized, so he must have been very strong.

[Ferret_Herder]

Really, I’d be more worried about the steam, pressurized or not. When you take the lid off, don’t treat it like you’re peeking at the simmering soup. Follow the directions for how to release the pressure, then open the lid such that you are not standing over it and you are holding the lid to block steam from coming at you. That’s it. Check on the gasket now and then to make sure it’s still good (so that your cooker works, not so that it doesn’t explode), and enjoy it.

[Khendrask]

Another problem with the “My mother’s blew up when I was a kid” version of the pressure cooker is that the older ones often had flexible-seal lids. With that design, the lid was actually somewhat bent, and you set it inside the rim of the pot, then squeezed the handle until the lid flattened out against the inside rim of the pot. Most had a little wire clip to keep the lid in position. Those were prone to blowing the lid off due to either a slight overpressure, failure of the wire clip, or even just wear on the sealing surface and or lip. As an aside, the flex-seal lids could also actually be opened while the pot was under pressure.

Modern cookers have heavy lids, and a positive locking system (which in all cases that I know of cannot be opened with pressure in the vessel). I’ve got three at my home, one standard, one high pressure, and one electric. I’ve never had an issue with any of them beyond having to replace the gaskets once in a while (and if you don’t, it just doesn’t build pressure).

[TriPolar]

@bldysabba

Sure, I am just skeptical that anyone who’s just cooking can get a pressure cooker to explode, and was trying to understand how it would happen. From Wikipedia

Unless you have a pressure cooker with just a single relief valve it’s just about impossible to make it explode. Some of the relief mechanisms can let lose steam that could burn.

[David_H_Singanas]

@HazelNutCoffee

My aunt once asked my uncle to keep an eye on the pressure cooker (she was cooking rice) while she went to take a shower. She told him to turn down the gas once the rocker started clanging. When she got out of the shower the entire house was filled with the smell of burning rice. The rocker was going mad. “Why didn’t you turn the gas down?” she demanded. “It wasn’t clanging, it was making a swishy sound,” said he. “I was waiting for the clanging.”

The rice was burnt beyond redemption, but the cooker remained unexploded.

What about a turkey? I have noticed that cooking a Thanksgiving turkey
can take some folks all night. How long does it take a pressure cooker to
cook a thawed turkey ?

[Manduck]

@Pops_Negro

They’re the only way to cook dried beans unless you have the patience of Jobe.

What if you were a doctor? Then you would have the job of patients.