On 10/09/13 12:09, Martin Brown wrote:
On 09/09/2013 10:38, Dave Liquorice wrote:
On Sun, 8 Sep 2013 20:41:55 +0100, Janet wrote:

I've no great experience of pressure cookers, My Mum didn't like 'em
so we never had one at home.

Sudden decreases in pressure are a very bad thing as flash boiling inside some thick goupy stew or soup inside one is a disaster!

OTOH, flashing water into steam *may* be a good way of disrupting
structures and possibly cells. Might be useful when turning
fish/meat/veg into stock.

Easily done by lifting up the weight - and watching the steam
spray 2ft horizontally from each of four holes. Good for startling
guests/kids

I'd get worried if there *wasn't* any steam coming from weight,
because...

I have distant recollections of conical fountains of scalding soup flying up into the air plastering the kitchen ceiling and bouncing all over at my aunts. They are fine if used correctly but there
is scope for considerable excitement if you make a mistake at high pressure.

The next stage on mu cooker is a rupture plate under the
lid's handle, so the contents wouldn't hit the ceiling
but would probably splatter sideways.

ISTR some kind of emergency pressure release system triggered on it.