Kuhn Rikon Efficient Pressure Cooker

This is not your grandmother's pressure cooker. After two generations of busy cooks employed pressure cookers to prepare family meals, the next generation with memories of valves dancing and hissing on stove-tops then snubbed pressure cookers. Now pressure cookers have come back, those old valves replaced by modern versions that ensure safety while delivering the speed, ease, and nutritional benefits of pressure cooking. This heavyweight 18/10 stainless-steel beauty is a fine example of contemporary engineering and style. Its mirror finish gleams, and its black handles stay cool. Its spring valve doesn't hiss unless too much steam has built up and the heat needs turning down. Two other valves offer backup safety, and the top automatically locks until all pressure has been released. Pressure-cooking traps steam to heat foods at temperatures higher than boiling. This cooker has an aluminum disk sandwiched by stainless steel in its base to speed the process even more through fast heat conductivity. Little water is required, so nutrients, flavor, and color are not boiled away. At 9.75 inches diameter and 3 inches deep, this 2-1/2-liter (2.65-quart) cooker resembles a deep frying pan. A waffle pattern on the bottom releases food quickly after browning. Cleanup is a bit involved: hand wash the cooker, rubber gasket, and lid with a mild detergent; lightly oil the gasket. Minor cleaning inconvenience, however, should not overshadow the major convenience of pressure cooking. Accompanying the cooker is a 92-page pressure-cooking recipe booklet. --Fred Brack

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