Fagor Splendid 2-in-1 5 Piece Pressure Cooker Set Thursday, November 27, 2008

Pressure cooking reduced cooking time up to 70%, just imagine what you could be doing instead of laboring over the stove! Pressure cooking requires no added oil, seals in nutrients, and maintains natural flavors and textures, making it a healthy choice. And finally it's easy, just load the ingredients, seal the lid, select the pressure, and begin cooking. Have Steamed Lobster in 3 minutes, Cioppino in 5 minutes, Risotto in 7 minutes, or Vegetable Medley in 2 minutes.
Customer Review: Ideal sizes, saves more time than energy
I'm very happy with my pressure cookers, purchased a few months ago. I agonized over whether to purchase the 4 quart or 6 quart model, as I wanted both to be able to cook small amounts (e.g. 2 cups of rice) for small meals and larger amounts for dinner parties. This combination set is perfect, as it allows me to do both, without buying two lids and gaskets, and for considerably less than the cost of buying the two separately. I've made batches of beans and grains in the 4-quart pot, and a variety of soups in the 6 quart pot. It's also been great for cooking winter squash in just a few minutes. The pressure cooker is easy to use and easy to clean (& I'm new to pressure cooking), and thus far the gasket has sealed with relative ease. The steaming basket and flimsy trivet aren't ideal, but this is a minor complaint. I had hoped to save on my energy bill by pressure cooking - since food cooks in a fraction of the time, it should only use a fraction of the electricity / gas. I can't say that I've noticed any changes to my electric bill though, because it turns out that energy use for cooking is a relatively small part of overall energy use. According to Natural Resources Canada (from whom information happened to be conveniently available) the average household with an electric stove uses about 775 KWH (kilowatt hours) of electricity for the stove per year. At $0.12 per KWH, that would amount to about $95. Fagor claims that a pressure cooker reduces energy use by 70%. Assuming that you'll actually pressure cook one-fourth of what you cook on a stove-top that would mean that your average yearly savings would be $95*1/4*0.70, or about $17. Given that the pressure cooker set costs currently about $120, that means it would take about 7 years to recoup your investment in terms of energy savings (this would change a bit if you take into account that in winter the extra heat from cooking helps to heat the house, and in summer you have to pay twice, once to heat the stove and once to re-cool the kitchen). If you buy a new gasket every couple of years, it come out nearly even. In conclusion, my pressure cookers have allowed me to eat more healthy foods - whole grains, legumes and winter squashes - without spending all day cooking. For that it's a good investment, but not so much to save energy.
Customer Review: Not My Mother's Pressure Cooker, Unfortunately
I grew up using my mother's old Presto, and was really excited to see what the 21st century brought in the way of pressure cooking. This Fagor set is not at all what I hoped for. Main problem is, I have NO idea how to tell when optimum pressure has been reached, and whether it is being maintained. There is no rocker, just a valve that sputters off and on. I have burned everything I have tried to make. This is very frustrating, as I am an old pro at pressure cooking. The lid is hard to get on and seal. Last night was the last straw. I somehow got the lid jammed on incorrectly and the steam was leaking out the side. It took my husband pounding on the handle with a hammer to get the stupid thing to come off. From the pictures of the new Fagor pressure cookers, it looks like they may have solved the pressure problem with a pop-up button, but I think I am going back to Presto.