Presto 01282 8-Quart Aluminum Pressure Cooker

Paid $71.39 for this 8 quart aluminum pressure cooker - and I must say, it was worth it. I have an old 6 quart Mirro and it just didn't have enough room for a larger roast. (I'm now raising 3 grandchildren). I just tried it out and this 8 quart Presto was perfect with plenty of room for an almost 4 pound chuck roast (3.61lb) along with baby carrots, new potatoes, celery and pearl onions. I had about 2 inches of room at the top when all was added. My only complaint - the "rack" is very shallow. Not like the one I have for my Mirro that's about 1/2" tall. This one's maybe half that at best. So after adding the water for steam barely above the top, that didn't leave much room for error (as in running out of water). I had to watch it closely. (You can always tell when the water is gone by the smell - but by that time the inside of the bottom has gone dry and the residue has been baked on ... and it is not fun to clean although it doesn't usually hurt the roast). After about an hour and a half I had the heat down to just barely there with a very slight hiss - so it really holds the pressure well! Even though it was made in China, it would appear that you can still trust Presto for high quality!

This is very easy to use and works wonderful, putting the handles on was no problem at all. I did buy a different Presto pressure cooker the same days as I did this one. You never know when you might need to cook more than one things at a time. Both work wonderful this doesn't have the release that the other one I bought does but I don't feel it needs to since I have the other one. Everything was evenly cooked with lots of liquid still in the pot when opening. It did not take long for the pressure to build up or come down once you take it off the burner. It is wonderful quality that will be used for years to come passing them down to my children and if they are like my caners to my grandchildren. I was looking at the electric ones at the same time I was this one and felt I would give this one a try, I won't be buying a electric one. I have some Presto caners that are 20 years old still good as new. Presto in my book is one of the highest quality products you can buy, they last long and you get lots of use out of them. I use this every week, sometimes a few times a week and have no problem at all. The price is a steal you won't go wrong if you pick this up you will be as delighted as I am I am sure.

I did a dumb thing with my old Presto. I was making a pot roast & somehow I got the cover misaligned with the pot. It was stuck - could not get it off or on correctly. I tried all the stuff that I could think of to dislodge it and I “broke my pick” trying to fix it, and decided to call Presto for help. The lady had no new clues either. Everything she suggested, I had tried already. Sadly I dumped the whole ready to cook pot roast & all the ingredients into the trash along with the Presto. Now I went on a search for a new pressure cooker. Costco had one of those “name brand, on TV” electric, do it all, pressure cookers for sale. I decided to try it. I did not even take it out of the box after reading the instruction manual. There are so any cautions & warnings with using it that I really did not feel comfortable to use it. Back to presto on Amazon. I found the same product that I had & just could not wait 2 days for it to arrive to make another pot roast. That meal was great. Yes, it doesn’t have all that fancy settings stuff and “press it & forget it” - but they just do not get same results as the Presto - is just not as good. I have also tried making some other meals that I have not tried before. They were easy to make and tasty & I wondered why I did not try this before. This size pot is perfect for doing a large hunk of meat for pot roasts & plenty of room for chicken, pork, or other dishes. I take JUST THE pot and rinse it out & I put it into the dishwasher. Perfectly cleaned. DO NOT put the lid into the dishwasher even if you take the gasket off. There still is a rubber plug in the lid that will dry out & make the pressure cooker a possible hazard. Just take the gasket off and clean the lid by hand - it is very easy & takes no time. I now am very carefully putting the lid on making sure it is all lined up & the top and pot are perfectly engaged. I know this one will last along time.

I bought this item several months ago, and so far it has been worth the money. Most cookers follow a basic design, and though there are no frills here, this cooker preforms as it should. Being aluminum it has stained some what on the inside, but that was my fault as I burnt a block of corned beef in it once after I fell asleep after a hard days work and failed to hear my timer go off, but it cleaned up pretty well. I use it for making stews mostly but also for sterilizing caning jars. The rubber seal is still good, and is expected to be the only part to wear out over time. The handle is a high temperature hard plastic and the locking lid has a simple pressure relief valve. The steam pressure regulating weight doesn't make that nice slow n' gentle "ssshh ssshh ssshh" sound like the one my grandmother's cooker did when I was a kid - I love that sound, this one is much more rapid, higher pitched, and louder so when I'm watching TV I have to turn up the sound a bit to drown it out. Other than that its perfect and with good care this cooker can last several years. UPDATE: It's October 9th 2017, and I'm still using it with no problems, burn the bottom several more times, did a lot of canning, countless more stews and soups. the good thing about these reviews is you get to see your own true-world product test and I have to say - good job Presto! I kindda wish I splurged for the larger canning model, I can only do two 22oz-ish masons at a time in my current model, which isn't a true canner anyway but now - I think I'm ready! But to re-review... 7 years of service, no worn parts, no failures, and still in use. :) --- 5 stars as of today.

It's a pressure cooker, easy to use great results, just big enough for a chicken fits in my cabinets

Pressure cookers in general are great, they provide a wonderful way to quickly obtain a meal that would otherwise take hours and hours of cooking time. This both saves you time and reduces the energy required for cooking. This Presto 8 quart aluminum cooker is a nice size, not too large for cooking meals for 2, and not too small to prevent cooking a larger meal for a family. It's also reasonably priced and feels quite solid in its construction. I would say the highlight so far in its use has been the creation of split pea soup with a ham bone. Previously I've made the soup in a pot and just let it cook away for a couple of hours. This generally results in a soup with peas that retain some individuality, like lentils, that after being refrigerated combine into that large split pea mass I love. In the pressure cooker after half an hour the split peas literally fall completely apart and form into the semi solid mass that I usually don't attain until I'm eating it as left overs. Fantastic. Not to mention quick corned beef, speedy stocks, and delightful beans and brown rice. If you like to cook and are thinking about adding a pressure cooker to your arsenal, this is a great tool to have.

This is a nice pressure cooker. I rather preferred the srew in safety valve though. These rubber saety valves are alway getting stuck and the steam keeps coming out and then the jiggler wont jiggle till you get it untitlted stuck. Hopefully it dont finish poping out. So Just make sure your rubber safety valve is loose before you put the lid on to start the heat. And watch if it gets stuck to unstick it so your food will cook. They should never have changed that feature. And the - round - jiggler that had the choise of the pressure 5, 10 ,15 you wanted to use .

I received this Pressure Cooker in the first week of May 12'. I have been using it to cook at least twice a week on a flat ceramic glass cook-top. My biggest concern was safety but I soon got over that, there are new safety features. I do just about all of cooking in my house (yes, i am the husband) and I can say this is a great item to use especially when time is an issue or saving money. The first thing I cooked was chicken and it took 5 min (you start timing when the pressure regulator starts rocking) and it turned out quite good. Maybe it was beginners luck so I tried a roast..that came out great too...used half for lunch meat. I have cooked beans, pork, chicken, roast, and so far it all came out great. Now that I know how much I am going to use this cooker I should have gotten the Stainless Steel Model, (I just like the feel and weight of stainless?) So that is all I have as far as regrets are concerned..everything else is great...especially the cooking time which is (Normal Cooking Time divided by 3) Update 3/21/2013 Still enjoying the use of this pressure cooker. I have noticed that the bottom of the cooker doesn't stay flat on the surface of my flat glass stove top. I am not sure this is normal..possible metal fatigue?..I don't remember this happening when I first got it ....I am checking with the company.. Update 4/8/2013 Contacted the company and they offered to reset the bottom...i decided to take this opportunity and get a stainless steel unit. I checked with America's Test Kitchen on Youtube and they suggested the Fagor 8 Duo...The video was very helpful Presto has S.S Cookers but they are very thin...So I went with the Fagor 8..This was a good cooker but I wish I had done more research first..The Moral of the story is Do Your Research..