Buy Magefesa Practika Plus Stainless Steel 6.3-Quart Super Fast

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List Price: $89.99
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A friend who has a Magefesa introduced us to pressure cooking. We did lots of research on the different brands and this is the one to buy. Perfect size, very well made, easy to use controls and great results.

You will need a good cook book also. The one by Lorna Sass has the best recipes....."Cooking Under Pressure".

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I've been learning to use this pressure cooker -my first -and am finding that trial and error is better than relying on the "Instructive & Warranty" manual.

The manual, the manual, the manual. While the manual will keep you from blowing yourself up -and the cooker has safety features coming out the nozzle -it doesn't guide you to success right out of the gate.

After you put the lid on and apply heat, the manual says to turn down the heat as soon as steam starts to escape from the valve on the lid, but that's too early. That little red thingie (which the manual calls the "Red Pressure sensor") eventually pops up a bit, with an audible click. THEN you turn down the heat and start the timer. If you turn the heat down too low, the internal pressure will collapse, the Red Pressure sensor lowers, and you have to spend another 3 or 4 minutes getting the pressure back up before it starts to cook properly.

The manual has a list of foods (on page 3) that shouldn't be cooked in a pressure cooker, as they can "foam, froth and sputte [sic], and clog the pressure release device." Pay attention to this list. These foods were the problem with a lot of first-generation pressure cookers that exploded so memorably into urban folklore 35 years ago.

If you're a first-time pressure cooker using a standard (non electric) model, Miss Vickie's Big Book of Pressure Cooker Recipes will give you recipes and much better guidance on how to use your pressure cooker. The MissVicki website also has info on racks and trivets, which are used to lift the food a bit off the bottom of the pan so it doesn't scorch. This Magefesa Practika Plus set did not include a rack, but these are inexpensive and can be purchased at housewares stores.

Believe me, as a technical writer I certainly share the pain about that dreadful manual. Still, it seems like a good pressure cooker, and I bet I'll get used to using it. Eventually. And maybe Magefesa will get a clue and revise the manual to be useful to native speakers. That one easy fix could raise this pressure cooker to all-star quality.

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This is a good unit but we purchased it at Costco for $50 which was cheaper than Amazon. I like the safety features of the unit. The manual is the not the best translation but I find it adequate. Perhaps they have updated since some of the earlier comments. The annoying thing for me is that many of the recipes call for the trivet and yet it is not supplied. I went to the company website where one can be purchased for $15 but the purchase process does not appear to provide a secure link so I did not order. I sent a message to the company through the webpage and 5 days later have not received a response. I went out and bought one of adjustable steamer baskets for $8 and that seems to work just fine.

April 2012 update. The company never did get back to me. Also we have experienced the seal failing at the safety blow off point in the lid. This is the third safety feature but it tends to release for no apparent reason causing us to shut the unit off and starting again after resetting the seal. This is very annoying.

Honest reviews on Magefesa Practika Plus Stainless Steel 6.3-Quart Super Fast

The instruction booklet was little help in figuring out how the pressure valve should be operated. The cooker works fine, but we learned by trial and error.

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After having tried both a Presto and a Fagor and being completely disappointed, this is a breath of fresh air. No problems whatsoever. And I do use mine several times a week. Cook Indian food, ribs, roasts, artichokes, etc. For those complaining about the lack of English instructions, mine did come with a printout in English. Not a 'formal' instruction book perhaps, but enough to get going. Plus, I seldom use the included instruction manuals, I go to missvickie dot com. Great advice on her site for everything to do with pressure cooking.