Prestige Pressure Cooker 6l - Classic High Dome Pressure Cooker with Heat Resistant Locking Safety Handle, Grey

This is not my first pressure cooker, however, it has many benefits compared to some others you can buy:1. It is a lot lighter than stainless steel - this is quite significant, though of course if it is filled up to its limit the difference is obviously not as great.2. Most pressure cooker recipe books assume a high pressure of 15 psi, a lot of the domestic cookers available that I have come across these days, only achieve 12 psi, needing about 20% additional cooking time.3. Pressure is achieved by the old fashioned weight system, you do not have to keep an eye on coloured bands, it is either up to pressure or it isn't - simple.4. It comes with a simple bent wire trivet - not as good as my granny used to have but it does the job and the perforated steamer with dividers is actually quite good.5. The instruction book is also quite good and includes hints, useful info and some recipes that is enough to get you going and allow you to convert your favourite stews etc., to pressure cooking - it does far more than stews, but I found that they are good to start with.6. The pressure regulation sytem is far less fragile than on some other inexpensive pressure cookers.7. It is a fraction of the cost of most stainless steel cookers, and will cook at least as well if not better than most.The downsides:1. It is aluminium which is easier to damage than steel, putting away leaving water in the base will cause pitting for instance, avoided by drying it.2. It may stain - but this can be cleaned off.3. It has to be hand washed.4. There is no pressure quick release, you use the cold water method.There may be other pros & cons, but these stick out. I also have WMF stainless steel cookers which I also recommend, but are far more expensive and heavy, but the base and lid minus the handle are dishwasher safe. Both designs do the job - what more can you ask.

Works great

Overall well constructed (although the main body IS much lighter weight wise than earlier models and I did have to tighten up the screws holding the handles to the main aluminium body)and easy to use.However - One annoying difference from the earlier model I had for years is that the trivet is now only a "V" shaped piece of strong wire instead of the old flat circular trivet designed to sit raised off the base of the main body. I think this is a retrograde step from Prestige, and I'm sure I am not alone in thinking this. This is why I have only given the item 4 stars instead of 5.Pressure is achieved by the old fashioned straightforward weight system.However in the older version of this pressure cooker one had to wait for the steam to come through the centre hole before putting on the weights, and then one would have a good old fashioned gentle hissing/"bubbling" sound proclaiming it was up to/maintaining pressure.In this current model the weights have to go on straightaway before pressure is achieved, and it isn't always clear if the required pressure has been achieved.The instruction "book" is rather mediocre and cheap looking but does include hints, useful info and some recipes that are enough to get you going.Note - Remember to only clean the main body with hot soapy water, and the inside of the main body will remain clean and untarnished.... do not scour as this will cause pitting of the aluminium.

A good quality item that was delivered earlier than due date however the lid is difficult to fit . I think this small problem will sort itself with use..

I wanted one to cook rice and veggies and this fits the bill perfectly. I have had this for 6 months now and it works fine. Because it is a bit heavy, which it has to be if its going to steam cook for you, it takes some effort to clean. You just need to have about 250ml water inside the vessesl and allow it to cook under pressure for 25-30mins and then let it cool down for another 15 mins, then your rice, dal and vaggies are cooked to perfection. Of course you will need those extra pans to put your rice, veggies etc., but if only rice you don't need separate pan, you can directly cook in the cooker. Allow 3/4 whistles for soft white rice and dal cooking and do not remove the lid immediately after switching off the stove, it has to cool down for 20mins because it is still cooking even after you switch off for sometime.

This was bought to replace my 89-years-old mother's smaller and heavier, 60+ years old, Prestige High Dome Pressure Cooker - a wedding present in 1949 - which finally fell apart. Although it still worked, the handle had fallen off making it unsafe to use. My mother won't be using it, but my sister and I cook our mother's meals in it ready for or pureeing and freezing, in bulkI wash, and cut up anything and everything into 1-2" cubes - meat, onions, swede, sweet potato, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, etc. and throw them all in the cooker together.... with the skin/peel still on (all but the onion),plus the stalks, as most of the goodness is in the vegetable skins. I usually fill it almost to the top with the raw food as, being mostly water, the vegetables quickly reduce down under pressure (if you're not familiar with a pressure cooker follow the instructions, as overfilling is not advised). However, I counteract that by adding liquid to less than the halfway mark, and then I add 3-4 stock cubes. More water can be added after cooking, but it's difficult to remove it if there's too much!It all takes just minutes to cook, and then it's ready for liquidising or pureeing. This is just one of many, many, ways of using a pressure cooker - baby food can be prepared in bulk in exactly the same way. If the vegetables are not being pureed, I do peel them, and cut them into smaller chunks for stews, or for partially blending toddler food. Pressure cookers are great for making rice pudding, soups, and more. I have the same model in my own home, and I even cook my dog's food in it. I was brought up with a pressure cooker, and could never be without one.