Kuhn Rikon Duromatic Inox Stainless Steel Pressure Cooker with Long Handle, 5 Litre / 22 cm

This is my first pressure cooker. My wife has always had them, but when I showed an interest in using hers, as a vegetarian, she banned me cooking meat in it. So, I looked to see what was available in a size that would suit just me for a single meal and this was the smallest I could find.

Pressure cookers are the titans of cookware, and this small one is still a big pan compared to normal saucepans. As such it is big enough to make, say, a curry for four people. It is probably too small however to use pot-in-pot methods, when you say, put some rice and water inside a bowl in the cooker. It feels well made, is straightforward in how it works and is easy to clean, even when the pressure valve gets full of food that you shouldn’t have tried cooking in there, or had overfilled it.

The pan has allowed me to move confidently into the world of pressure cooking, and I use it regularly. It is especially good for things like curries or chillies that traditionally taste better the next day. Not…

Good quality built, small but big enough for 2.

This is the first Pressure Cooker I use, because I’ve been scared of the old style pressure cooker in the 80s. I thought it would be difficult to use, how wrong was I, it is very easy – the user manual is well written, how to use it and also giving guide times for different ingredients.

So far I’ve cooked different vegetables – potatoes, carrots, kale, broccoli, etc; and find that the veg are softer than I would like, so I jotted down less time on the manual so the next time they were perfect for me. I’ve also cooked oxtail, chicken and beef joint, and very happy with the result.

I am particularly happy with how much faster it cooks compared to normal or slow cooking. I’ve saved time as well as money as I use less gas for my cooking. I should’ve used this pressure cooker years ago!

I have since bought a larger (28cm 8ltr) Kuhn Rikon to cook larger meals.

One niggle – It’s a bit difficult to keep this beauty spotless, but I still give it 5…

I bought the 3.5l version for the stove on the boat, it’s exactly the same diameter of base to the kettle so the pan restraints don’t have to be moved! The p.cooker is easy to use and easy to clean, I have made a lovely tagine in about 1 hour starting from scratch. iI’s great to have a lovely warm meal when it’s gone wet windy and cold; made in much the same time as heating up some ‘cans of’. It also makes great marmalade! I am so impressed with it! So unlike the aluminium p.cookers I have used in the past.

I have three pressure cookers over the past 20 years (all still in use), but this is by far the best (although priciest). The gasket is very soft, and after five years it still stays like that, while the Tefal one went stiff and lost air-tightness after only 1.5 years. Another advantage of Kuhn Rikon over Tefal is that the gasket does not smell. The build of the lid is also superior. There are very few places to trap or lose steam, so it is far more energy efficient, and less liquid is lost. Being Swiss made, it is not only sleek but beautifully engineered. The only gripe I have is that it does not go into the dishwasher.