Fissler Vitaquick 4.8 Quart Stainless Steel Stove Top Steam Pressure Cooker Pot for Electric, Induction, Glass, and Gas Stove for Canning and Cooking, silver

This Fissler pressure cooker is a product that lives up to the reviews it has received.I have used it now for several weeks and have made a combination of some of my old pressure cooker recipes and some new ones (from the new Cooks Illustrated Pressure Cooker cookbook). They all turned out very well and utilizing the new cooker I realized how much easier it was to use and how the advances in the technology make it a great tool for every kitchen.Pros1. The wider pot gives plenty of room to brown foods before cooking under pressure2. Roomy - an 8 1/2 quart capacity provides plenty of space for small and large meals3. The construction is excellent, very high quality and good fitment4. Usage - more belowIn the past I have used my Kuhn Rikon 7 liter pressure cooker and had very good results. It is more than 15 years old and still in good shape and works well but it has some drawbacks, mostly being a tall narrow device causing me to often utilize a separate pan for browning. It cooks well and I have only ever had to replace the gasket in many years of heavy use. I did not realize the advances pressure cooker technology had achieved in the past 15 years. The ability to release pressure while still on the stove and not run it under water is great. That alone is much easier. The Fissler is extremely quiet in operation and it is very easy to control the temperature and maintain the level of pressure you want. It is very easy to see and monitor the pressure level with the highly visible pressure indicator. The smooth surface of the interior allows browning and making pan sauces with minimal scorching and/or burning making it easy to clean up.ConThis is an expensive device. I believe it is worth it as it will last many years and offer the ability to produce excellent meals that are also very healthy and made much more quickly than the alternative means of cooking. If you feel you can afford it I highly recommend it as you will have a utensil for life. You may have to replace the gasket as they do eventually wear out in many cases but that is no different than replacing an oil filter on a car.

30 years ago I was gifted a Hawkins aluminum wiggle-top pressure cooker. After using it for about 10 years, until it warped, and until I became worried about cooking in aluminum, I upgraded to a Kuhn Rikon Duromatic 7L cooker. The Duromatic has served us well for some 20 years, though I have always had issues with scorching at the edges, and it's a bit narrow for the amount of food that it can fit. I was given an Instant Pot for my birthday. After using the Kuhn Rikon, the Instant Pot was painfully slow to come up to pressure (30 minutes vs maybe 5 or 6 for the Kuhn Rikon), and scorched foods even more than the Kuhn Rikon. It also decided that food was being burnt and turned off, so I ended up "finishing" the food in the Kuhn Rikon. I don't understand all the fuss about Instant Pots, but on the bright side it means that there are a lot more pressure cooker recipes available (though I still rely on Lorna Sass for most methods).I returned the Instant Pot to the store, and renewed my interest in stovetop pressure cookers. After reading the reviews of the Fissler by America's Test Kitchen, I decided to give it a try. Why did I wait so long?! I did a pressure test first thing (about 2L of water brought to high pressure for 5 minutes), and it worked like a dream. Quite a bit of machine oil came off with that first trial, so I definitely recommend doing this as well as washing it before first use. It's much wider than the Kuhn Rikon (about 10 inches versus about 8), and so it's easier to saute before starting to pressure cook. The bottom is super-heavy and goes all the way to the edge. Sauteeing is dream, as the heat is constant - more like a nice dutch oven than a regular pan. It seemed to take slightly longer to reach high pressure than the Kunh Rikon (6 or 7 minutes for 2 cups of rice and 6 cups of liquid vs. maybe 5 for the Kuhn Rikon), which makes sense because it's a lot heavier. Once it reached pressure, I turned the heat very low, and the pressure remained high - much less fiddling with the heat on my gas stove to keep the pressure even than with the Kuhn Rikon. The first dish I made was a paella-flavored risotto - no scorching and it was completely perfect in exactly the time noted in Lorna Sass's recipes for risotto. My husband then made a Korean stew with tofu and beef short ribs - the meat was falling off the bone after 20 minutes at pressure and a natural release. Amazing! I like the pressure release button - no more having to waste water cooling the cooker for a quick release, and no more mess. The little "hat" that covers the well surrounding the pressure valve on the Kuhn Rikon fell off years ago, and so water collects in that well when cooling it with water, and then that water spills when taking the lid off. There is no well on the top of the Fissler, so this would not be an issue, though I don't know why one would use water when the button works so well. I wear steamproof oven mitts and put a dish towel over the pot to contain the steam when using the pressure-release button. The pressure indicator is easy to see. It's easy to clean, though it is really heavy so definitely use 2 hands to move it around. I expect that it will serve well for another 20 years. It appears that replacement parts are available, so I will replace the gasket and other rubber/plastic bits regularly. I waited too long to do this with the Kuhn Rikon, and when I finally did, it made a large difference in performance of the pot. The Fissler is a functional thing of beauty! I highly recommend this pressure cooker.