Why Is Water Coming Out Of My Pressure Cooker?
Pressure cookers are meant to lock water and steam so that cooking can occur by using a pressurized force.
Water or steam should not be coming out of your pressure cooker, apart from a small amount from the valve. Too much steam leaking out can cause burns to the skin and prevent the appliance from building up enough pressure to cook food.
If you are using your pressure cooker and notice that water is coming out, it is more than likely that your pressure cooker has a leak that needs to be attended to as soon as possible.
Remember, it’s normal for some steam to escape from the vent, so this may not necessarily indicate a problem.
While pressure cookers are amazing tools that simplify a lot of your cooking for you, they are machines and are not indestructible, so you will still encounter problems from time to time that requires troubleshooting.
We’ll deal with the issue of leaking today.
When a pressure cooker leaks, this may be due to sudden damage, such as accidentally dropped or regular wear and tear.
This may result in you having to repair or replace parts or seal areas where the leakage is coming from to avoid further damage and ensure that the cooker continues to operate safely.
What Causes Leakage?
The first and most obvious question to your pressure cooker leaking is to ask why it is leaking in the first place.
The most common answer is an issue with the seal on the rim, which is also called the gasket. The pressure cooker rim is meant for sealing, but the seal can become damaged or worn out over time. This means you can no longer seal in the food and steam properly.
Below are some of the main causes of leakage in your pressure cooker:
- Damaged or worn gasket
- Improper installation of the gasket
- Dirty gasket
- Warped lid
- Damaged pot rim
- Bent handle latch
- Damaged O-rings in valve
How to Fix a Leaking Pressure Cooker
Once you’ve identified why your pressure cooker is leaking, you then need to fix the problem and stop the leaking. After that, you’ll be able to continue to use your pressure cooker without any further problems.
Below are some tips to help you fix your pressure cooker from home:
1. Gasket Leakage
- Visually check your gasket. Look for tears, holes, or built-up food particles. If it is damaged, you will need to replace the gasket.
- Gaskets are made of rubber or silicone, so they do eventually wear out or become torn. Your pressure cooker supplier should be able to help you with sourcing a new one.
- New gaskets are available online for under $20.
- If the gasket is just dirty, give it a good clean in cold, soapy water, re-install it, and see if this solves the problem. You could try rubbing a little oil around the gasket edge before reinserting it to create a better seal.
- Make sure that your gasket has been installed properly. Due to how they are manufactured, they are sometimes shipped inside-out.
- The notched side is supposed to match up with the lid’s lip. The notch in the gasket must be below the lid’s lip to seal properly.
- If you find it difficult to insert the gasket because it’s too tight, soak it in hot water first to make it more pliable.
- You can try storing your sealing gasket in the fridge between uses. Heat causes the gasket to expand and fit loosely around the pressure cooker lid’s rim. Chilling it allows the gasket to return to its original size.
2. Check for damage to the pot itself
Use a ruler to measure the diameter of the pressure cooker’s bottom in a few different places. All the measurements should be the same. In other words, the cooker should be round.
Even if the measurements differ by a small amount, the pressure cooker is warped and won’t seal properly. You should replace the dented pot.
3. Vent Leakage
If your vent pipes are leaking steam excessively, check if they have any build-up of food debris that may be causing the problem. The vent should also be cleaned after every use.
4. Worn O-rings on Valve
You may need to unscrew the valve and inspect the O-rings. If you’re not confident to do this yourself, contact the manufacturer’s service department.
5. Handle Leakage
If your latch handle is causing the leakage, you’ll need to replace the latch itself. This way, your pressure cooker can seal properly again.
There’s a metal hook on the handle’s front underside. If the metal has become misshapen, it cannot apply sufficient downward pressure on the lid and gasket to seal it well. This could be the cause of the leaking.
You can test this by pressing down on the two handles together. If the leak stops, you’ve found your problem. You could try to bend the latch back down to fix it.
6. Rim Leakage
If the leak is coming from the rim, replace the damaged rim and lid parts to solidify the sealing.
We hope our troubleshooting guide helps you to find and repair the cause of the leaking quickly. Good luck!