This is the bottom of the 18 qt, but it's the same. 8 inch raised section fits well on glass or coil round burner, not sure how it will be on your 6 inch (square). It will fit, but depending on how close the center of that burner is to the edge of the stove it will overhang just like your 14" stockpot does. I can't speak to whether you could set this centered between the burners which you said span 15" - it might not be stable and I don't know how 2 flames on the sides (lapping up the sides? Unless you can control just the left or right ring of each burner - I saw a camp stove like that, might have been at Northern Tool or Amazon) and cool spot in the middle would affect function, or whether it would warp. Be sure to ask the rep tomorrow.

I just recently gave one to a nephew for a wedding present, and I wrote down some of the advantages: I never had a pressure cooker until I was in my fifties. Having used one, I now cant see having a kitchen without one. Quite simply, it changed the way I cook. You can cook a whole lot of good food really quickly with this item. Given the unpredictability of the schedules of two adults both working and having to cook for themselves, the pressure cooker can cut down on restaurantsÂand youÂll have great food to boot, at a fraction of the cost of eating out. There are several different applications at which a pressure cooker excels: one, you can cook healthy stuff in a lot less time. Beans and grains cook in a fraction of the time they would usually take. You can steam artichokes in 12 minutes instead of 45. Here in the South you can get your collard greens tender in about 5 minutes. Another application itÂs great at is having comfort foods in a fraction of the time it usually takes. Pot roasts in under an hour. Corned beef and cabbage in about an hour. Chili. Soups and stews. Osso Buco alla Milanese in about an hour. One other use: the pressure cooker makes nearly foolproof risotto in a matter of minutes. Risotto is a bit tedious and finicky to make by hand, so I rarely did so in the old days; now I can make it easily, with virtually no attention to the dish. You can be doing something else while the risotto is cooking, rather than laboriously adding broth to the risotto bit by bit. Yet another use: after a meal of roast chicken IÂll throw the carcass into the cooker along with some water, onion, celery, carrot, etc. and bring it up to pressure. By the time IÂve cleaned up the kitchen, the cooker has made some yummy chicken broth to be used in my next meal. Lorna Sass is the head honcho (f. honcha? honchess?) of pressure cooking enthusiasts. I have four of her cookbooks, and theyÂre all good. IÂve never had a dud with any of her recipes. And, if you are considering going vegetarian for a while, or just want a good vegetarian cookbook, she has written a few. I have her Great Vegetarian Cooking Under Pressure and itÂs quite good. Another pressure cooker expert is Vickie Smith. She runs the website missvickie.com and has all sorts of pressure cooker recipes and advice, and has recently published a pressure cooker cookbook. All the recipes IÂve tried from that book have been very good. Osso Buco alla Milanese (Braised Veal Shanks, Milan-style) Serves 4 This recipe for Osso Buco is from Lorna SassÂs Cooking Under Pressure. I have made it both as a slow braise (traditional), and made it in the pressure cookerÂI actually prefer the pressure cooker version. Even if youÂre only cooking for two and using just two veal shanks, donÂt halve the remaining ingredients; the sauce is wonderful by itself. Once you get the Osso Buco started in the cooker, cook up some pasta or rice to soak up the sauce. The gremolata garnish is traditional, but I donÂt care for it; some authorities, such as Marcella Hazan, donÂt use it. 4 veal shanks, about 10 oz each 2 tablespoons all purpose flour 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided 1 large onion, coarsely chopped ½ cup dry red wine or dry vermouth 1/3 cup beef or chicken stock or bullion 2 medium carrots, coarsely chopped 1 stalk celery, sliced thinly ½ pound mushrooms, thinly sliced One 14 oz can tomatoes, coarsely chopped, including juice 1 teaspoon dried basil 1 teaspoon dried oregano ¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg (optional) ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste (less if using canned bullion) Freshly ground black pepper to taste Gremolata: (optional) 1 tablespoon finely minced garlic 2 tablespoons grated lemon zest ½ cup finely minced fresh parsley Rinse the veal shanks, pat dry, and dredge in flour, pressing the flour into the veal with the heel of your hand. Shake off excess flour. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in the cooker. Over medium heat, brown the veal on both sides and set aside on a platter. Add the remaining oil and sauté the onions until soft, about 3 minutes. Add the red wine and stir, taking care to scrape up any browned bits that are stuck to the bottom of the pan. Add the stock, browned shanks, carrots, celery, mushrooms, tomatoes, basil, oregano, nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste. Lock the lid in place and over high heat bring to high pressure. Adjust the heat to maintain high pressure and cook for 18 minutes. Let the pressure drop naturally or use a quick-release method (venting the steam or putting the cooker in the sink and running cold water over it). Remove the lid, tilting it away from you to allow any excess steam to escape. Prepare the gremolata, if used, by combining the garlic, lemon zest, and parsley. When the shanks are done, stir in the gremolata and simmer for a few minutes. Adjust seasonings and serve. Note: if using smaller shanks, check for doneness after 15 minutes of high pressure.

If you really want to test the seal, whether BWB or PC, then after the jar is fully cooled (12-24 hours), remove the ring and turn it upside down over a deep bowl. If the lid stays on, believe me, it is sealed and you don't have to worry about it. The whole point of pressure canning is that the product reaches a temperature that will assuredly kill any nasties (assuming you follow recommended time and pressure). There just are no bacteria. Consider this excerpt from FDA Consumer, 1990: The steamboat Bertrand was heavily laden with provisions when it set out on the Missouri River in 1865, destined for the gold mining camps in Fort Benton, Mont. The boat snagged and swamped under the weight, sinking to the bottom of the river. It was found a century later, under 30 feet of silt a little north of Omaha, Neb. Among the canned food items retrieved from the Bertrand in 1968 were brandied peaches, oysters, plum tomatoes, honey, and mixed vegetables. In 1974, chemists at the National Food Processors Association (NFPA) analyzed the products for bacterial contamination and nutrient value. Although the food had lost its fresh smell and appearance, the NFPA chemists detected no microbial growth and determined that the foods were as safe to eat as they had been when canned more than 100 years earlier. The nutrient values varied depending upon the product and nutrient. NFPA chemists Janet Dudek and Edgar Elkins report that significant amounts of vitamins C and A were lost. But protein levels remained high, and all calcium values "were comparable to today's products." NFPA chemists also analyzed a 40-year-old can of corn found in the basement of a home in California. Again, the canning process had kept the corn safe from contaminants and from much nutrient loss. In addition, Dudek says, the kernels looked and smelled like recently canned corn. In 1967 my DH was eating canned C-rations from 1944. Actually, he thought those meals were much better than the "modern" freeze-dried LRPs. Now I don't have any plans to eat 40-year-old corn and I won't live long enough for anything that might sit on my shelf 100 years, but the point is, properly preserved, food lasts well beyond any point of our concern. It may lose color, it may soften, it may not taste as good, but it is safe. Carol

Thank you, ci_lantro, that's very kind of you to look! I did order the Fissler this morning. I can't believe I spent that much on a pressure cooker (actually I got the set with the 8L and 4L) -- but then I said the same about the Vitamix, and I haven't regretted buying that. Oh well, I rarely buy shoes or clothes so there we go. The Presto is a very nice price, you're right! It would be interesting to measure the bottom disc. My old one was about that same diameter at the top but its disc was only 8 inches. If I had more storage space I'd probably end up with multiples (the Fisslers stack so that already uses less room than my old one, which was also actually a set of two). In case anyone with an arthritic relative (or who has arthritis themselves) is interested, I did find the Calphalon in a store and it looks very nifty, with that one-handed operation. I could tell that it would be too small a capacity for us, though. (However, for my parents...)