Best Stovetop Pressure Cooker Reviews of 2018

I’ve heard many good things about the All American 921 21-1/2-Quart Pressure Cooker/Canner, so needless to say I was pretty excited to get my hands on one. After all, these cookers have been manufactured by the Wisconsin Aluminum Foundry in the USA since the 1930s and some people claim that this series is the best pressure cooker. It is also one that seems to consistently get high ratings in their pressure cooker reviews. Let’s get started!

The first thing I noticed when I unpacked this cooker is that it’s nice, big and heavy. In fact, it feels like something that you’d find in some industrial kitchen. It’s made out of cast aluminum and weighs around 20 pounds. I should have expected that however, considering that it’s a 21-1/2-quart pressure cooker made out of metal. It just feels like its high quality.

The next thing that I noticed is that it doesn’t use gaskets of any kind. It has a metal to metal design that should make it last a really good time. That’s because gaskets are usually one of the first things that begin to wear out on a pressure cooker, so it’s pretty nice to see one made without a gasket. Which probably confirms the stories I’ve heard of people passing these cookers down through the generations as a family heirloom. I don’t have a few decades to test that premise but this cooker does feel like it could last a good long time. Probably the only thing that would wear out is the pressure gauge.

Using it was fairly easy as well. I just put water into it and tightened down the screws and I was ready t go. It not only came to pressure quickly but it also heated up very evenly. This allowed me to make several great meals and even try my hand at canning some vegetables. I must say that this is a nifty cooker, although it’s quite big and heavy.

I was able to set it to 5 PSI, 10 PSI or 15 PSI. 15 PSI is a really high pressure and heat that can really cook meals in no time flat. The lower PSI is good for soups and stews that you plan on slow cooking. Being able to adjust between these 3 settings gave me quite a range of cooking temps to choose from.

Although my experience with this cooker has been positive so far, I do have one concern. Whether it would be good on smooth top (glass top) stoves. Obviously, since it’s heavy, you don’t want to drop it on your glass top stove—even from a relatively low height. But I’m also concerned that these types of stoves might not heat it up correctly, especially electric stoves that cut off the burner when it gets too hot. If you’ve used stove top pressure cookers before and haven’t had a problem, then you might not with this one either but it is something to consider.

Overall, I think this cooker is a large, heavy-duty American-made cooker that’s capable of canning and cooking just about anything you throw at it.

Up for review today is the Kuhn Rikon Stainless-Steel Pressure Cooker, 7 qt. This is a pressure cooker that I didn’t know much about until I found it and decided to check out some fairly positive pressure cooker reviews. So I decided to test it out in my own kitchen and see if it has what it takes to be one of the best pressure cookers I’ve reviewed.

The first thing that grabbed my attention was its design. It seems to me that it looks like a cross between a pressure cooker and a sauce pan. It’s made out of 18/10 stainless steel. It has two handles on the side and also a handle attached to the lid. While this cooker has a general sturdy look to it, there are some plastic parts that give me some concern, but I didn’t have an issue with them while I was using it.

The next thing that I noticed was that it had a number of safety mechanisms built into it. It has 5 safety systems in total, which include a spring-loaded valve and an automatic locking system. This really gave me the confidence to really push this system and see what it can do.

The first thing I tried was making a roast. Since this cooker is tall but has a smaller diameter opening, I couldn’t use it to brown it but I did fit the roast into it and threw in some veggies. In about a half an hour, my roast was done and delicious. And all the while it cooked my roast, this cooker barely made any noise at all.

In fact, this cooker was really quiet during its entire operation. Sure, it made some noises as it was coming to temperature, but otherwise it was pretty quiet. Not like the old stove top rocking cookers at all, which made quiet a lot of noise as they rocked back and forth.

I also tried canning with the  Kuhn Rikon Stainless-Steel Pressure Cooker, 7 qt.  but like I said, it’s not very big. It only holds about 4 pint jars or 3 quart jars. Not enough to do any of the large canning I was planning to do but enough I suppose for the casual canning enthusiast.

Although cooking was a breeze, I did find cleanup was a little more involved than I would have liked. It wasn’t difficult to clean, it just required a little more effort. For example, I had to wash the pot and the gasket with a mild dish soap and then I had to lightly oil the gasket. The valve is self-cleaning on this model or supposed to be, but it may need to be taken apart if food passes through it.

All things considered, I felt like this was a high quality pressure cooker that was pretty quiet and did a great job cooking. While it’s a little more expensive than comparable models its size, and is small for canning, I did think it was a pretty decent cooker.

Looking like a big stockpot with a pressure release valve and a pressure gauge sticking out of the top of it is the Presto 01781 23-Quart Pressure Canner and Cooker. Does it have what it takes to become one of the best pressure cookers I’ve reviewed? Well, let’s find out and take a good look at this cooker/canner that has generally received some pretty good praise from other pressure cooker reviews.

This device is not only made of high quality aluminum but it is also big enough to hold 23 quarts—which makes it very suitable for canning. And even though it’s big, because it’s made of aluminum it is lighter than some cookers, which should make it good for use on smooth stovetops or just about any other stove-top.

However, as they say, the proof is in the pudding, so I decided to put this thing to the test and see if it can pull out a win. The first thing I decided to do was to use it to can some vegetables. I didn’t have any from my garden, so I decided to go out to the grocery store and buy some bell peppers and try my hand at canning. After following all of the instructions in the guide, in about 40 minutes I had my red bell peppers canned and I was pretty pleased with myself, so I decided to move on to do a little bit of cooking with this system.

I placed some pork chops into this pressure cooker, added some onions and carrots and then proceeded to cook them. In about 20 minutes, I had a full dinner with tender pork chops that were cooked just right and weren’t overcooked. And when it was done, I noticed that the handles on this cooker stayed nice and cool. Which is always a plus.

Canning and cooking wasn’t the only things that were a breeze with this cooker, however. Clean up was as well. It took very little effort to get this thing clean and ready for its next job. Sure, I had to remove the sealing ring to clean the inside of the rim but that wasn’t difficult at all.

This cooker comes with a 12-year warranty, so I’m sure that it’s as durable as it looks and feels. However, I do see some potential problem areas. For example, you have to really take care of the dial gauge. It’s rather delicate and it can probably be easily broken. I also imagine that the gasket may wear out on this device before the rest of it does and need to be replaced. Of course, I didn’t have any problems with either part of this device but I haven’t used it for a long time either.

Overall, I think the Presto 01781 23-Quart Pressure Canner and Cooker is a high quality cooker that should bring you many years of cooking and canning. I know that it has become a welcome addition to my kitchen and maybe a welcome one in yours as well.

Up for review today is the Presto 01370 8-Quart Stainless Steel Pressure Cooker. This is a pressure cooker from a company that’s known for making products that consistently get high ratings in pressure cooker reviews, so I was pretty anxious to see if they had produced the next best pressure cooker or at least one that came pretty close to being the best.

When I unpacked it, I noticed that it was very durable looking and was made out of stainless-steel. I also noticed that it had a base that Presto calls a Tri-Clad base. This base allows the heat of my stove-top to be equally distributed for fast and even cooking. And when I tried it out, I found that it worked really well.

I also noticed that when I tested it for the first time, that it easily maintained its pressure. That’s thanks to its pressure regulator. I was able to throw in the fixings for a soup that I wanted to make, close it up and the device easily maintained its pressure throughout the whole cooking process. I really have to give it a thumbs up for that handy feature that means that I can stray from the pressure cooker once in awhile.

When cooking, I noticed that this thing really cooked the food quickly. That’s probably because it gets up to 15 PSI of pressure. Which is what I like to see in a cooker. However, while I like cooking at a higher pressure, this cooker didn’t have any other option. So let’s say that I had a recipe that I needed to cook at 10 PSI. I would have to adjust my time. I kind of wish that it had at least a low setting that I could switch to if I was going to cook something a little more delicate.

Another thing that needs to be mentioned is that I would not recommend using it for canning. Most of the canning I do I do so at 10 PSI and this device doesn’t provide that option. That’s not even mentioning the fact that this cooker is a bit small to do any heavy-duty canning. 8 quarts is a spacious size for cooking for the family, but not so much for canning.

What I did really like on the Presto 01370 8-Quart Stainless Steel Pressure Cooker was that it had a quick steam release. When I needed to remove the lid, the quick release allowed me to sap off the steam so I could open it quicker.

All things considered, I think this device is a really good pressure cooker. It’s durable, easy to use and has a few nice features. It not only cooked my food really quickly but also did an exceptional job. While it wasn’t really good for cooking more delicate foods or for heavy-duty canning, I do think that it’s a good value and worth taking a look at. I think that it will be put to good use in most kitchens and won’t break the bank while it’s doing it.

What’s up for review today? Well, I have the T-fal P45007 Clipso Stainless Steel Dishwasher Safe PTFE PFOA and Cadmium Free 12-PSI Pressure Cooker Cookware, 6.3-Quart in silver. Yes, I know that’s a mouthful to read but it tells you a lot about this cooker. So with that in mind, let’s just get right into the review.

I knew I wanted to review this product because of all the praise it received in pressure cooker reviews but the moment that I saw it, I knew it wasn’t going to be the best pressure cooker. Now, don’t get me wrong, it proved itself to be a very good one but it’s just not the best.

One of the things that really holds it back is its pressure. It only reaches 12 PSI, when many of its competitors are able to reach a PSI of 15. The pressure it generates isn’t bad but its low enough that it adds a little extra time to recipes meant to be cooked at a higher temperature.

It also would have been nice if this pressure cooker was a little bit bigger. While 6.3-quarts isn’t too bad, I would have liked it if it was more like 8-quarts. While they do make almost the exact same model in an 8-quart version, it was significantly more expensive than this one.

However, it isn’t all downside with this cooker. Like I said, it’s still pretty good. It’s very easy to use, so easy in fact that you can practically use it with one hand. Not only seal it but also release the pressure and take off the lid. Which made it really easy to make beef stew in it, which is exactly what I did next.

I chopped up a couple pounds of chuck roast, rolled it in flour and browned it, then cut up some potatoes, carrots, onions and celery and tossed them in as well.  I then added some spices (rosemary, sage, bay leaves, etc.), beef stock and salt and pepper. I closed the lid, turned it on and in 35 minutes had a nice hot stew.

When I was done cooking with the T-fal P45007 6.3-quart Stainless Steel Pressure Cooker, I then removed the gasket and pressure relief valve and tossed it into my dishwasher to be cleaned. Not bad for a lower powered pressure cooker, if you ask me.

In fact, this would be a much higher rated cooker if it only had a higher pressure level. After all, it’s a nice stainless steel pressure cooker that’s dishwasher safe and is PTFE, PFOA and Cadmium free. It also works with a variety of different stovetops, it doesn’t matter if you have a smooth top, a gas stove or an induction stove. It can be used on all of them. And all of these things make it pretty nice. My only problem is really the pressure level.

Which brings me to my final conclusion. If you are looking for a pressure cooker and you don’t mind that it operates at more than 12 PSI, then go ahead and get this cooker. However, if you need something a little bit more powerful, then you may want to look someplace else.

Today I’m going to review the NuWave Stainless Steel Pressure Cooker, 6.5-Quart. This is a cooker that seems to consistently get praised in pressure cooker reviews but is one that took me awhile to get around to. Why is that, you ask? Well, probably because I knew it was a lower-priced cooker and I probably just thought that maybe it wouldn’t be able to compete with some of the best pressure cookers I’ve checked out lately. However, I’m glad that I was kind of wrong.

It was a lot better than I thought it was going to be from the very beginning. While you can obviously tell that it’s not the same quality as some of the more expensive cookers, it still is made out of stainless steel and has a few features.

One of the features this thing has is the ability to choose between a “low” pressure setting and a “high” pressure setting. The low pressure one comes in about 7.3 PSI and the high pressure clocks in at about 13 PSI. While I wish the high was a little bit higher (more specifically, 15 PSI), I did think it was adequate to do the cooking I needed. I also appreciated the fact that since this unit has a low I can also cook some more delicate dishes in it. That made me pretty happy.

Another thing that impressed me is that it was easy to use. Fill it up, lock it with the flip of a switch and put it on your NuWave PIC (which I don’t have at the moment, so I didn’t test it on) or on your conventional stove top.  Once your food is cooked, you can then release the steam and remove the top. Pretty easy, if you ask me.

However, that isn’t to say that the  NuWave Stainless Steel 6.5-Quart Pressure Cooker is without its flaws. For one thing, It’s smaller than I would have liked it to have been. It would have been better if it was in the 8-quart size range, although I guess that might not have been possible in its current price range.

I also had a few problems cleaning it. The stainless-steel wasn’t as stainless as I would have liked it to have been and I spent a bit of time cleaning it out. Not too big of a deal but definitely something that needs to be mentioned.

All things considered, I think this is a pretty good little pressure cooker. It was easy to use, cooked well and I could adjust the temperature easily. It also had an easy lock lid that I really liked and didn’t take much time to depressurize. While it wasn’t the easiest cooker in the world to clean, I do have to say that you’d probably be hard pressed to find another cooker that cooked as well as this one did for the price. I don’t think that’s possible, so I’d have to give this unit a thumbs up and a pass on the rest.