Pressure Cooker Pot/Pan ... Help :)

I have picked up a Sicomatic-S pressure cooker "thing" at a garage sale... It's only about 8-9cm deep, but looks in pretty good order.

I've never used a pressure cooker of any sort before ... what do I need to know? What can I do with it? Any advice gratefully received :)

http://www.silit.com/englisch/sortiment/produktdetail. asp? nv
_id=10&serie=144&hg=3&pg=16

Are you able to post a pic or two on here? Don't ask me how, I've never done it ! I am a seasoned pressure cooker user, so will help if I can.

Sicomatic® - fast & healthful

The name Silit is closely associated with the development of the pressure cooker. One of the first pressure cookers was Siko by Silit. Siko stands for "safety cooking pot". It was the fastest pressure cooker of all times - with three cooking levels.

If you heat up liquids in a hermetically sealed pot, steam is generated, it creates an overpressure and thus also an increased temperature. This leads to a reduction of cooking times for foods - thus the term pressure cooking. Pressure-cooking saves energy. Because water takes up a thousand times more space in vapor than in liquid form, the pressure which is generated must be regulated by a valve. Thus the valve plays an important role in the cooking process.

The qualitative differences in products on the market are considerable. In more than 80 years of research and development we have continually optimized our pressure cookers in terms of design and technology.
Trust the original - trust Sicomatic®.



The Sicomatic® principle

Unique valve system
State-of-the-art valve technology guarantees safe and healthful cooking. The steam is released evenly and gently. The maintenance-free valve need not be disassembled for cleaning. Simply rinse off under running water.

Hermetic system
The hermetic system, which consists of an operating valve and a completely sealed pressure indicator system, prevents any unnecessary release of steam. This way you need less cooking water. You save time and energy during parboiling and cooking periods. The hermetically sealed Sicomatic® prevents foods from losing their aroma and preserves essential vitamins and minerals.

Two preset cooking levels
Setting I - gentle cooking level: for stewing and steaming foods which require short cooking times such as fish, poultry and vegetables. Constant temperature: 107° C.
Setting II - fast cooking level: for cooking foods which require longer cooking times such as meat and stews. Constant temperature: 119° C.

Cooking times (examples)
with Sicomatic® without Sicomatic®
Boiled potatoes8 min. 20 min.
Side of beef 25 min. 1, 5 hrs.
Whole chicken 30 min. 2, 0 hrs.
Cauliflower6 min. 20 min.
Green beans8 min. 15 min.


Pressure Cookers Sicomatic®:



Sicomatic®-E
Sicomatic®-D
Sicomatic®-T

Check the rubber seal is in good condition.

They are easy enough to replace if not.

i had a seb one and loved it, need a new lid though so have not used it in awhile, be careful when releasing the pressure through the valve make sure all is gone, my one blocked onetime and i did not know, undid the lid and thankfully it also locked into place with handle things on the pot so could only raise about an inch or so and the contents underpressure flew out the sides, badly burnt my stomach and leg, but i say thankfully because if the lid had flown straight off my burns would have been much worse. It did not put me off using it though, just made me be super careful about the pressure being all gone before undoing the lid.

Thanks everyone.

cookessentials - I did find that website - I'm not sure what happened to the model I have which is Sicomatic-S though... They talk about E, D & T. Definitely the same brand though. It still has the label on top (although nothing written in English on it). It has settings on it O, I & II so sounds very similar to those other models.

traceedwards - the seal doesn't look at all perished. I would say it's hardly been used.

margyr - that's what I was a little concerned about. The lid on this one does turn and lock into place.

So ... if I want to try it, I would use it as a normal pot but the cooking time will be shorter. Less water as the steam isn't going to escape?

suziedd - pics coming :)

If you want to use it as a 'normal pot', use setting 0

Food will cook in the same time as a regular pot.

well as long as it cannot lift straight off it should be ok, as i said i loved using mine and for bacon hocks for soup, corned beef it could not be beat, heard one of the hardware shops saying the other day they have spare parts for them so may take my pot in and see if they have a lid. I think the seal on mine must have went bung because i had it on one day and there was a bang and the lid had actually sucked right in, amazing as it is heavy as metal, the husband had to take it out to the garage and use a chizel or something to break the seal and get the meat out that i was cooking. My tales sound terrible, but as I said i really loved using it and would use it again if i can get a new lid.

Pics:

http://images. trademe.co.nz/photoserver/64/124195364_full. jp
g

http://images. trademe.co.nz/photoserver/84/124195384_full. jp
g

You're scaring me! lolThese are the sort of tales that my husband was worried about when I showed him my "find". I don't think mine will be deep enough for corned beef...

oh i did not tell you when i burnt my stomach the kids came running and they were only small so i screeched at them to get out of the kitchen, I was shooting off to the shower and husband came flying in, skidded on the stuff all over the floor landed flat on his back, banging his head on the corner of the counter on the way down, a neighbour was a nurse so while i was in the shower fully clothed and cold water running on me I sent eldest who was about 6 at the time to go and get her. Haha it is funny now thinking about it but not at the time, I had about 2 weeks off work because of the burn on my stomach. Good luck with yours mine came with a recipe book so perhaps you maybe able to get some info on yours if you google recipe book for whatever the model is, maybe worth a try.

Oh and i would not experiment with it, find out all the info you need before using.

That's if I still want to try it now, of course! lol

Cook your potatoes in it tonight. You will be amazed at how quickly they are done. Better to underestimate cooking time in the beginning and have to cook a little further, rather than end up with a soggy mess. That PC looks as though it has a good safety mechanism. When cooking time is up, remove from heat and wait until it stops hissing before removing lid. You've had some good info further up the postings. You can get quite creative with a PC. Keep posting.