WMF pressure cooker owners: is this brand new pot I got broken?

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earthling177

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Sorry if this subject has been discussed before, I couldn't find it in the old(er) posts by searching.

I just got a 8.5 liter WMF Perfect Pro pressure cooker -- it's very similar to the Perfect Plus models, the only differences seem to be that the valve that lets out steam at the beginning of the warm up phase and shuts off when the pressure is reached is under the removable handle instead of on the far side of the lid across the handle, and also it has a twist knob that selects between low pressure (1) and high pressure (2).

Anyway, I hand washed the pot and lid as instructed in the user guide, and then I tried a water test where I put 2 cups (0.5 liter) of water in the pot (they say 1 cup minimum to reach pressure), closed it and brought it up to pressure, then lowered the heat. The problem seems to be that something is not working well, in that instead of a very low gentle hiss and very little steam coming out, it makes a louder hiss, and puts out about as much steam as a jiggler pressure cooker on high heat. It also seems to lose all pressure in a couple of minutes if I turn off the heat.

In the same situation, my other two pots (a 6 liter Fagor Multirapid and a 10 liter Fissler Vitaquick), which are also spring valve pots, hiss for about a minute or two while coming up to the boiling point, then only a gentle hiss with barely a hint of steam comes out. Also, they take at least 4-5 minutes to let go of all pressure with "natural release", i.e., let them cool off on their own until one can open the lids.

With the WMF the steam seem to be coming from under the handle, in the center of the lid, so I'm not sure which valve is letting steam out and/or misbehaving.

In case it matters, I'm using an induction range, it seems to do the same thing whether I use the high heat/power boost or whether I bring the pot up to pressure on medium high heat, so I may be mistaken, but I don't think it's because I'm bringing it up to pressure way too fast.

I am wondering if people who have a WMF pressure cooker have a similar experience, if I'm doing something wrong, or if this pot is presenting a manufacturing defect that I need to either get them to fix or exchange, since it's brand new.

Thank you in advance for your help,
-- Paulo.
 
Paulo,

I was wondering if that 2 cups of liquid was enough to build up pressure. There wasn't any food in the pressure cooker, right? I'm not sure, but it might not be enough to build up the pressure to close the valve.

I read the German manual. It's also that the little ball is in the right chamber, have you checked that?

Hope you will find out what it is.
 
I thought

Fagor's are among the best, along with Kuhn Ricon, and one German brand.
Do you use them commercially in catering or a restaurant? That's a lot of heavy use, and hard on the seals.
 
Tom: thanks, I might do that -- right now I'm mostly leaning towards returning it or exchanging it before Amazon thinks I waited too long.

Louis: yes, the pot was empty except for the water, they say 1 cup minimum to build up pressure, I might try a quart of water and see, but it does not look encouraging from my first couple of tests. Yes, I checked and the stainless steel ball is in the correct chamber.

Mike: I bought the pressure cooker for my home, I have nothing to do with catering/restaurants except as a customer. This particular pot is brand new, I just got it Friday afternoon, there has been nothing but water in it so far. I'm used to doing a water test with any PC I buy because this is not the first PC I get brand new that misbehaves, about 20 years ago I got a jiggler type PC (Innova, I think) that also leaked from the silicone gasket brand new out of the box. It's much easier to return/exchange a PC if it looks unused and doesn't smell than if it smells of food, even if it's yummy food.

Anyway, thanks all for responding, I really appreciate it.

-- Paulo.
 
Hi again!

Did another water test, just 1 liter (a bit above a quart) of water, no food. Brought it up to pressure on High (not power boost), lowered the heat to maintain hight pressure for 10 minutes. Off the heat, it was ready to open in about 3 minutes of natural release.

When I measured the water remaining in the pot I got only 800 ml, and I'm under the impression that a 200 ml loss in 10 minutes is a bit too high for a high-end spring-valve pressure cooker -- heck, there are jigglers that don't lose that much, 250 ml is a cup of water.

Right now I'm thinking about asking for an exchange and see if another unit works as expected.

Cheers,
-- Paulo.
 
Yes, send it back. I have a good Fagor  (heavier than hello), also a cheapo Walmart 4 qt.  both build pressure with enough water to cover that bottom of the pot, but still below the steamer rack.   Of course the pressure drops much quicker especially in the Presto when using the steamer set up.  Both hold pressure a very long time when 2/3 full of liquid, a vegetable soup for example.  I think there is something wrong with the mechanism in the lid.  Did you rub the seal with vegetable oil prior to first use?  A
 
Just a word

on pressure cooker and other violence. They can only run and hide for so long.
They take no hatred to the grave, so why hate?
This crap has got to stop.
 

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