PRESSURE COOKER Dear friends,
Few days back mywife desired to exchange two Prestige Brand large and old pressure cookers. Theirbottom had become something like oval. There is a prestige showroom about 2 KMfrom my home, we visited the show room and purchased latest model 3 litrescooker. But old cookers were there again.She was particular todispose them on exchange to new items. So we visited a nearbyvessels shop, the biggest and most crowded in our area, a little away from theshow room. One 6 litre cooker and one electric rice cooker were purchased onexchange of the older ones and paying almost 95% of the cost of the items. Iwas specific to get prestige cooker, since I fail to place the lid perfectly in Hawkins cookerwhere as she places easily in two Hawkins cookers in the home. The sales ladyshowed her a combo offer of 4 litres cooker, a frying pan and a dosa pantogether. Without telling it was also purchased and we brought to home. The three litres purchasedfrom show room pack was opened and she started using. I preferred Hindalium tostainless steel body. I just thought ofwriting some important incidents and information about pressure cooker. Some serious and some informativepoints are also covered in this posting among others. I was writing this article for the last four days and somehowfinished and posted today. So somemistakes can be there. Correction is highly appreciated. Gopalakrishnan 20-10-2022 1First pressure cooker. I purchased myfirst pressure cooker in July1969, about a week after my marriage. It was from prestige show roomat Rattan Bazar in Park town in Chennai. I am not able to recollect it’scapacity now. It had a bottom plate with holes and bulges, three containers,which could be placed one over the other. The containers were aluminium, body wasthick, whether Hindalium or Aluminium, I am not sure. The top was oval, the casket changing was rare, safetyvalve change also rare. Cooker weight lasted till it’s disposal after decades. We were told rice couldbe placed for cooking in 2 containers with water and one container could be used for cooking dhal added with water,vegetables etc. Adequatewater had to be kept in vessel and on boiling and steam appears, the cookerweight had to be placed. Steam releasing sound would come duringcooking and after a few whistles cooking would be done. Number of whistles wasa try. But top lid hadto be taken out after half an hour, after removing cooker weight. For the requiredquantity of cooked rice, raw rice waswashed, placed in two containers, thoor dhal in one, added with water, placedinside the cooker, ensuring sufficient water is in the cooker, and placed on wick stove which I felt mostsafe. Later we used to place cooker incharcoal oven also. One day just likethat we placed a plate over third container, kept vegetables, potato etc. were cooked correctly, brinjal etc. were over cooked. This type ofpressure cooker by prestige continued for a long period without more changes. Having a cooker wasa prestige. I purchased my pressure cooker for Rs 104-00, while my salary wasRs 163-00!! One gram gold was priced Rs16-00. LPG was available atRanipet where I was working at that time. I am not sure why I did not purchaseLPG stove. 2. Cooker without containers. I do not know whoinvented, instead of placing three containers, a single stainless steelcontainer was placed for cooking rice and it was perfect cooking. News spreadamong women and most started placing a single vessel for rice and a plate overit for cooking vegetables. Finally the prestige company also got the news thatmost are using a single vessel. Rice cooked in sucha vessel was more better than in the containers, there was no waste like in theuse of three containers. Probably some forgot to place the bottom plate, nothinghappened. Most ladies found if the vent hole in the topover which cooker weight was placed, wasclean and visible nothing to fear of pressure cooker. Lapse of seeing itthere were instances of cooker exploding, even after safety valve opens,because of pressure already built inside. Hearing suchinformation in newspapers without checkingfor the hole in the vent portion, nolady would place top lid over the bottomvessel. The practice continues tilltoday. After steam freelycoming through the vent hole, cooker weight is placed. Because of theobstruction of cooker weight, some part of steam would be blowing out with a noise, many call it whistle.But thewhistle is different from the milk cooker. 3. Changes in pressure cooker Gradually pressurecooker started appearing with- out innervessels. Also bottom plate came in some sizes and not in some sizes. Themerchants started supplying proper container to keep inside the cooker and a suitable plate above it. The standard ofliving has gone high, now most homes have 3-4 pressure cookers of differentcapacities. 4. Stainless steel pressure cooker. The major changecame was along with hindalium body stainless steel body cookersalso. These cookers have more weight, more costly. Comparing to Hindalium heat is felt more in the body. Stainlesssteel cookers continue along with HIndalium. I think most prefer Hindalium typefor lesser weight. 5. Pan type pressure cooker. Large pan typepressure cooker was the next addition. Mostly it came as a combo offer first,along with a pressure cooker, the top is only one for both the cookers. Laterversion came in stainless steel, with separate lid. Since it is pan type unlesswater has to be poured just the quantity required , There are chances of toplid coming out on steam pressure if the casket is loose. Still complaints arethere, and merchants advice to use the cooker for short period, ensure cooking period is lessin low flame. 6. Coloured cookers. The next addition was coloured cookers over thehindalium. Washing has to be done softly using plastic scrubber. Other thanbeautiful appearance nothing more to add to it. 7. Cooker with almost flat top Latest modelcookers appear with a flat top, with a concave area. Any material or excess steamwith liquid comes through vent hole it will be collected there. This type ofcooker is sold most along with others. 8. Cooker casket, safety valve and handles Present day cookerssomehow we replace casket at least once a year, safety valves once in 6 monthsand cooker weight once in two years. Due to frequent use, cleaning is more, wear and tear ismore. Not because the quality has gone 9. Repair Most metal shopshave a repair section, busy from morning to evening. On a small amount asservice charge replacements are done, including cooker handles.This is in addition to company service for which items have to be taken to their service centre. Exchange offers aremade by the company, the old cooker is taken for a higher price than metalvalue. Many use pan type cooker bottomfor many other preparations, and not exchanged much. 10 Hawkins cookers. The main differencewith prestige cooker is there is no safety valve. So one has to ensure venthole is clear and ample steam comes up before placing cooker weight. The casket issmaller and spherical. Because of sliding top and locking the casket has agrove for grip in prestige cookers. Hawkins has notchanged the top lid, still handles are held together by a clipping/ringprovided in the end of top handle with a strong grove in bottom handle. Howeverin different colours, in hindalium and stainless steel, cookers are there.Comparing to Prestige Hawkins cookers are priced more. Advertisements forprestige cooker in paper or TV are much more comparing to Hawkins. Small potlike colour cookers are there from Hawkins. The following pointsare from website and by Google search 11 Isaluminium or stainless steel better for pressure cooker? The surface ofaluminium pressure cookers tends to react with acidic foods during and afterpreparation. Hence, the use of aluminium pressure cookers can cause adverseeffects on your health. Stainless steel is non-reactive to acidic and saltyfood items, making cookers made of stainless steel a healthier choice. But present cookers are manufacturedusing Hindalium and the above defects are nullified. 12 Which cooker is better inner or outer lid? Inner lid cookersare lighter in weight, more durable, safer and have a higher net capacity. Outer lid cookers on the other handare easier to clean and more functional. If you are looking for apressure cooker for making curries, then our recommendation would be to opt forinner lid cookers. 13 About Prestige Company history. TTK Prestige was incorporated as a privatelimited company on October 22, 1955, in Madras (now Chennai) under the name TTPrivate Limited. Whenwas Prestige pressure cooker invented?-1959 It beganmanufacture of pressure cookers in 1959 with technical collaboration fromPrestige Group of the United Kingdom. Prestige PressureCooker give the durability 2 Years Standard and 5 Years on Royal Range. HawkinsPressure cooker gives 5 Years Warranty For All units. Prestige Pressure Cookerall products ensure a firm grip with double screw handles. Prestige PressureCooker comes with Alpha base induction for versatile use. 14 About Hawkins Companyhistory. Hawkins CookersLimited has been in business since 1959. Today, it has two offices, threefactories and about 700 persons working. It is the leader in thepressure cooker market in India and has exported its products since 1974 to various countries ineach of the six continents of the world. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. 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