primitives discuss exploding pizza stones

[whiffleball]

Good grief....Mrs. doc has been using a pressure cooker for various things at least once weekly for close to half a century......and hasn't had an explosion yet.......

The maximum pressure that you can generate in one before the safeties blow is about 20 psi.......the tires in your car likely have in excess of 30 psi.........does that mean that you folks are going to stop driving?

doc

Well then I may have to get some advice from her since I plan on buying a pressure cooker, my first, to do canning this year.  Maybe I'll just pile blocks on and tie it to the stove with chicken wire, as suggested by Cindie, as a preventative measure.

[The Village Idiot]

Well then I may have to get some advice from her since I plan on buying a pressure cooker, my first, to do canning this year.  Maybe I'll just pile blocks on and tie it to the stove with chicken wire, as suggested by Cindie, as a preventative measure.

Maybe you can learn to make ketchup. /jk

[Chris_]

I have cooked for almost 50 years ( ) without ever using a pressure cooker, I can make it without ever using one. 

I

You obviously weren't raised on a farm, where most of the family's food was also raised and preserved.....

My MIL (who is 93 now) had a pressure cooker that was so large that it required two burners operating on the stove to use it........she was from a family of 12, and 90% of the families meals came from the food that was raised on the property.........

She likes to tell us that one summer, she, her mother and sisters, canned ("put up" is the phrase they used) over 800 quarts of tomatoes, corn, green beans, peas, rhubarb, apples, pears, potatoes, carrots, Lima beans, strawberries, plus another 200 quarts of various jams, jellies, and preserves......enough to feed the family for about two years........plus some to give away to neighbors and friends that had a bad crop, or otherwise fell on hard times......

All from one pressure cooker.......

doc

[Chris_]

Well then I may have to get some advice from her since I plan on buying a pressure cooker, my first, to do canning this year.  Maybe I'll just pile blocks on and tie it to the stove with chicken wire, as suggested by Cindie, as a preventative measure.

Mrs. doc has two.....and both are quite old......one is a four-quart "Mirro", and the other is a six-quart "Presto" than my mother gave her........

They do require some maintenance to use safely.  First the "pressure gauge" thing on the top that regulates the pressure while it is in use must be kept clean (running it through the diswasher after each use accomplishes this).

Second, the rubber gasket for the lid should be replaced yearly, whether it appears to need it or not (they are available at any good hardware store for a dollar or two).

Finally I replace the safety valve every five years (this is a small rubber insert in the lid that "blows out" if too much pressure builds up too quickly.  The safety valves are a bit harder to find, but I now get them from the pan manufacturer off their website, and they generally cost about five dollars.......I formerly bought them at Sears......

Unless you have a terminal case of "stupid" they are quite safe to use.......as I mentioned up thread, they operate at about 20 psi, and once in my younger years, myself and another Physics grad student tried intentionally to "blow one up"......we placed a compressed air fitting on the top, and hooked it up to an air compressor........we retired to a safe distance, and put over 200 psi into the cooker, and it didn't blow up......distorted the pan and lid somewhat, and it started to leak, but no explosion.........

The only way that I can see one exploding is if someone uses it without having the lid on correctly (it has large lugs that engage rotationally to hold it on).......similar in design to the lugs in a bolt-action rifle......


doc

[Thor]

Mrs. doc has two.....and both are quite old......one is a four-quart "Mirro", and the other is a six-quart "Presto" than my mother gave her........

They do require some maintenance to use safely.  First the "pressure gauge" thing on the top that regulates the pressure while it is in use must be kept clean (running it through the diswasher after each use accomplishes this).

Second, the rubber gasket for the lid should be replaced yearly, whether it appears to need it or not (they are available at any good hardware store for a dollar or two).

Finally I replace the safety valve every five years (this is a small rubber insert in the lid that "blows out" if too much pressure builds up too quickly.  The safety valves are a bit harder to find, but I now get them from the pan manufacturer off their website, and they generally cost about five dollars.......I formerly bought them at Sears......

Unless you have a terminal case of "stupid" they are quite safe to use.......as I mentioned up thread, they operate at about 20 psi, and once in my younger years, myself and another Physics grad student tried intentionally to "blow one up"......we placed a compressed air fitting on the top, and hooked it up to an air compressor........we retired to a safe distance, and put over 200 psi into the cooker, and it didn't blow up......distorted the pan and lid somewhat, and it started to leak, but no explosion.........

The only way that I can see one exploding is if someone uses it without having the lid on correctly (it has large lugs that engage rotationally to hold it on).......similar in design to the lugs in a bolt-action rifle......


doc

They still have "hardware stores" ?? I haven't seen a REAL hardware store in a few years. (Lowe's and Home Depot don't really count per my definition.)

As far as those things "exploding", from what I understand is that people don't let the pressure off all of the way before they open them and that's when they tend to "explode".

[GOBUCKS]

A deep fryer is probably more dangerous than a pressure cooker, if you try to move it around on the countertop while the oil is hot. It would be really, really hard to take the top off a pressure cooker with pressure in it. For many years, they've been made with a safety lock that engages under very low pressure. And if you run water on the cooker before trying to open it, as directed, the pressure is zero. It cannot explode while cooking, because it has a rubber safety plug that will blow out and release pressure long before it gets dangerous. Both appliances are perfectly safe for anyone with enough wits to be trusted around a stove.

[BEG]

Mrs. doc has two.....and both are quite old......one is a four-quart "Mirro", and the other is a six-quart "Presto" than my mother gave her........

They do require some maintenance to use safely.  First the "pressure gauge" thing on the top that regulates the pressure while it is in use must be kept clean (running it through the diswasher after each use accomplishes this).

Second, the rubber gasket for the lid should be replaced yearly, whether it appears to need it or not (they are available at any good hardware store for a dollar or two).

Finally I replace the safety valve every five years (this is a small rubber insert in the lid that "blows out" if too much pressure builds up too quickly.  The safety valves are a bit harder to find, but I now get them from the pan manufacturer off their website, and they generally cost about five dollars.......I formerly bought them at Sears......

Unless you have a terminal case of "stupid" they are quite safe to use.......as I mentioned up thread, they operate at about 20 psi, and once in my younger years, myself and another Physics grad student tried intentionally to "blow one up"......we placed a compressed air fitting on the top, and hooked it up to an air compressor........we retired to a safe distance, and put over 200 psi into the cooker, and it didn't blow up......distorted the pan and lid somewhat, and it started to leak, but no explosion.........

The only way that I can see one exploding is if someone uses it without having the lid on correctly (it has large lugs that engage rotationally to hold it on).......similar in design to the lugs in a bolt-action rifle......


doc

My grandma used a pressure cooker all the time.  I'm sure she didn't take all the safety measures you did.  If she didn't blow herself up than I highly doubt anyone can.  Well except for a DU'er. 

[Chris_]

They still have "hardware stores" ?? I haven't seen a REAL hardware store in a few years. (Lowe's and Home Depot don't really count per my definition.)

As far as those things "exploding", from what I understand is that people don't let the pressure off all of the way before they open them and that's when they tend to "explode".

We have both "Ace" and "Tru Value" around here, and although they carry a lot of stuff that the traditional hardware store of my youth didn't carry, they are pretty good........

On removing the lid under pressure.......the only way that could happen is if the cook greased the rubber gasket for the lid with cooking oil or some other lubricant.......which the instructions strictly state that you should never do.......otherwise if there is still pressure in the pan, with no lubrication on the gasket, it would take a winch and a hammer to rotate the lid..........

doc

[DefiantSix]

On removing the lid under pressure.......the only way that could happen is if the cook greased the rubber gasket for the lid with cooking oil or some other lubricant.......which the instructions strictly state that you should never do.......otherwise if there is still pressure in the pan, with no lubrication on the gasket, it would take a winch and a hammer to rotate the lid..........

doc

I believe this was also covered - at least partially - under your classification of such folks as having a "terminal case of stupid".

A common malady on Skins Island, by all appearances...

[Chris]

We have both "Ace" and "Tru Value" around here, and although they carry a lot of stuff that the traditional hardware store of my youth didn't carry, they are pretty good........

doc

There's an Ace in my area... it's the closest thing to a traditional hardware store I've found.  Harbor Freight is okay, but the selection is not as good unless you're looking for serious power tools.

Lowe's can take a flying leap at a rolling donut.

[IassaFTots]

They still have "hardware stores" ?? I haven't seen a REAL hardware store in a few years.

Thor, you should really drop by Elliotts next time you are headed south for non-doctor related issues.  I am sure you know of them, but you may not know that they have one on Park and Coit in Plano, just a skip off the highway. 

Harbor Freight.  We have those too.  I haven't been all that impressed, but it is nice to go somewhere a little smaller.