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Comment by moonka | Hacker News Reader

>In the U.S., for years there was an irrational fear of pressure cookers exploding so they never really caught on until the Instapot came along (which some people don't realize is a pressure cooker). The fact is, pressure cooker tech is very old and remarkably safe. It's been "beta-tested" by millions of people in India.

I have a feeling that the recent popularity of the InstaPot will make pressure cookers much more popular in years to come.

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The funny thing is the Instapot was invented by a bunch of laid-off Nortel engineers in Canada (the owner has a Ph.D. in CS).

Those guys somehow managed to figure out how to sell boatloads of pressure cookers to Americans when so many before them have tried and failed.

I don't. The instapot still takes plenty of time for the actual eating to be ready as you have to wait for the pressure to release.

Why not twist the valve to release pressure quickly?

1. It fills the room with steam. 2. It makes the food bubble up onto the lid so you have to clean it (the lid usually remains perfectly clean because only steam touches it).

I only use quick release for delicate foods like steamed vegetables.

With electronic pressure cookers, there are usually two modes: quick release and natural release.[1] Natural release is slower but tends to produce better results for large cuts of meat. For most other food, quick release should work just fine.

(the principle is the same for non-electronic pressure cookers; quick-release there simply means running cold water on the pot with the lid closed to depressurize)

[1] https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/quick-pressure-release-...

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