Cooks Essentials Pressure Cooker

I have mixed feelings about talking to you about the Cooks Essentials Pressure Cooker. There are some good but also a lot of bad reports about it.

Some consumers reported that this electric multi-purpose cooker worked well for them and met their expectations – so no problems there.

Unfortunately, a lot of consumers reported being unhappy and that they had to deal with several problems that I will list in the “cons” section of this page.

Features

It is an electric, 1100W, multi-purpose pressure cooker that can brown, steam, keep food warm for up to 8 hours and have a slow cooker setting,
Included with the Cooks Essentials Pressure Cooker is a non-stick pan that is dishwasher safe, a measuring cup and spoon and the Cooks 5qt pressure cooker manual that includes some recipes as well.
The body and handles are cool to the touch and have to be hand washed.
You can pick from 3 pressure settings; 2.5 PSI, 7.5 PSI and 15 PSI,
The control panel is digital and allows you to delay starting times up to 8 hours in half hour increments,
It is safe and easy to use with several safety measures in place,
Made in China and includes a 30 day warranty.

Multi-use

The Cooks Essential pressure cooker is a very handy multi-cooker. It is not only a pressure cooker but can also brown, steam, keep food warm and slow cook.

You can use the warming setting to reheat food or to keep food warm for up to 8 hours after the cooking cycle has ended.

You can easily brown your meat in a bit of oil before you start the pressure cooking process.

Steaming the food means that the liquid will quickly be brought up to boil. This is especially handy for cooking rice and risotto-dishes.

For those of us who love our slow-cookers there is a slow cooking setting with a 12 hour timer. It works well and you can even pre-program it to delay the starting time to suit your needs.

You can pick from 3 different pressure settings to accommodate different dishes:

– 2.5 PSI or low,
– 7.5 PSI or medium,
– 15 PSI or high.

When using the pressure, steam or slow cooking settings you can delay the starting time for up to 8 hours. This is very helpful if you work during the day and want to come home to a cooked meal.

Safety measures

There are several safety precautions in place to prevent it from malfunctioning or even exploding. The safety valves in the lid make it impossible to open until the pressure has been released first.

The quick release valve ensures that steam is released in a controlled way, that releases steam straight up and away from you when you need to open the pot and get to the food quickly.

The timer will only start when the correct pressure has been reached. When the cycle has finished the cooker will slowly reduce the inner pressure while keeping the food warm for up to 8 hours.

Pros

The Cooks Essentials Pressure Cooker is a multi-purpose cooker that can brown, steam, keep warm, slow cook and pressure cook.
It is oval shaped and is therefore ideal for roasts, chickens, turkeys, ribs and other larger dishes that is difficult to fit into a round cooker.
It is really easy to clean since the removable pan is both non-stick and dishwasher safe.
It looks great and is available in red, black and stainless steel.

Cons

The face plate on the control panel is glued on and tends to quickly form bubbles and start to peel off.
Sealing the lid is complicated and several consumers reported that they had to keep on pushing the lid down and re-adjusting it throughout the cooking process to keep it sealed and to maintain pressure. Having to watch over it makes the programmable delayed start setting useless. If a perfect seal can’t be maintained it is not a pressure cooker.
The seal tends to take on the smell of the last dish you’ve made and washing it won’t remove the smell.
The Cooks Essentials pressure cooker is large and heavy, but the space to accommodate food is unexpectedly small. Owners of the older models felt that capacity and quality were lost to make space for a sleeker look with the new model.
It is very difficult to get the removable insert out when it is hot, forcing you to either run the risk of burning or to wait until it has cooled down enough for you to handle it safely.
The more serious complaints I run across is that the pop-up valve just fell off or disintegrated into pieces after being used for a while. Several consumers said that the cookers worked perfectly the one time and died off without warning when next used.
The 30 day warranty period is very short time for problems to show up and then to take care of all the complaints listed above. It comes down to that you are on your own if a problem pops up after the warranty has expired.

Buy

The Cooks Essentials Pressure Cooker is available in red, black and the classic stainless steel look, making it easy for you to choose a color that will go with your kitchen.

It has a 30 day guarantee.

Go to the High Pressure Cooker page to see all our info on pressure cookers.

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