Test Drive Your Pressure Cooker

Why Should I do this? When you buy a new pressure cooker, or you're about to try pressure cooking for the first time, it's only natural to you want to taste the results of your efforts as soon as possible. However, if you'll take a few minutes to do a couple of test drives with your cooker you'll get to know how it works without risking your dinner. Test drives are even more important when you acquire a cooker without an owners manual. The test drive will give you some advance warning if there is a mechanical problem. Even if you are an experienced P/C cook, you'll want to know how that new cooker behaves on your stove. Good reasons for test driving!       A test drive will show you how your cooker reacts to your stove, how quickly it comes to pressure and how much heat is needed to maintain that setting. A test drive will give you the base settings and a good idea of how your cooker operates.  Although the times will vary depending on the foods you prepare, you will get an idea of the necessary heat settings needed to maintain the pressure.  The test drive is twice as important if you are trying out a second hand pressure cooker, or you have acquired one that came without an owners manual, or a manual that is written in a foreign language.

Here's How to Do the Test Drive

What You'll Need A watch, clock or timer with a second hand Measuring cup Water Pressure Cooker Note Pad and Pencil Before starting this test Examine the pressure cooker carefully. Make sure the seal or gasket is in good shape. If you need to replace the seal please do that before proceeding. Check that the vent is clear and the safety mechanisms available are in working order. Make sure the cooker is clean both inside and out.

Begin the Test

Begin by adding 2 cups of water to the pressure cooker and lock the lid in place. Bring to high pressure and as soon as your cooker reaches pressure adjust the heat to the lowest heat possible to maintain pressure. This stabilizes a the pressure setting you've selected. This might take several attempts before you find that right heat setting. Find more information on how to regulate pressure on jiggle top p-cookers. When the cooker maintains that pressure for 5 minutes make a note of the actual heat position of your stove using a piece of tape or one of those little colored sticky dots from the office supply store. Note how long it took to reach that setting. Repeat the process for the next pressure level if your cooker has more than one pressure setting. To determine how much water your cooker will vent when cooking foods with longer cooking times, like roasts or whole chickens,  repeat from above, but increase the time to 30 minutes. Use the cold water release and measure the water remaining in the cooker. You should have at least 1 cup of water for jiggle top cookers, and 1/2 cup water for 2nd generation cookers with spring loaded valves.

Common Problems

Pay close attention to any unusually loud sputter, hissing or large amounts of escaping steam. Steam escaping from any place other than the pressure regulator indicates a problem with the seal, blow-out plug or rubber parts or the vent or valve systems. All pressure cookers were designed so that the owner can easily replace the rubber parts. On ist generation or jiggle top cookers some water droplets may show around the vent during the first stage of cooking as the pot comes to full pressure, this is common and will stop once pressure is achieved. Water droplets spluttering around the vent may occur in the few moments just before pressure is reached, but should not persist. Sometimes the cooker will not come to pressure at all. In this case you should check all the seal or gasket, remove it and reset it and then try again. If the pot still is not coming to pressure check the rubber parts and make sure they are in good condition and replace any that show signs of wear, drying, cracking or splitting. Next examine the pressure system, including the vents, valves, regulator weight, and any quick release mechanism and make sure they are clean, open and in good condition, replacing parts as needed. If you have steam or water droplets playing around the rim of the cooker, under the lid, remove it from heat and immediately stop the cooking using the cold water release method to vent the cooker. Open the cooker and carefully examine the gasket for signs of wear and replace if needed. Check the lid  and bottom rim of the cooker for any signs of wear, warping, or other defects.  If the metal rims of the lid or bottom are damaged in anyway you should discard the cooker at once and not try to do some sort of home repair.  Certainly if there are any dents or bulges in the lid or bottom you should never use such a cooker.

Releasing Pressure

Try the Cold Water release method, and the Natural release method so you understand how these work on your model. If your cooker has a Quick release valve use this device to see how steam is vented.  Make a note of the time it take to perform these release methods. This will become important when you actually start cooking because your food is still cooking until the pressure has dropped and you have opened the cooker.  See more about how to release pressure.

Using Old Pressure Cookers

If you are attempting to resurrect a vintage pressure cooker follow my Ten Point Safety Check List before attempting to use any vintage or used pressure cooker.  Used pressure cookers often come with poor fitting seas that need to be replaced. Occasionally you will find seals that were added my some previous owner and were not made for that particular brand, or even home made seals. You should not attempt to use such a cooker until you have replaced the seals. Click here to find a list of suppliers for replacements parts.