Vasconia 6 Quart Aluminum Pressure Cooker

My new friend in the kitchen
Bought two of these beauties, and couldn't be more pleased. I'm thinking about throwing away most of my other pots and pans. They seem to be well made, and are loaded with safety features: locking handle when under pressure, pressure relief valves, and a little window that the gasket covers which acts as a fail safe if the pressure gets too high. I think these are the greatest things since remote control for the TV! The kids say the pressure cookers make the best food they have ever had! I tell them it is really the cook. Forget the knife, roasts are so tender all you need is a fork. They work great on my indoor flat top electric range and my outdoor gas range. One negative - they aren't supposed to be stored with the lid in place. Apparently it is not good for the gasket. This is probably true for all pressure cookers that have a gasket. Forget the cookers with gauges, the weight is worth its weight in gold - well maybe silver. Enjoy!

Works except the safety guard requires "fiddling"
Generally, this unit works. I'm no expert pressure cook, but in the few times I've used this I've enjoyed the results. The cooker is simple to use.

However, I have one problem. When the lid is locked, there's a pin that slides in the handle, pulling back a guard that lets a plunger pop up when under pressure. This plunger creates the seal needed to increase the pressure. This is a safety mechanism to make sure the lid is in the proper position.

However, the plunger never just pops into the opening and seals the pot because the guard never quite moves back all the way. Instead, I need to get a wire-like device to insert into the hole, and push the guard back so the plunger can pop up. It's not a big deal, but I shouldn't have to do this.

Just OK
This pressure cooker is fine but is my first. There was pressure cooker information I was unaware of before making my purchase. The sad truth is that my #1 choice was about $200.00. Trying to be reasonable I bought this one instead along with a pressure cooker cookbook. It was in the cookbook that I learned that this "type" is the classic pressure cooker from days gone. The $200 cooker is one of the new generation cookers which are getting all they hype.

I had a few minor problems using this the first time but was able to figure out how to jiggle things around to get them to work properly. I will continue to use it as it works just fine but when it's time for a new one I'll go for a new generation cooker.

Note: This cooker does not come with an insert for steaming, etc. I had to roll up a "tube" of aluminum foil and shape it into a spiral to put in the bottom of the cooker with water. I set a stainless steel bowl on top of that aluminum foil tube/spiral,...

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