I think that's an apt description of the emotions I went through the first time I used my pressure cooker (LOL)! To date, it has always worked like a charm, but I still don't use it as much as I probably could because of the "fear factor."

-Grainlady

Who had the faulty electric unit on the forum - IIRC, it wasn't a pretty post....

While I've heard anecdotes of PC explosions, I've never experienced one. I use mine regularly, and grew up watching my mom using her Presto all the time, and I would NEVER charactarize us as a risk takers. I think the key to our personality profiles is, we read instruction booklets. They are pretty explicit regarding the conditions which lead to disaster - overfilling, particularly with foaming ingredients, and failure to lower temp settings once pressure is established.

I've also heard stories about exploding pressure cookers but I've never had one, never known anyone personally who had one, and Grandma never blew one up either, not even her old one, and those were more prone to such behavior, I think, than the new ones.

I use mine regularly, but just for a few selected items like chop suey and beans if I'm in a hurry and forgot to put them in the crockpot before I went to work. Other than that, I use my big pressure canner a LOT, every summer and sometimes into the winter.

I've never used an electric one, I have Grandma's old Presto cannr and my own Mirro saucepot type pressure cooker, Grandma's is as old as I can remember, my stockpot was a wedding gift in 1974.

Annie

Posted by cooksnsews "----- They are pretty explicit regarding the conditions which lead to disaster - overfilling, particularly with foaming ingredients, and failure to lower temp settings once pressure is established. "

If you wear a helmet, and eye goggles you will be safe to use a PC -----Just kidding LOL.

Explosions? No. Repainting ceiling? Happens.

Just remember, once the pressure has been reached, it is not possible to cook faster by having a hotter fire. It can only lead to foaming and a clogged vent and food all over your ceiling.

dcarch

Old lessons die hard. As my mother taught me many many years ago, "Nasty exploding things...." and I'll probably always believe that!

Thanks all for chiming in. :)

I survived my first use wew! I usually don't read the manuals with stuff but with this I read it twice. It was the most anxious ten minutes of my life. LOL Even though I made it through I might not use it often.

The beans should have cooked longer than ten min but I just couldn't put myself through anything longer than that so I transferred them to my rice cooker till tender and then added rice. All in all it took a lot less time than boiling them on the stove so I'm happy.

Hopefully using this thing will get easier with time. As it stands right now I won't use it again for a few days my heart needs the break. LOL

I witnessed an eruption from my grandmother's pressure cooker when I was 12 or so. The the little gasket in the lid vent failed and the cooker sent a geyser of bean soup to the ceiling. It rained hot beans in the kitchen. Messy beyond belief! No one was hurt. It didn't explode and the stream shot straight up not out. The lesson for me: replace gaskets often.

Everything my mom cooked in her stovetop pressure cooker was wonderful. But I was always terrified when the metal knob on the top started jiggling and would leave the room till the procedure was over. Despite how good the food was, I never dared to use a pressure cooker until the electric models came out.

I got my first one 9 yrs. ago and I love it. Recently bought a 2nd for the lakehouse. I just tonight had Italian meat sauce that I made in it on Monday. It was done in an hour's time from start to finish.

I am so glad I overcame my fear of pressure cooking. As mentioned above, just read & follow directions. There are so many safeguards built into the electrics they're much less likely to explode.

Wait till you make stocks in it in 1/4 of the time it takes on the stovetop - you won't want to live without one.

a clogged vent and food all over your ceiling.

LOL! That was me, just last week. Fortunately, I was making chicken stock & not something like spaghetti sauce. Still haven't found the over pressure plug & I've looked high and low. Thinking maybe the Lab came along & thought, "Hmmm, smells like chicken..."

Anyway, I went to the hardware store to buy a replacement. They told me they were 'out' and wouldn't have any until 'next week'. That actually made me feel better, knowing some other folks were washing their ceiling, too!

I certainly hope I will be able to overcome my fear. I would love to be able to cook great food faster. Right now I still get heart flutters just thinking about using the cooker. I guess the more I use it the faster I will get rid of the jitters.

Posted by ci_lantro ------ a clogged vent and food all over your ceiling.
LOL! That was me, just last week. Fortunately, I was making chicken stock & not something like spaghetti sauce.---- âÂÂ

I just have to share this, even it is kind of off-topic.

It was spaghetti sauce that happened to me. So it was a complete re-painting of the entire kitchen and careful washing of all the cabinets.
A week after that, invited some friends for dinner. As a short cut I had one of those frozen dinner rolls in a tube for the meal. To make the frozen rolls thaw faster, I put the tube near a hot air vent on the floor. When I return to the kitchen, the tube was open but no dough inside. I thought my friends who came with a dog and the dog ate the whole thing because it had butter in it. I did not want to make a big deal of it and didnâÂÂt say anything.
A few weeks later, I had to replace a light bulb. I discovered the tube of dough was stuck on the ceiling, all dried up. I had to patch and reprint that part of the ceiling after I scrape off the dough.

The moral of the story? place the tube horizontally. LOL

dcarch

OMG!! I am ROFLMAO. ci-lantro, dcarch join the crowd. Love the tube bread story but didn't you hear the gunshot when it exploded?

Mine was chicken soup that blew like a geyser out the broken steam valve. I knew that thing was cracked but had used it safely a time or two before and the replacement one I had ordered wasn't here yet.

There I stood, trying to get close enough to the stove to turn the burner off without getting showered and dh is like... "wait, wait, let me get the camera"... not happening, HELP ME!! Finally ran out of steam literally, but it felt like we were cleaning up WAY more than 1 1/2 gallons of soup.

That was me, with the WP pressure cooker explosion that sent me to the burn unit and left me permanently scarred.

Be extremely careful with the lid. If you experience any problems with the lid closing properly, please let me know. I would be interested in knowing about it.

Thanks,

TP

Dreamhouse1

Will do. :)

Pressure Cookers are not for people who don't read directions. The kind I use is also not for people who turn it on and leave the kitchen. I've been using one for over forty years and never had a blow-up. I still use the old fashioned kind with the metal knob that jiggles because that's what I prefer. When the heat is regulated correctly it should "jiggle" about three or four times per minute. I stay in the kitchen until that is what it is doing. Sometimes I have to drag it from the stove and turn the heat up or down before it gets regulated correctly.

I Don't know if there has been any documented case of PC exploding.

Eruptions yes. You can get hurt if you are in the spray pattern of an eruption.

You can get hurt if you force open the cover when the pressure has not died down yet.

dcarch

Ahhh, a stroll down memory lane....

A friend and I thought we were being really smart by throwing a batch of soybeans in the pressure canner. We were (very) young and impatient, and soybeans take so long to cook. My friend was a brand new mom. She sat the baby in his seat on the counter and when the foam from the soybeans plugged the vent and the safety plug blew, we ran. She guilt-tripped herself for days because she forgot the baby. He was fine. By the time the glop dropped from the ceiling, it was cool.

I think it taught me that the safety plugs really do work (and don't cook soybeans in a pressure cooker).

I use a pressure cooker all the time - - I own 2. One is a 4 qt aluminum Mirro and the other is a 6 qt stainless steel Presto. The Mirro was stored and used in our travel trailer, the Presto is the house unit. I have never had one explode on me, but then again - - I read the instruction books that come with things. Also, my mom had a pressure cooker for years (I think the Mirro was one of her old ones that she handed down), and I can't remember ever having an explosion in the house.

My MIL, who is a definite foodie and cook, definitely does NOT like pressure cookers because she has fear of them.

Donna