Kuhn Rikon DUROMATIC® Pressure Cooker 8.75” 6.3 qt family of 4 with side handles to save space

This is the best pressure cooker I've ever had. The thick, heavy bottom makes it difficult to burn anything. the visual and auditory feedback it gives at the different pressure levels is indispensable. The fact it uses a fraction of the energy to cook things versus a normal pot is just icing on the cake.When the pressure is first building up, and you close the cover, the spring loaded indicator rod in the middle is down all the way. As pressure builds up, you can hear an increasingly loud sound as steam starts to get past it, until you hear a quiet "flump," which is when the pressure has become strong enough to cause the indicator valve to close and this rod to start to protrude from the cover. There is almost no noise at all until you get to the first red ring on the indicator (1/2 atmosphere extra pressure), and at that point there is a subtle change and you can hear an extremely quiet hissing sound. When it reaches the 2nd ring (one atmosphere extra pressure), this hissing increases ever so slightly. If you are going over the pressure level that is indicated by the 2nd ring, the hissing increases in intensity and urgency. as the pressure continues to increase, if you haven't attended to it, the hissing becomes more and more loud as one safety feature after another of the many that this pot has, starts to engage.All this feedback makes it very easy both visually and by sound to know exactly what's going on. That being said, when the pot is in normal operation, it is very quiet, and there is almost no smell of the cooking food at all. There are only tiny occasional very subtle wisps of steam. The vast majority of the steam stays in the pot.One other nice feature of the indicator knob is that you could pull it up before it would have closed by itself, thus closing it and capturing enough steam to allow it to engage immediately.If you press it down, while under pressure, steam rapidly escapes, but immediately stops if you let it go... this is a great feature, because it allows you to smell the food inside, using a puff of steam, that gives you an instant indication on how cooked the food is. This essential feedback saves a lot of time that would have to be spent taking down all the pressure, opening the pot, and seeing what's going on.So when I'm caramelizing bananas, carrots, or apples, a whiff of that puff of steam gives me an instant reading on how much longer I have to go for.Did I mention how fast things cook in the duramatic? many times faster than normal. I have even used this pot to make pasta in about 1-2 minutes, which is really cool.When it's time to depressurize the pot, you can either turn off the heat and let it slowly cool, or you can bring it to the sink and run cold water around the sides, which rapidly relieves the pressure. Again, the terrific indicator is with you all the way, as you can see it going down, and there is a loud sigh of steam that comes out of it when the pressure has become low enough for you to be able to open the pot. By the way, I suggest getting the pot under the turned-on vent hood for opening, because a bunch of steam will come out as you remove the cover.I had taken all of these features for granted, sort of like the way a BMW owner gets to commune with the road in ways a chevy owner could never comprehend, so I bought a supposedly high quality competing brand, just to see how that went. On the competing brand, there was an indication of pressure, but their indicator was not designed to be pulled up and so that really nice feature about allowing it to engage earlier than normal was missing. I had taken that for granted and didn't realize how much I used it... These other pots also consistently burned stuff I had... I cannot say why that is, but I guess the engineers who designed the other one just weren't as good as the ones at Kuhn Rikon.

Es una olla de presión muy silenciosa comparada con otras que he tenido la de 6 es perfecta para 3 personas y sobra para el dia siguiente bonito diseño y como dije importante el sonido no es fuerte muy buena. Los líquidos se conservan en la olla

We purchased this to replace a decent, less expensive pressure cooker when it started having issues sealing and holding pressure. We had had mixed experiences with the first one and had problems with burning on the bottom, but the convenience of pressure cooking was appealing so we decided to try another one. This pressure cooker has been absolutely wonderful. We have had no problems with things burning, even cooking a lentil and barley veggie stew that ALWAYS burned in the cheaper cooker. I believe the construction of this cooker helps distribute the heat better, and it seems easier to regulate the pressure. My husband loves the quick pressure release, just press the button on the top down and watch the steam come out! Our other one had a quick release too, but this one is more fun to use.It is perfect for cooking for the two of us and having leftovers for lunch. In addition to the dish above, we have made fantastic beef stews (multiple recipes). Just brown the beef in the pressure cooker, then sweat the veggies, add the beef back in with some potatoes and liquid of your choice and pressurize! The meat is flavorful and you can break it up easily with a fork even using the standard stew beef from the market.I was hesitent to spend this much on a pressure cooker since we don't use it that much. But it appears to be the model used on some of the shows on the food network with top notch chefs (the style is pretty distinct, so I am pretty sure it is the same), and we wanted a quality product as I am a little nervous about hot things under pressure. After almost a year there are no problems. It seems like it will last for a long time, and I can't wait to try it out on the induction range we are getting this winter.I would not hesitate to recommend this to anyone looking for a quality pressure cooker. It does have some specific storage recommendations to ensure the gasket remains functional, but as long as you read and follow the easy directions you should have no problems. The recommendations are pretty standard for pressure cookers from what I have seen.UPDATE: Still loving this item! And it works beautifully with the induction range. Btw, induction is absolutely awesome and we highly recommend that too.

A finely made Swiss pressure cooker that should last forever. The two stage pressure valve let's one choose between 5.8 and 11.6 psi.A couple of warnings:1. The lid fits only 1 way. I marked the handles with a small dot to show how the lid lines up with the pot.2. The valve is too sensitive a part. I did not use the cooker for about a year and the valve leaked. The pot would not come up to pressure. I tightened the nut to the valve but this did not help. I then took the valve off the lid and washed it in case there was food or dried matter in it. There was none. I did notice a little crust of minerals under the valve on the inside of the lid. I washed this off. After re-assembly the pot came up to pressure.I believe 2 things were going on. First there was the crust of minerals from where the hard water evaporated under the valve. The rubber gasket could not seal properly because of this crust.Second, the rubber gasket of the valve was dry when I first used it. By washing the valve the rubber rehydrated a little and became more pliable.In the future I will take this valve apart and scrupulously clean the surfaces on the valve and on the lid where it seats. I will also let it soak in water for a few minutes to let the rubber rehydrate.A warning on tightening the valve. It should be a little more than hand tight but not over tightened or the rubber gasket will deform too much.I hope the above saves someone sending their cooker back for repairs when it is just a finicky valve.