Feel the pressure...cooker that is!

Well, my friend Lainie, has outed me with hinting at a story to blog about pressure cookers. :) So I took the bait and I think it is something those of us who use these lovely pots need to know.

I inherited my pressure cooker from my Gram. She had it for years before I received it. I just love it! The size is perfect to make stews, soups for large groups and of course big roasts, ribs, chicken to boot. So I used it a lot because I am known for forgetting to lay out the meat needed for supper that night. (getting better by the way) Anyway, this certain fall day about a year ago or so, my family was outside and I decided to make my homemade veggie soup. I think it tastes better after letting it cook all day allowing all the tastes to come together and make this yummy bowl of comfort food. MMM! This time, I did not have all day as lunch was needed in about 45 minutes.

So I pulled out the pressure cooker knowing that would work as well. I did all that you are suppose to do to get it ready and I came in to make sure that the top vent dealy was just dancing a little bit but not over the top. This was not my first time using this device by all means. About ten minutes later, I hear an explosion in my kitchen! I run in to see what was making that sound.

To my horror, I found a fountain of veggie soup spewing from the top vent of my pressure cooker. I could not take the lid off yet and the fountain was not stopping just by removing the pan from the heat!!! I had vegetable soup all over my kitchen from the backsplash, up the cabinet fronts and most of it was on my ceiling!!!! How do you get vegetable soup off the ceiling?! Anyway, I am a problem solver by nature so I didn't panic, but I grabbed towels and threw them on top of the lid so it would spew into the towels instead. Then I stood back to take it all in.

You had to laugh! I mean, if not, you cry at that moment. I have never had a bath in vegetable soup really. However, I feel certain I know what a shower would feel like. We still have a mark on our ceiling that is a reminder of this moment. It truly made me stop making that soup for a bit! Now, we are just more certain to check the vents and rubber seal as the company suggests. Good to know why they say that. So glad I could take one for the team in figuring that out for everyone. I now share this story with those who tell me they use their grandma's pressure cooker as well. It always brings laughter, but I assure you that at that moment when I saw the fountain o' soup spewing out of that cooker, I was not laughing....yet. :)