Presto 01362 6-Quart Stainless Steel Pressure Cooker
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Presto 01362 6-Quart Stainless Steel Pressure Cooker
Customer Review: good
Summary: 5 Stars
This is nothing fancy, but it works wery well. Replacemenat parts are easy to buy. You can't open it if it's under pressure because it has a lock by the handle (safety feature). Actually I think it's very safe as it has other features as well.
I think one of the most important things to look for is what it's made of (after safety of course!). This is stainless steel which is good because you don't want aluminum (aluminum will stain and get eaten away with acidic food such as vinegar or lemon juice...).
Another thing to consider is that it takes time to heat up and cool down so even though all pressure cookers say it takes a lot less time to cook, they don't take the heat-up cool-down time into consideration, even though they are correct about the actual cooking time.
Good pressure cooker.
EDIT
In 2007, I bought a Kuhn-Rikon pressure cooker and I'm even more pleased with that.
It's quite a bit more expensive (4-7 times?) but a *lot* quieter as it relies on an internal spring to maintain pressure as opposed to gravity for the Presto. The Kuhn-Rikon also allows less water to escape. I keep both of them but I haven't used the presto for 4 months now. Considering I bought the Presto in 1999, it's amazing that it works perfectly even though it got heavy use. I even put the rubber seal and the lid in the dishwasher every time and it still held up. It's my backup cooker now as I can't let go of something that still works fine.
Customer Review: Flimsy Handle and "Some Assembly Required"
Summary: 1 Stars
I was really looking forward to getting the Presto 6 Qt. Stainless Steel Pressure Cooker. My mother had used one, and the name "Presto" really meant something to me. Even though I was unfamiliar with this kind of cooker, the previous reviews left me confident that this one in particular would be a good choice.
Yikes! I opened the Amazon carton only to find a very small box for a 6-qt. cooker. Turns out, this pressure cooker will arrive at your door IN NEED OF ASSEMBLY. Well, I was still game. Pulled out my handy dandy Philips screwdriver and carefully followed directions. The long handles had one screw only -- Not much for all the weight and pressure that pressure cooker handles must endure -- But I still gave it a shot.
I made Chicken Chutney (recipe in the instruction booklet) which was "okay" -- Let's suppose that I haven't used a pressure cooker before (too true, too true). So if the dish was "meh," that could be my fault. But ...
As I was washing the cooker, it really became clear that the handle was loose. The screw was as tight as possible (the instructions warn against screwing it too tight lest the plastic break), and the handle itself was clearly loose. So. . .
I am returning it to Amazon (they have made this very easy, UPS will even pick it up from my home). In the meantime, I will be looking for a good quality stainless pressure cooker that is securely made, and doesn't come with "assembly required."
Customer Review: NEW FANGLED-GET USED TO IT
Summary: 4 Stars
I have used pressure cookers all my life. I mostly have the earlier style aluminum Prestos that I buy at garage sales for pennies. I decided I want a stainless one after fretting, unnessarily I might add,over acidic foods and aluminum ingestion.
I have 4qt, 6qt, and 12 qt cookers. I would have liked the 8 qt one but saw reviews complaining about the stubby handles and difficulty opening them. I had the same problem on a big canning Presto that I had to put in the log splitter to get open. Needless to say I no longer have that cooker. So I opted to try the 6 qt stainless one. The price is good at $44 I think it was to my door. Well, it is a bit new fangled with a semi hidden pop up/drop down pressure relief valve. You have to make sure and push down the valve or you cannot close the top. The same goes for opening it after cooking and cool down. I run mine under cold water to drop the pressure when I am ready to open up. Once one gets the hang of the new valve everything is OK. You may have to press down on the lid to close. The semi hidden pressure relief valve is visible at the base of the handle. If in the up, pressure position, it prohibits opening the lid via another gizmo that it prohibits from moving. On cool down if the relief valve does not drop down all the way of its own accord, you have to take a toothpick or something and make sure it is all the way down before the lid will open. Good cooker once one learns the ropes on it's use. Get one.
Customer Review: pressure cooker or crock pot?
Summary: 4 Stars
after months of debating, I finally decided to go with the pressure cooker. It's so fast, it didn't seem to matter what time I started my meals - they would be ready in less than an hour anyway. The reason I went with this one is sometimes I leave leftovers in it and don't want aluminum, it's easy to wash, no cords, can sautee and braise meat before cooking. So even though a crock pot has the convenience of no monitoring during cooking, the speed and versatility of the press cook got me and because it suits my schedule. Let's face it - it's just a pot with a tight lid, but man it can cook! I made a soup with beef shank and tendon and thought for sure it would take forever but NO! less than 15 min!! actually it took a bit longer than it had to because i was afraid to turn the heat up - I was worried it would explode and I had never used one before. But once I got the heat up and the top was rocking, it was done almost to soon- didn't get to finish my beer. the body is stainless and a decent gauge so no mystery there. the one problem I have is that the way the handles attach appears flimsy. Sometimes when I pick it up by the handle from the lower cupboard, the handle will twist. You can only tighten the screws but so much or else they'll strip so be careful. Would be nice to have a handle with steel inserts or some other sturdier material than just the same plastic as the handle. Overall, I'm happy with it. Killer app for soups!!Customer Review: avoid this rusty pot!
Summary: 1 Stars
I bought this exact model from Amazon in October 2005 and have cooked a few meals fine. I also use the pot to boil water and have noticed that each time I do so, a few more rust spots form, so now the "stainless steel" pot is rusted completely inside. I also use other stainless steel pots to boil water and they're all fine.
Another problem is that the pop-up thing in the lid gets stuck often and I have to tap it to get it to pop up. This issue is mentioned in the manual but that fact that it happens at all is a sign of poor design.
The pot is made in China. I recommend getting other similarly-priced but potentially better pots.
As a followup (3/8/2006), I returned the pot to Presto and they were very surprised by the rust and said they'd never seen anything that bad so they're sending out another one. I'll update this review with my experience with the new one.
As a followup #2 (5/16/2006), I got a second pot from Presto and the same thing happened. Rust all over the interior, just from boiling water. I'm hoping to get my money back.
Followup #3: Presto engineers contacted me and asked for a sample of my tap water to test. I sent them the sample but they never got back to me with the test results. Customer service did refund my money though, so that was nice. I suspect there might be something in our town's tap water that reacts with the pot.