Kuhn Rikon 7-Liter Stainless-Steel Pressure Cooker

This is my first pressure cooker, and as much as I hate clichés, all I can say is "Patience is a virtue!" I learned very quickly that technique is just as important with a pressure cooker as with any other method and you must learn to adapt to the characteristics of your cook top. I hit my first snag with a beef stew that scorched. Then I did some research on the Internet and found tips for using the pressure cooker with electric burners. I tried again and made drastic improvements. I have used it four times now with amazing results. Each use brings valuable experience and improved technique. I have always considered myself a good cook, and so have the people who have tasted my cooking, but I have never received so many rave reviews.

If I could rate this item higher than 5 stars I would (for its premium quality, and for what it's done for my cooking reputation). So if at first you don't succeed, learn how to use it properly before you give it away!


My first pressure Cooker...   October 24, 2002
 35 out of 40 found this review helpful

I enjoy a nice home cooked meal; but with work demands and church and civic duties, instead I find many times eating either a sandwich or a leftover meal from the weekend dinner or going out to eat.

When Amazon had this Kuhn Rikon pressure cooker on the GOLD BOX, I thought I would make a quick research since I was ignorant of the name of Kuhn Rikon.With the dreams of a 15 mins stew and 45 mins soup, I decided to plunge into the world of pressure cooker and ordered right on the spot.

My first meal was Beef Stew. I tried to follow the recipe but I did not have some of the ingredients so I modified it and made my own style.

I was surprised that the instruction said to brown the meat in olive oil and also to brown the onions that I chopped and I also browned the potatoes that I peeled and cut to pieces.I added Italian spices and some pinch of Hungarian spices and etc. I thought you just added raw food in there and set it and forget it !! Well I thought wrong !!

So I found that when they say it takes 15 mins to cook a stew, they forgot to include the time it takes to brown the meat, to peel potatoes and cut to pieces, to chop the onions, to get the stock...and about that fresh sprigs of rosemary ? Well... sorry I have the dry rosemary and dry it has to be for now !! So... it did take me much longer than the 15 mins it was advertised...More like 90 mins total from the time I chopped to the time I spooned the stew to the bowl; which is NOT BAD considering that cooking a stew usually takes hours and hours !! But one needs to be realistic that it is NOT one of those things you can throw things into it and voila a dinner in 15 mins !! Maybe like in one hour or so.

The important thing is the result, right ?? Well.. it was awesome !! The stew was just flavorful and full of complexity given by the spices and paprika and the fresh celery and fresh sweet red pepper and sweet orange pepper. The beef just melted in your mouth. The potatoes were cooked just right and most were melted into the stew giving it the nice hearty thick consistency and this was achieved without using flour !! Normally you coat the beef in flour and then fry and cook it in stew and that thickens the stew. Of course you have this sticky mess to clean up in the pan.The recipe says you can buy the cheap Select Grade meat in your supermarket and the pressure cooking will tenderize the meat. I bought the Choice Grade from [store] and no question it was the tenderest thing I had in a long time using this pressure Cooker.Several people tried this stew and they were amazed at the result. They want a pressure cooker !!

The instruction from the recipe says to use the pressure cooker to fry meats and onions first. Well, my experiences in the past of frying in stainless steel was that it creates stain that is hard to clean and I did not want to stain this lovely high precision cookware so I decided I would fry them in the non stick coated anodized cookware that I had and then transfer them to the hot liquids in the pressure cooker as indicated in the instructions and then cover the lid. Non stick cookware is much easier to clean up and then I will preserve the beauty of the stainless steel Kuhn Rikon as long as I can !!

Oh yes, you cannot leave this thing unattended... you have to watch it. Make sure the proper pressure is attained and mantained.


Oh Well ...   October 18, 2002
 18 out of 22 found this review helpful

Well, I was very exited when this appeared in my Gold Box and purchased immediately! The Mercedes Benz of Pressure Cookers! Unfortunately, as a PC novice, I found it very difficult to regulate the pressure on my electric cooktop and was never really sure if there was "excessive hissing" or not. Decided to send to my mom (a PC expert) in hopes she'll have better luck. Also found the tall shape awkward to work with - had to use BBQ tools to reach all the way in.


THE BEST!   October 15, 2002
 10 out of 12 found this review helpful

I have used many cookers and this is the best of all!.
Simply great and it is an asset, do not get cheated by
the cheaper priced cooker. GOOD FOR ALL COOKING.