Fagor Splendid 4-Quart Pressure Cooker

Major Flaw, Warranty is a Sham
If you intend to use this cooker every Thanksgiving holiday or something it'll suffice, but it is not worthy of regular usage. It a has flaw that will eventually cause it to fail and don't expect satisfaction from the warranty.

The purple plastic piece, that locks the handle on, sits on the rim of the pot and is directly exposed to the high heat and pressure. Over several years of moderate usage--Once every week or two for about 15 minutes under pressure at the lowest possible heat to maintain pressure--this piece melted and deformed. Finally the unit, no longer able hold pressure, ceased to function.

Though the warranty says "This pressure cooker is guaranteed to free from defects in material" I was very frustrated in dealing with this company in seeking redress. I suppose they do not have a real warranty, it seems to be just a sales hook. The person I dealt with was idiotic. This company showed to me that they are not interested in taking care of their...

A Quicker Cooker
1. Cooking with a pressure cooker

Think of a pressure cooker as a crock pot on steroids. The increased pressure inside the sealed vessel results in an elevated boiling point, producing a higher cooking temperature for faster cooking. The standard pressure for these cookers is 15 psi, raising the boiling point from 212f to 250f. Current design features considerably improve the safety of these pots over WWII vintage kitchen bombs.

Pressure cookers are perfect for pot roasts, stews, soups, stocks and long-simmering sauces, reducing cooking times by as much as seventy percent. Beans cook faster in a pressure cooker, although their soaking time is unaffected. Rice will cook faster, too, although the convenience of a dedicated rice cooker is beyond dispute.

Some pressure cookers let users select a second, lower pressure setting (8 psi, bp @ 215f), which yields considerably less accelerated cooking. Why slow down a high-speed cooker? Because some foods,...

High Quality
This is the first Fagor product I've purchased and am exceedingly pleased with the quality. I own a few pieces of Le Creuset cookware and have been spoiled by their super-high quality. This Fagor product definitely matches up. The construction is flawless, the design intelligent and easy to use, and the appearance beautiful.

I was debating whether to trust my instincts and buy the 4-qt. model, or to buy the 6- or 8-qt. model that seem much more popular. I intend to use the cooker primarily for quickly cooking whole grains, such as wild rice, for my girlfriend and I after work when we want to eat healthy, high fiber food but don't have the patience to wait an hour for normal cooking time. I was leaning toward the 4-qt. model because it costs less than the larger models and also cooks faster, because the smaller internal volume can be brought up to cooking pressure more quickly than a larger pot.

I purchased the 4-qt. model and it seems to be the perfect size...

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