The idea of cooking at pressure is to save time and fuel.
Normal cooking keeps the housewife tied down to the kitchen.
In pressure cooking there is the additional advantage of saving
food values and flavour,since the cooker is tightly closed
throughout the cooking time.Certain foods which do not cook in
normal conditions, like tough meat,etc.,get soften by pressure
cooking.
To test if your cooker is in order, boil two or three cup of
water in it and let it come to preassure.If it takes about
five minutes to produce the hissing sound,on strong heat,the
gasket and safety valve are in good condition.
The gasket and fuse should occassionaly be smeared with oil
to keep it soft. Stretch the gasket a little before you put
it on to the lid,so that it will fit well into it and would
not let steam escape.The gasket has to be cleaned with a wet
cloth to remove any food particles that cling to it.Cleaning
of the lid should be done carefully to avoid extra stretching
of the gasket.
