My new IMUSA pressure cooker won't open... HELP!!!!!!! There's food in the pressure cooker

A pressure cooker is NOT anything close to a slow cooker. The cooking philosophy are practically totally opposites. A pressure cooker basically cooks your food in a fraction of time because it is under pressure. A slow cooker takes hours.

The whole idea of using a pressure cooker is that it is sealed and applies pressure to cook the food faster. The lid needs to be sealed for the pressure cooker to operate properly. It is frequently referred to as "infusion" cooking now days.

You need to read the instruction book that came with the pressure cooker. Pressure cookers usually cook for less than an hour--my homemade pressure cooker spaghetti sauce is cooked in less than 30 minutes. They are nice and were very popular long before anyone thought of microwaves and slow cookers. However, there are some precautions to be taken. There must be water or liquid in a pressure cooker. The rubber seal needs to be cleaned frequently and, when the rubber seal warps/stretches and no longer seals, it needs to be replaced. There are also certain foods that CANNOT be cooked in a pressure cooker like rice, dry beans, etc. The pressure control valve operates to regulate the amount of pressure and releases extra pressure otherwise the unit would blow up (very dangerous!). Most pressure cookers (required on all new ones) have a small rubber emergency stopper that will "blow off" in case the pressure is too high. I've seen this happen and my mother cleaning potatoes & meat from the ceiling!

The company had a major recall and went out of business. No manuals appear to be available on the web.
Here are some general instructions you can use:

1 Set up your cooker. Place your Ultrex Pressure Cooker on the stove. Remove the lid and pour in no more than 2 inches of water. Depending on what you are cooking the amount of water will vary. More water will ultimately cook larger amounts of food, but you will need to refer to your specific model's instructions on this matter.

2 Put in the food you wish to cook. Close and lock the lid firm to the pot. Make sure it is locked securely so none of contents boil out of the top.

3 Turn on your burner to high heat for approximately ten minutes. Allow the water to boil.

4 Turn the stove down to a low setting after the water is boiling in the cooker. Flip the pressure valve closed and allow your food to simmer.

Set the pressure valve to ten pounds. For vegetables, cook 30 to 45 minutes. For meats, cook 45 to 60 minutes.5

6 Open the pressure valve and allow the pressure to discharge. Unlock and remove the lid to find your fully cooked meal.

Pressure Cookers are cookers where you can cook food with air coming in or out or liquid coming in or out. you are able to control the pressure in the cooker so you can cook the food the exact amount that you desire.

The manual for the IMUSA rice cookers is here.

http://www.imusausa.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/RiceCooker_Booklet_WEB.pdf

Hi. Some steam is ok. But when it is running it should be sealed up. The little rocker should be doing it's thing too. Good luck.

The copy right from their website is outline, but you'll find hundreds of pressure cooker recipes on the website. Just browse thru the Recipe Section.

You'll also find individual food listings in the Cooking Time Charts. And don't forget about my new cookbook -- its the biggest pressure cooker cookbook ever! -- with tons of useful reference material and 400 more recipes just for pressure cookers.

Hope helps.

I'm not too impressed with your answer (buy a plan that will surely help
me) You didn't even address the question I asked or direct me to a
different site. Forget I asked. [email protected]