Cuisinart CPC-600 1000-Watt 6-Quart Electric Pressure Cooker, Brushed Stainless and Matte Black
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Cuisinart CPC-600 1000-Watt 6-Quart Electric Pressure Cooker, Brushed Stainless and Matte Black
Customer Review: Excellent Digital Pressure Cooker!
Summary: 5 Stars
I've been using this pressure cooker for about five months now. I like it so much that I bought one for my mother. She's been using hers for a month, and loves it too.
This is my third digital pressure cooker, and the best built one I've owned. It comes up to pressure quickly and cooks very well. This pressure cooker is very easy to use and clean. I use it to make just about everything that would ordinarily be braised (just cook 1/3 of the time given in the recipe). It's also great for steaming vegetables, making rice, soups/stocks, and mashed potatoes.
The great thing about a digital pressure cooker is that you don't have to monitor it as you would a traditional stovetop model. It automatically stops cooking & goes to "keep warm" mode when the time gets to zero. This digital model has brown, saute and simmer modes in addition to two pressure modes (high & low). This is great because you can use it to brown the meat or saute vegetables.
One thing to keep in mind in purchasing a digital pressure cooker is the availability of parts & that's an area where Cuisinart excels. This pressure cooker also has a three year warranty!
If you've never used a pressure cooker, I recommend purchasing a good pressure cookbook. In addition to recipes, the right cookbook will provide hints for using the pressure cooker as well as cooking times for many foods. This one's my favorite: Pressure Perfect: Two Hour Taste in Twenty Minutes Using Your Pressure Cooker
Customer Review: Cant go wrong with an electric pressure cooker
Summary: 5 Stars
Had a bad experience many years ago with a stove top pressure cooker. It took over 6 months to clean up the mess, not just in the kitchen but through out the whole family room area !
Decided to give it another go, and opted for an electric model recently. Loved it so much, bought one my sister for her birthday, and I am now on vacation in the US, showing her how to use it. Tonights meal was massamun Thai style chicken curry, my own adaptation of a recipe using massamun curry paste. I am still learning how to adapt my regular menu to pressure cooking,so far, so good. Have made a delightful beef pot roast with gravy, onions, potatoes and carrot in just under an hour, creamed rice in 8 minutes, a one pot pasta and meat sauce meal in 6 minutes, plus a variety of chicken options including curry and pot pie style cooking in 10 minutes. The Cuisinart Electric pressure cooker is easy to use and clean, and luckily, easy to program. Unfortunately the instructions were missing from the box, but still managed to work out how to use it, using my common sense when it comes to the safety aspect. Have bought a few pressure cooking cookbooks online, and have found a few recipes that we (my sister and I) will be trying. I love this pressure cooker, and cant imagine why I havent bought one earlier!
It is still a new appliance, so not sure how long the non stick coating on the inner pot will last, or if any other unexpected problems will arise. Would buy another one anyway, the savings in time and convenience are worth the money for this kitchen appliance, and would highly recommend it.
Customer Review: Don't Buy This!
Summary: 1 Stars
The first couple of times I used this, it was great. Since then the little pop up valve won't pop up, at least for a long time. All the while there is a lot of steam escaping around the valve. The instructions that come with this thing are worthless. The troubleshooting section says the solution to this problem...well, they actually don't tell you how to fix it, but they say it's a problem with the push rod hanging up the little pop up valve. Unless you have X-ray vision and can see thru metal, it's impossible to say how this causes the hang up and what the solution might be. Do you push the rod in, or let it be extended to the exterior more. Those are your only two options. Do you hold the rod to the extended position while you clamp on the lid? Impossible to say.
The result of all this is that steam escapes for awhile and sometimes the popup happens (once all the liquid has escaped and your food has now boiled, making it impossible to judge how long to now cook it). Sometimes it boils like that forever and you never do get an effective seal. You can't tell whether it's going to work on any given occasion or not.
I find myself using the word "impossible" a lot here, and that is the single best description of this product. I wish I hadn't bought it. I also invested in several cookbooks (good ones!) and that is a waste as well, since you need a pressure cooker to make pressure cooked food.
When you pay this much for a product, it's reasonable to expect a decent manual and something that works!
Customer Review: Awesome Pressure Cooker although, Please Re-Write Your Manual!
Summary: 4 Stars
I LOVE this electric pressure cooker. I've been a 3rd generation PC cook since 1973. My sister never caught onto family tradition, but now is ready to start pressure cooking. The pressure cooker itself is pretty much idiot proof. HOWEVER.....
The manual is useless. It seems that the original manual was written in something other than ENGLISH and it was translated in English for the USA market. NOT GOOD. If you go with the pictures, you'll be fine. The assembly and first use instructions are hazy. I also went looking on UTube for assistance - not much there; found a couple of videos showing how to use other branded electric pressure cookers.
Then, you flip over to the recipes - that's a real flop. It misses the mark for good ol' standard pressure cooker recipes that were handed down from both grandmothers and mother. If you're not familiar with the magic of pressure cooking, you'll definitely need to purchase another PC Cookbook. My first use was fresh asparagus - not listed in the Cuisanart Recipe list of fresh veggies to cook. It was delicious! 1 minute - fast steam release.
The 6-quart is a perfect size for a standard family - wouldn't do any smaller. Will use this at least twice a week during the cooler months.
I would give this cooker 5 starts except for the manual and recipe guide. With the cost of food these days, one cannot afford to make mistakes with ingedients - try cooking some simple things first with this PC, then go for the sublime.
Customer Review: Now I can cook like Mom in less than 30 percent of the time!
Summary: 5 Stars
I took years to perfect the art of making Chinese soups. There is a technique that requires browning and simmering the bones to extract the flavor and collagen from the protein. The old fashion way takes two hours or more to achieve. This wonderful pot takes only about 20-30 minutes under pressure! I had never used a pressure cooker and was very cautious after my mom had a mishap in our kitchen when I was younger. I remember seeing my mom with burn marks on her face from opening the lid on the Presto much too early. I was encouraged to see this electric cooker on the Iron Chef episode with Bobby Flay. He was able to make his stew tender and flavorful within his one hour time constraint!
Things I love about this appliance:
Easy to set and walk away with cook, simmer, saute, and warm.-I can fit in a quick workout prior to chowing down on my short ribs or stew!
Nice coated pot with a very sturdy lid that locks in and does not release unless the pressure is safe!
Quick release valve pressure feature or slow normal cool down release for the lid.
Neat and easy to clean pot.
Well constructed pot that feels sturdy and safe to contain the pressure and the heat.
I continue to experiment with this wonderful pot and I look forward to further utilize a two or three stage soup or stew. it should be much easier and faster to add the quicker cooking herbs using the quick release valve after the "base" of the soup is completed.