Reduce the pressure:
- When you take the pressure cooker off the burner, make sure you hold the Bakelite
handle on either side of the pressure cooker gently, with both hands. Avoid touching the
cooker body or the lid, which are very hot and could scald you.
- For your own safety, make sure that the safety window on the lid faces away from you
while the cooker is in use.
- Reduce the pressure as follows:
a) Fast pressure release: Put the pressure cooker in the sink without any water, open
the tap and wet the lid (without wetting the handle or the pressure control valve)
(see fig. 10), until the red light on the safety valve switches off. This method reduces
pressure quickly.
b) Caution: do not submerge the pressure cooker in the water.
c) Automatic pressure release: Take the pressure cooker off the heat source, and
reduce the pressure by releasing steam through the pressure control valve: to do
so, turn the pressure control valve from position 2 to position 1 so that the steam is
released quickly; when the amount of steam being released drops, turn the pres-
sure control valve from position 1 to position x to release large amounts of steam
until all the steam has been released and the safety valve red indicator drops. The
steam will make the pressure control valve very hot, so always protect your hands
with a heat-resistant cloth or gloves when handling the valve. This method should
only be used when you are cooking solid foods, because liquids tend to spill if
there is a lot of liquid in the cooker.
Fig. 10
25