Presto 6-Quart Stainless Steel Pressure Cooker | 
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| Brand: Presto
Category: Kitchen
List Price: $74.99
Buy New: $43.99
You Save: $31.00 (41%)
New (25) Used (1) from $43.99
Rating:  202 reviews
Sales Rank: 156
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Number Of Items: 1
Batteries Included: No
Shipping Weight (lbs): 8.2
Dimensions (in): 19 x 9.9 x 9.8
Warranty: 1
MPN: 01362
Model: 307912
UPC: 075741013626
EAN: 0075741013626
ASIN: B00006ISG6
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 3 to 5 weeks
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| Features:
| • | Heavy-duty 6-quart stainless steel pressure cooker | | • | Comfortably ergonomic, stay-cool black plastic handles | | • | Strong-lock lid with steam vent, pressure indicator and overpressure plug | | • | Comes with rack for steaming food or for canning | | • | 17 by 8-1/2 inches; 12-year warranty |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
6-Quart Stainless Steel Pressure Cooker Perfect for today's lifestyle! Cooks three to ten times faster than ordinary methods, faster than a microwave for many foods. Cover lock indicator shows at a glance if there is pressure inside the cooker. Bimetal-clad base provides fast, even heat distribution. Gleaming stainless steel body ensures lasting beauty and easy cleaning. Includes cooking rack and complete instruction/recipe book. Extended 12-year limited warranty. 6-Quart Liquid Capacity (5.7 Liters).
Amazon.com Review
Pressure cookers have experienced renewed popularity over the last several years because cooks have rediscovered what some cooks (particularly grandmas) have known for a long time--they're really fast. And it's easy to cook healthfully with pressure cookers, since the food retains so much more of its nutrients and flavor. Presto's 6-quart stainless steel pressure cooker is a multi-purpose pot that can stand in as a conventional soup pot as well as perform the kitchen magic that pressure cookers are famous for. Chicken Cacciatore cooks in 8 minutes! This professional-quality stainless steel pressure cooker is a handy addition to any well-rounded set of kitchen tools. The heavy-duty lid locks down during cooking; an inner sealing ring keeps the steam in. In addition to a pop-up pressure indicator and a simple steam release mechanism, there is an overpressure plug that will let off steam if it builds up excessively. This pressure cooker is useful for weeknight dinners or for any meal that needs to come together quickly. An accompanying booklet contains more than 65 recipes, ranging from basic soup stocks to stews and pot roasts--even desserts like 5-minute custards! Tenderize lean cuts of beef or pork; or cook chicken, fish, or vegetables faster than you can in a microwave, and without losing moisture. Nonabrasive cleansers are best for cleaning this stainless steel pressure cooker, though occasional use of a fine metal polish will help the exterior keep its shine. The Presto 6-quart pressure cooker is fully immersible; in addition, the sealing ring should be removed after each use to allow cleaning of the inside rim of the lid. The vent pipe is simple to keep clean with a small brush or pipe cleaner, and both the air vent/cover lock and the overpressure plug are removable. The pressure cooker measures 9 inches in diameter (17 inches including handles) and 8-1/2 inches tall (including lid). Presto guarantees this pressure cooker with an extended 12-year warranty. A detailed instruction and recipe booklet is included; special safety issues that pertain to pressure cookers are clearly explained. --Garland Withers
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| Customer Reviews: Read 197 more reviews...
 good October 15, 2003
184 out of 190 found this review helpful
This is nothing fancy, but it works wery well. Replacemenat parts are easy to buy. You can't open it if it's under pressure because it has a lock by the handle (safety feature). Actually I think it's very safe as it has other features as well.
I think one of the most important things to look for is what it's made of (after safety of course!). This is stainless steel which is good because you don't want aluminum (aluminum will stain and get eaten away with acidic food such as vinegar or lemon juice...).
Another thing to consider is that it takes time to heat up and cool down so even though all pressure cookers say it takes a lot less time to cook, they don't take the heat-up cool-down time into consideration, even though they are correct about the actual cooking time.
Good pressure cooker.
EDIT
In 2007, I bought a Kuhn-Rikon pressure cooker and I'm even more pleased with that.
It's quite a bit more expensive (4-7 times?) but a *lot* quieter as it relies on an internal spring to maintain pressure as opposed to gravity for the Presto. The Kuhn-Rikon also allows less water to escape. I keep both of them but I haven't used the presto for 4 months now. Considering I bought the Presto in 1999, it's amazing that it works perfectly even though it got heavy use. I even put the rubber seal and the lid in the dishwasher every time and it still held up. It's my backup cooker now as I can't let go of something that still works fine.
great value, sturdy cooker May 14, 2006
77 out of 77 found this review helpful
I bought this cooker 6 months ago from amazon for $35, and frankly, although the reviews I read on this product all said that it's great, I was very skeptical about the $35 price tag and was not expecting much. On top of that, both my mother and my mother-in-law warned me that cheap pressure cookers are dangerous, and I *must* buy something more expensive for safety reasons. I am just very glad that they were both wrong!
This is definitely one of the best purchases I have made on amazon. I still cannot believe they sell this for $35! The pot does not feel cheap at all. It has very sturdy handles, and a thick, heavy bottom, which holds in heat well. I like this pan so much that sometimes I use it instead of my skillet to sautee meat, because of the deeper pot + the cover, less cleaning up for me :-)
I love making soup and stock, but it usually takes up so much of my time when the stock is simmering. With this pressure cooker, I can make a meat-fall-off-the-bone soup in an hour!
Some might find this pot to be a little on the small side, but this pot works great for my wife and I. Although we have guests over regularly, I find the capacity of the pot to be very good. I would guess that this pot would work well for up to a 4-person family.
Pros:
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- Cheap, at $35, it's hard to beat
- Sturdy, I was afraid that the plastic handles would break easily, but they are in fact quite strong
- Stainless steel makes it great for browning meat pieces for stew or stock, and it heats up fast and holds heat well.
- Safe, you cannot open it when it's pressurized.
- Dish washer safe, though I prefer to wash it by hand.
Cons:
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- The handle can be tricky to hold with one hand. My hands are small, and when you've closed the top, the handle is kind of big. Luckily, I don't need to do this very often, and when I need to move it around, I just use both handles.
- The top cap can be tricky to clean. I usually soak it in hot soapy water, and then clean it thoroughly with Q-tip.
Watch outs:
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- The handle curves in a way that it catches any dripping liquid, I've hurt myself once when I wasn't careful at opening the cover.
- Do *NOT* remove the cap while it's blowing! The steam from inside is extremely hot and as soon as you remove the cap, the hot steam will shoot up faster than you can move your hand(s) away.
Tips:
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- I keep some water bottles in my freezer, and when I need to cool this off in a hurry, I can make a bath of cold water in my sink, put the hot pot inside, and throw the froze water bottles in. This usually cools it down very fast, great when I want to refrigerate it overnight to skim off the fat, and didn't want to wait too long for it to cool down.
Finally, a really good pressure cooker! June 11, 2007
15 out of 15 found this review helpful
I've owned 3 pressure cookers over the years, and all of them suffered from locking mechanisms that wouldn't actuate and let steam blast through until you shook the pots or pounded them with spoons to get them to actuate. But this cooker has a responsive mechanism that vents the air out and then actuates reliably as soon as the pressure begins to build up.
Beyond that, it's well-built, with a thick bottom to distribute heat and resist heat distortion. I expect this cooker to last longer than I will.
If you're uncertain about whether you should own a pressure cooker, here's my opinion: pressure cooking is the best way to cook vegetables, including potatoes, and the best way to cook rice, beans, or rice-and-beans. It's good for cooking hamburger for meat sauce, because there's no smoke and the grease drips into the cooker where it's easy to clean as long as the cooker is warm. There are some cool things you can do with chicken and it's an easy way to make puddings. I prefer the cooker for heating leftovers because they come out as if they're freshly cooked instead of dry and unevenly heated like you get from microwaves.
Thank you, Presto!
$40 Presto or $200 Kuhn Rikon? November 23, 2007
13 out of 13 found this review helpful
Get the Presto. They're all the same. It's a simple design, a pot and lid. I've been using them for 20 years and the expensive ones are no better than the Presto- Only an amateur cook would believe different. The Prestos cook just as good and just as fast as the Rikons. My kitchen is filled with the best and most expensive equipment money can buy, but when it comes to pressure cookers, it's not like other cookware where you "get what you pay for." They're all the same (although I don't recommend the electric ones as they have a tendency to break down). Save your money for the good espresso maker... don't waste it on expensive pressure cookers. Get the Presto.
What a Wonderful Addition to my Kitchen!! January 14, 2006
12 out of 12 found this review helpful
Oh,how I wish I hadn't waited so long to try Pressure Cooking! My mother instilled so much fear in me about using a pressure cooker that I didn't even want to try it until a friend finally convinced me. Now I'd absolutely hate to be without this fast and safe way to cook.
My first experiment was a recipe for Chicken Cacciatore. Three pounds of chicken cooked for 10 minutes (at 6000' altitude) and was fork-tender and delicious. My next endeavor was a ham and bean soup, which cooked for 35 minutes without having to presoak the beans, and it turned out perfectly. Beans were completely cooked but not mushy. Next came a pot roast with potatoes, which cooked for 45 minutes starting partially frozen, and was perfect. Then tried a chicken with plum sauce--again a nine-minute success. Most recently we tried pasta with meat sauce, which was a delicious one-pot meal ready in 7 minutes cooking time.
I love this Presto model cooker, because it has all the safety features, but still allows careful monitoring of the"jiggle top", and allows me to judge how fast the dish is cooking. This is a heavy and well-built unit. The safety precautions are easy, and are fully described in the accompanying manual.
I also recommmend Lorna Sass' book "Pressure Perfect", for beginners. This book is a well-written primer on pressure cooking, with recipes that are reliable and carefully written. The recipes have a degree of creativity, but are all things that "real people" eat.
Happy cooking!
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