Cuisinart 1000-Watt 6-Quart Electric Pressure Cooker, Brushed Reviews

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First, I was a pressure cooker nut from before. I used my mother's 1930/40's Presto's until I couldn't get seals for them. When I saw this digital pressure cooker I bought it instantly. I loved it so much that I gave one to my daughter, my sis and my sis-in-law, (we're all foodies). I was cooking stuff I hadn't made in years. We ate like kings! All of a sudden, caput. I get online and search and right there on Amazon, Bobby Mac "Micronaut101" describes my very own problem! So no more trying to make the bloody thing work! I call the Cuisinart 800 number prepared to go the distance according to the reviews I've read and I describe my problem, how much I love the machine, how I've seen the problem reported on Amazon and therefore it's a known quality issue and I want a new machine. OK, she says, what's your address? No "did you send in a warranty" or anything else. Bingo, 7 10 days I'll have a new pressure cooker. How cool is that? Oh, and "We're sorry for the inconvenience. Have a great day." Yehaa! Let's hear it for Amazon and reviews!

[[editing review as of 6/4/09: pressure sensor wouldn't set pressure and pressure cooking wouldn't start. Cooker would get to boiling but pressure wouldn't lock the cooker and begin cooking. Little red button wouldn't come up to close opening. I would wiggle the button with a skewer or knife point to get it to pop up to close pressure hole. Hope this helps.]]

And I'm writing this so that others who may get one of those recalcitrant pressure cookers that slipped through the quality assurance check can know that they will get a new pressure cooker with the press of the number buttons. Cuisinart has decided to stand behind this one product, at least.

BTW, all of us are previous users of pressure cookers so we really appreciated the ability to sear the meat in the cooker. My family has used the Cuisinart cookbook for the pasta e Fagioli, Cuban Black Bean Soup, Chicken with Herb Dumplings and the "outstanding" Creamy Rice Pudding" And, in fact, the Rice pudding cooked so quickly that my sis didn't think it was done when the timer went off and over cooked it! Her second batch was superb. We also like Lorna Sass's "Cooking Under Pressure" and "Pressure Perfect"

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I've never used a pressure cooker before, and I was so excited to get my Cuisinart CPC-600 pressure cooker! At first it worked just great and I was delighted to turn out wonderful stews in 20 minutes and even meatloaf in 25 minutes. But after about a week it stopped coming up to pressure and steam poured out of the red float valve. After reading another reviewer's comments, I started tapping on the red float through the plastic cover and jarred it loose; at that point it would rise and seal the unit so it would come up to pressure. Kind of a pain that I have to do that each time.

Except for that detail, it has worked very well.

Another reviewer asked what PSI the unit works at. Very odd that they do not include this info in their user manual or web site since you need the info to adjust cooking times when using other pressure cookers' recipes, but I emailed their tech support to ask and received this answer:

low pressure 6 PSI

high pressure 10 PSI

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I got my Cuisinart EPC-1200PC about 2 weeks ago. Living in a house all by myself it was always easy to stop on the way home and get fast food. I have missed "family meals" and "momma's cooking" since I moved out 15 years ago. I get over to my parents house to eat maybe 3-5 times a month. One night my mom showed me a similar EPC that she had bought and invited me over to eat a meal that she cooked in it. I was sold when I saw the ease and usefulness. After tasting how flavorful the food was I had to get me one. I did my research and decided not to go with the same model as her but instead this Cuisinart model.

My first attempt with this unit was a whole chicken. I skinned the chicken, quartered it and put it in the pot with just enough water to cover the meat. Set it on high for 10 minutes. It took the unit about 10-15 minutes to build up pressure so that the red stopper sealed and then it began the actual "pressure cooking". My first thoughts were "No way is this thing cooking, I don't hear the jiggle associated with pressure cookers" and then the 10 minutes were over and the manual says on chicken to release the pressure using the quick release method. I'll admit I was a bit worried about this part. The horrors of my childhood when my dad blew the top off of our pressure cooker making a whole chicken flash back in my mind. I threw a paper towel folded twice over the valve and with a pair of tongs turn the valve to the quick release setting. No worries here. Steam escaped rather easily and the paper towel did its job. After the pressure was released the units lid unlocks and you twist it to open. I remove the chicken to find it cooked perfectly, moist, tender and juicy. To boot I get 7 cups of stock out of it for a chicken soup I made the next night.

I have used this thing darn near daily since getting it. Sure it may take 10-15 minutes to build up pressure depending on how much liquid you put in the pot, but I cooked a Chicken and rice dish last night that took 3 minutes on high. We are talking about a frozen chicken breast and uncooked basmati rice here people. In 3 minutes. It took the unit about 10 minutes to pressurize for that dish and I let the dish naturally release pressure for 7 minutes afterward before quick releasing the remaining pressure. So in total it took about 20 minutes from start to finish. But its a one pot cleanup and I dare you to cook rice in 20 minutes on a stove top and compare it to the deliciousness that I created in this EPC. I see myself using this unit for many years to come and have not eaten out in almost a month now thanks to this little jewel. I save money by eating at home. I save calories by eating at home.

I consider myself a decent cook for a bachelor. I think this unit can only add to that as I will be able to try many more dishes in the future. The best feature about the Cuisinart is that you do not have to stand there constantly tending to it as you do a normal stove top unit. There are almost zero concerns about the dreaded explosion. I am still careful when I use the unit but I am not scared of it as I am my old stove top unit. I hated that dang thing. Do yourself a favor and get this unit.

Honest reviews on Cuisinart 1000-Watt 6-Quart Electric Pressure Cooker, Brushed

Admittedly, there's a learning curve with pressure cookers, and I had not used one before. But this one came with at least one part (hello, "condensation collector") whose packaging--a scrap of bubble wrap--was completely unlabeled (I nearly threw it away with the rest of the packing material). It was also misrepresented in the microscopic, inadequate product illustrations. (In the years since I purchased this pressure cooker, the condensation collector has broken, though I've continued to use the CPC-600 without it--no problem.)

But the operating instructions that I received were unclear, badly organized, and insufficient in too many other ways to enumerate here. (I say this as a technical writer/editor with more than thirty years' professional experience.) For example, I wasn't sure that the "float" in the handle worked--what was it supposed to look like after "rising completely"?--and everything I cooked at first came out caramelized (though I have to admit that this unplanned effect didn't hurt the flavor, but that's my taste). I didn't know whether this contraption was malfunctioning or whether I wasn't using it correctly--maybe some combination of both--and other reviews posted here suggested that the number provided for customer service would not lead to anything but more frustration.

In short, I thought this was a handsome and potentially useful appliance, and I wanted to get it working properly. And, finally, I did figure out how to work it. There was one very simple but crucial piece of information that was not clear in the instruction manual. Here's what you need to know: when you place the pressure release valve on the lid, be sure that the little projecting arm on the valve is precisely parallel to the lid's handle. If you do that, the cooker will get up to pressure, and the digital display clock will count down, just as it's supposed to do. That's it. Enjoy!

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The Cuisinart 6 Quart pressure cooker, truly is a Kitchen Magician!

I have not stopped playing with this thing, since I pulled it out of the box. For a 21st century family-man, the chef in the family, discovering this electric pressure cooker is like rediscovering a whole new way to make potatoes, to steam rice, to cook dried beans from the pantry, to make chorizo paella, chicken noodle soup, marinara, the list goes on and on...And almost everything, in 30 minutes or less! Amazing.

Pros:

1) Click and go functionality. Saute, Brown, Simmer, Low Pressure, high Pressure, and keep warm. Click your choice, then minutes, then start. Couldn't be easier.

2) Safety comes first: After reading the instructions, and becoming familiar with the appliance, I feel safe, knowing that it has like 7 safety features.

3) Versatility: I am not just pressure cooking potatoes in this thing...I am doing all one-pot wonders, starting with frying my onions and garlic, or browning my brussell sprouts, then boiling my water, then pressure cooking, then simmering in the noodles, etc. My stove and oven miss me so much. Poor things.

4) no-stick pot: This is the easiest pot to clean, and I have made probably 20 dishes in it so far. Cleanup is a breeze, holds up in the dishwasher.

5) Cuisinart is a name you can trust.

6) 6 quarts, perfect size. Don't go any smaller.

Cons:

1) Directions: Kind of lacking. The pics are a little old-school diagramish. I was left scratching my head on clean-up, for example, like um, how to you take the lid apart...Left figuring stuff out on my own. (see tips)

2) Recipes: Good, but I was wanting more. (see tips)

3) No accessories: No keep-warm lid, no steam pot, no inserts. Checked the cuisinart website, and no accessories sold there either.

4) Maximum fill line: The pot doesn't have one, and I wish it did. It has measurements, but with pressure cooking, you're supposed to not go farther than like 60%. A line would be nice.

5) Pot would not come to pressure a couple times, as previous reviews mentioned, would just turn to "keep warm"...BUT this was while already cooking in the pot (browning) at high temps with olive oil(for example, when I was browning paella in oily chorizo), and then attempting to immediately switch to pressure cook...so I am of the belief that this might be a safety function of the thermostat. The instructions manual talks about the thermostat disallowing the pot to go to pressure if the temp exceeds a safe temp, and I was essentially frying with minimal water, meaning, I think my pot got too hot to pressure cook the food I already had been cooking. Just a guess. Both dishes turned out perfect when this occurred, I simply cooked on brown to finish. Safety comes first. All other times, everything worked normal. Rice, beans, veggies, soups, no problemo.

TIPS:

1) Cleaning the lid: Take lid off, pull the little knob thing underneath, the lower plate comes right off, and you can clean the upper and lower lid with a clean cloth. The silicon seal comes right off also, and can be cleaned as well. Scary to do first time, because the manual is not terribly clear. After that, all fear is gone, and please, DO clean your lid.

2) Cookbooks: Do yourself a favor, and buy a couple companion cookbooks. I highly recommend Lorna Sass, "Cooking Under Pressure", and more specifically, I enjoy her book entitled "Great Vegetarian Cooking Under Pressure." She is the pressure cooker goddess, yiou can not go wrong with her. You'll learn lots of new ways to look at how to prepare your recipes with the pressure cooker, and you can see some of her at work on youtube, she has a blog also. I also recommend the book "The Everything Vegetarian Pressure Cooker Cookbook". I have tried almost 10 recipes so far. Great! So, don't go at it alone. Buy a couple cookbooks.

3) Beans and grains: With white rice, honestly, I don't really think you need to add any oil. The manual suggests this as well. With beans, yeah. Add oil for sure. The pot gets pretty messy, so don't forget to clean the lid after. Now, I tried beans straight from dry, and I tried them after pre-soaking. Both turned out fine.

4) Veggies: delicate stuff, like veggies, really have a tendency to overcook. Try using the "low pressure" setting to help, and just pressure cook them for 1-3 minutes max, with quick release...Keep the super delicate veggies, like broccoli, for the steamer. Not everything must be cooked in your pressure cooker. The right tools for the right foods, etc. On the other hand, artichokes are amazing. 8-10 minutes, with some lemon, and you're golden.