HAWKINSHevibase Induction Compatible Pressure Cooker, 2 Litre, Silver (IH20)

bit old fashioned these days i suppose but still brilliant,beef joint 25 mins done

Excellent product

Lid is awkward until you get used to it.Otherwise fine.

I bought this after a friend, who swears by one, recommended that I buy one. He said that where he grew up (in India) his mother would not cook things according to a timer but by the number of ‘whistles’ - in other words, the number of times that the pressure builds up enough for steam to be ejected out of the spout at the top.This Hawkins pressure cooker is the OG of pressure cookers - easy to use, well made and safe to use if you follow the instructions. I recently cooked the black lentil dal recipe from the Dishoom cook book and was able to reduce my cooking time down from 4 hours on a normal hob to around 30-5 mins with this pressure cooker.For those worried about it being unsafe, the mechanism is simple: it is a basically a saucepan with a lid that you clip on and lock into place with a rubber gasket to provide a seal. The lid has a hole in the top with a little chimney spout for the steam to escape. There is also an emergency pressure release valve in case the main one fails. To help maintain the pressure a small weighted cap is rested over the ‘chimney’ on the lid. This way, once the pressure inside exceeds the pressure exerted by the weight of the lid, steam erupts out in an energetic fashion. Make sure there’s liquid inside the cooker otherwise the ingredients will burn, but take care not to overfill it otherwise the hot liquid will jet out of the top and make a mess/ could hurt someone.The one thing I would say is that the manufacturer’s instructions advise not washing it in a dishwasher but I have found that if you put it in soak immediately after use, leaving it for a few hours if necessary, you won’t need a dishwasher.Hope this helps.

Cook in a quarter of the time it take in an ordinary pan. Take a few trials to find the perfect timing for the ingredient you are cooking but once you have worked out the timing it's great. Would not be without it!

I am upgrading my initial 3 star review as the awkwardness of the opening and closing procedure has eased with experience. A second criticism was in it's use as a pressure cooker/steamer function as it seemed too small to take a steamer basket. I have managed to buy a 14cm steamer insert that just abut holds enough veg for one helping and now confirm, in my opinion, that for one person it is a fast and effective when used as a steamer.However given the size of the top opening I don't feel a larger capacity version would enable steaming for more than one person. Perhaps it should be bought provided with a steamer basket to make provision for a greater capacity.

These are good.

From last 6 months I'm using it. Till now no issues. Small size