What are the chances of....

[Deleted]

...pressure cookers exploding? My roommate leaves her pressure cooker steaming and whistling for like two hours perhaps 2 times a week (turns it on and just leaves the kitchen and goes to her room). I cannot go to sleep until it's off the stove. She used to leave the stove on and leave the apartment and I was able to stop that but she doesn't believe me that the rocker on top just has to move and it doesn't need to be steaming like that. I am annoyed. I turn it down and she will hear that the whistling stops and comes back and turns it on even higher. 

And the whistling bothers my dogs. And she likely thinks I'm a jerk for touching her cooking.

[Deleted]

Apr 26, 2016 22:54:42 GMT -5 @foodielicious said:

I think modern pressure cookers have an additional safety valve that will blow if the rocker valve closes.

Do you think she should be sitting there watching it the whole time? She could at least sit in the livingroom and not on the other side of the apartment where it is out of sight.

The whistling I think is an indicator that it's venting properly. Can't help you about the dogs.  It shouldn't whistle. It just raises the internal temp/pressure to like 280 instead of 212 or something which cooks the food faster. Steam heavily coming out is wasted energy. by it steaming out, it is relieving the pressure that is too high for the pot. 

How often is this an issue? Have you talked to her nicely about how nervous this makes you? 2 times a week at least.  I dislike confrontation so I texted her about it and how it makes me nervous. She's "compromised" by not leaving it/the stove on home alone. 

[dragon's breath]

I don't have a pressure cooker, but I pressure can quite a bit.

If it's a psi-specific weighted rocker (so that you don't have to watch the pressure gauge, one ring = 10psi, both rings = 15 psi) I agree, it should just rock, not continue to whistle or rock "violently". If there is just a weight and you watch the gauge for psi, the weight shouldn't be rocking and letting out steam--you control the psi by raising/lowering the temp and watching the gauge. For a cooker, I'm thinking you'd have the psi-specific weight though.

Modern pressure cooker/canners have an over pressure plug that will pop if pressure gets too high (should see a rubber plug in the lid). However, those have failed, even in modern canners, so you still want to pay attention.

One issue though is running out of liquid if you let it all steam out. It's like boiling a pan of water and running it dry--it will ruin the canner/cooker and make it unsafe for future use. If used passed this point, you're more prone to the explosion later.

I'd be annoyed, but I'm not sure what you can do about it if she just doesn't care.

[Deleted]

Yeah, the text was after coming home to it on the stove and her car was not in our spot.
"did you accidently leave the stove on with your pressure cooker?"
"No on purpose. it needs another hour"
"Can you not leave it home alone? Leaving the stove on makes me nervous while neither of us are home"

Talking about how to properly use a pressure cooker and not put it on med-high was in person.

I googled it and I feel like the worst thing that will happen is the top blowing off. We both carry renter's insurance so as long as neither dog is around to get hurt I"m okay. Sometimes I can't think rationally because she's nearing BEC territory for me.

[Deleted]

Apr 26, 2016 23:17:06 GMT -5 @foodielicious said:

ime, pressure cookers always steamed, but I haven't seen one in literally decades so I can't speak about that.

A text would have really irritated me. It can be construed as very passive aggressive. Like you're too upset/angry/irritated to even have a civil conversation about it. And even if you didn't mean it that way, tone can come off really different than you intended it in a text/e-mail than in person. If you're doing that 2 times a week, I wouldn't be inclined to be accommodating either.

OH no. I've texted and talked about it once each in our entire 6 months of this going on. We work different schedules so it's not uncommon to go a few days without any in person interaction.

I really try not to be a raging bitch. It's obvious she won't change her behavior.

[ECB]

I'm with you on not leaving the apartment with the stove on. And I fully get that listening to the whistle for 2 hours is REALLY annoying.

But as long as she's IN the apartment, I don't see the issue. As she clearly is BEC with you, the fact that she scampers off into her room vs sitting out in the common space is a GOOD thing as far as I'm concerned!

[Awkward]

Apr 27, 2016 7:00:15 GMT -5 @meepmeep said:

I'd like to know WTF she is pressure-cooking for 2+ hours? Besides canning, I've never had it running longer than 30 minutes or so, even for unsoaked beans. Whatever she's cooking must be absolutely mush when she takes it out.

This was my first thought! Pressure cooking is supposed to speed up the process, what needs hours and hours of cooking time multiple times a week?

Also big no to leaving anything on a heat source unattended. Nope nope nope.

[juliej]

Apr 27, 2016 7:21:55 GMT -5 Awkward said:

Apr 27, 2016 7:00:15 GMT -5 @meepmeep said:

I'd like to know WTF she is pressure-cooking for 2+ hours? Besides canning, I've never had it running longer than 30 minutes or so, even for unsoaked beans. Whatever she's cooking must be absolutely mush when she takes it out.

This was my first thought! Pressure cooking is supposed to speed up the process, what needs hours and hours of cooking time multiple times a week?

Also big no to leaving anything on a heat source unattended. Nope nope nope.

Seriously! Is she confusing it with a slow cooker or something?

[Deleted]

Apr 27, 2016 7:54:17 GMT -5 juliej said:

Apr 27, 2016 7:21:55 GMT -5 Awkward said:

This was my first thought! Pressure cooking is supposed to speed up the process, what needs hours and hours of cooking time multiple times a week?

Also big no to leaving anything on a heat source unattended. Nope nope nope.

Seriously! Is she confusing it with a slow cooker or something?

It's lentils and chicken. Sometimes it smells like curry. I'm not quite sure beyond chicken/meat. She will literally leave a pot boiling on the stove and has dry boiled  a pot since I've been here. It's baffling.

She got a crockpot for xmas. I was gleeful. She has not used it once. 

[cruiser]

She should get an Instant Pot! It is electric, so no sitting on the stove and no steam escapes (unless you have it on the steaming function). It is totally quiet except the few beeps at the end of the cycle. Everything is timed too and will go into "keep warm" if she does have to leave the house. Works just like a slower cooker. Pressure cooking is fast too. A whole chicken is done in like 30 min and only about 8 min for a breast. The longest I cooked anything was 80 min for a corned beef brisket.

[awkwardpenguin]

I think you need to let this go. It's not really a hazard (because of the pressure relief valve) and beyond that it's not your business.

[Deleted]

Apr 27, 2016 11:01:47 GMT -5 cruiser said:

She should get an Instant Pot! It is electric, so no sitting on the stove and no steam escapes (unless you have it on the steaming function). It is totally quiet except the few beeps at the end of the cycle. Everything is timed too and will go into "keep warm" if she does have to leave the house. Works just like a slower cooker. Pressure cooking is fast too. A whole chicken is done in like 30 min and only about 8 min for a breast. The longest I cooked anything was 80 min for a corned beef brisket.

YES

Someone please get this girl and electric pressure cooker before she burns your apartment down.

[magpie]

I don't know anything about pressure cookers, but my grandma blew one up in our kitchen once (this was a looong time ago though, I imagine that they have come further along in terms of safety!). It didn't damage anything and, luckily, no one was in there or they would have been burned by the hot "rice dinner" that glopped all over the place. It was mostly a huge mess (so epic that I still remember it!). I would not be comfortable with something on the stovetop/the stovetop being left on and unattended. Too many things could happen.

[soxin2]

Apr 27, 2016 7:54:17 GMT -5 juliej said:

Apr 27, 2016 7:21:55 GMT -5 Awkward said:

This was my first thought! Pressure cooking is supposed to speed up the process, what needs hours and hours of cooking time multiple times a week?

Also big no to leaving anything on a heat source unattended. Nope nope nope.

Seriously! Is she confusing it with a slow cooker or something?

A million times this.

[soxin2]

Disclaimer: I live in MA.

You could point out the marathon bombing was done with a pressure cooker.

In "I'm a dumbass" news, I had to look up a pressure cooker because I thought they meant slow cooker.

Seems like she has this problem in reverse.


But. Yeah. Bombs were made of them. So, no thanks.

They are for canning. If she is not canning, she needs to use a slow cooker/crock pot.

[explorer2001]

I would be pissed with the roommate's recklessness and disregard for your comfort/safety in your own home.

Plus when i worked in leasing in college we had a tenant who left the stove on hard boiling eggs and left the property. It boiled dry, burned the eggs, caused toms of smoke. The fire department had to be called. There was smoke damage to the entire apartment, etc. Thankful the burning was contained to the contents of the pan and pan itself being ruined.

So yeah it's 100% never ok to leave the stove on when your not home. If anything happened that delayed you, you could cause a fire or worse. Just cook when you're home.

[Deleted]

She's just not full of common sense which is funny because she's pursuing her PhD. So she does a lot of dumb things like turns the heat up to 80 (I woke up and thought I was dying). She also believes soap, paper towels, and trash bags just magically appear in our apartment. And she's a door slammer but has improved. I also put those plastic dampers on all our kitchen cabinets and her bathroom cabinets.

To make it MM: I won't be renting with her for too long. I'm living on a current budget to mimic living alone. I am on a wait list for a one bedroom in good complex. I should be moving in July or August and she will be going back home for all of June.

[awkwardpenguin]

Apr 27, 2016 11:56:29 GMT -5 soxin2 said:

Disclaimer: I live in MA.

You could point out the marathon bombing was done with a pressure cooker.

In "I'm a dumbass" news, I had to look up a pressure cooker because I thought they meant slow cooker.

Seems like she has this problem in reverse.


But. Yeah. Bombs were made of them. So, no thanks.

They are for canning. If she is not canning, she needs to use a slow cooker/crock pot.

Wait, what? Obviously the pressure cooker was modified to turn it into a bomb. It's a kitchen appliance used by millions of people around the world. They don't just blow up by design.

They're also not just used for canning. They're extremely common in Indian cooking, although I never cook anything longer than 20-30 minutes in mine.

[soxin2]

Apr 27, 2016 20:28:03 GMT -5 awkwardpenguin said:

Apr 27, 2016 11:56:29 GMT -5 soxin2 said:

Disclaimer: I live in MA.

You could point out the marathon bombing was done with a pressure cooker.

In "I'm a dumbass" news, I had to look up a pressure cooker because I thought they meant slow cooker.

Seems like she has this problem in reverse.


But. Yeah. Bombs were made of them. So, no thanks.

They are for canning. If she is not canning, she needs to use a slow cooker/crock pot.

Wait, what? Obviously the pressure cooker was modified to turn it into a bomb. It's a kitchen appliance used by millions of people around the world. They don't just blow up by design.

They're also not just used for canning. They're extremely common in Indian cooking, although I never cook anything longer than 20-30 minutes in mine.

Text fail: I knew they were modified. As are pipes for pipe bombs.

I didn't mean to sound so .. I dunno, like there was a straight line link.

I did however, actually, think they were only for canning. Learn something new.