Earthlark

Hey, Linda, Since the Vitaquick only cooks at 8.7 psi on setting 2 (and 4.4 psi setting 1), I'm curious if you usually lengthen the cooking time when following traditional 15 psi recipes. I have a large Vitaquick quatro set sitting here and, now, a WMF Perfect Plus set on the way because I wasn't terribly excited to learn of the Vitaquick's lower pressures. I guess I'll figure out which makes me smile more once the WMF gets here next week...

Thanks so much for testing and sharing your results! Here's another response from Fissler USA that I just received: All of Fissler pressure cookers operate at an average of 10 PSI at 1st level (of the indicator) and at an average of 15 PSI at the 2nd level. According to Fissler, if you let the 2nd level rise higher, the cooker will reach up to 18 PSI. Because the US does not allow such high heats, at that temperature/level, the steam will automatically be released from your cooker as a safety measure. In the manual, it states the lowest PSI of the range. The Vitaquick operates at 9-11 PSI on the low setting and 13-15 PSI on the high setting. The maximum PSI on the second cooking setting is 15 PSI. It baffles me how Fissler could get things so mixed up, especially as it seems (according to reviews) that they make some high quality products. But I suppose we're all entitled to mistakes once in a while. Still, I'd love to know why they engineered such a product for the US market (and then didn't communicate with the US branch the product specs). Or did they make some production error and then try to pass the cooker off as a 15 psi cooker? But then they wouldn't have written the specs in the manual. Well, if you ever solve the mystery, Laura, and feel like sharing... As much of a bother as it is, given all the the info (Laura's tests, Fissler's intercompany confusion, and ATK's apparent lack of expertise with PKs), I think I'll have to send this one back and go with the WMF Perfect Plus set. I guess I'll have to rely on other means of cooking for Thanksgiving. Btw, that set happens to be on sale at the moment if anyone's interested--I suspect this is because they're out of stock... (It's less expensive than buying just the 8-1/2 quart PK individually.)

Ha, wouldn't that be nice... but... Thanks for the update on your satisfaction level and the tip, Jo. I was kind of wondering if the 60 kPa was, as you said, just as the second white bar begins to show. However, seems like a long way to go from the first sliver of the white bar to a bit past it to get to 100 kPa, but maybe not... If their PC does reach "15 psi", it seems kind of crazy that Fissler wouldn't market a 15 psi-capable product as such, especially in the US. Maybe the US marketing team didn't do enough research? (Pazzaglia alluded to a lack of research before with regard the US team concluding that Americans would be confused by a dial-setting.) It'd be equally strange, though, if they created such a low-pressure model for the US market, unless it was for a niche market. Hm, maybe the factory is on Zugspitze (the highest peak in Germany) and that's why their claimed pressure is so low. That would put 15 psi a bit closer to the 8.7 psi stated in the manual. It's not much help since I don't have precise equipment (electric glass-top), but I got the same results as you guys doing the chick pea test. Took about 6.5 minutes for room temp water and pot to reach the second white ring. (Stove was warm, but not so much that one couldn't leave a hand on it.) Started 13-min timer. Vented for about 1.5 minutes as glass-top cooled, then sat about middle of the second white ring for the remainder of the 13 min. I released the pressure right away just to see if they would still be cooked. Turned out soft (not al-dente, not mushy). Anyway, like I said, though, pretty imprecise experiment. Btw, just for kicks, I emailed the US branch (if for nothing more than to insinuate that there is a definite problem somewhere) and received the cookie-cutter response that ojisan received: "The Vitaquick operates at 9-11 PSI on the low setting and 13-15 PSI on the high setting. At normal altitude, it would be 11 and 15. Cook's Illustrated and America's Test Kitchen recently tested all pressure cookers in the US and have found that only the Vitaquick actually reaches 15 PSI under pressure."

Right on. Like JoNorvelleWalker, after much research (but apparently not enough), I too finally decided on the large Fissler Quatro Set (and received it today), but after reading with some trepidation that it only gets up to 60 kPa, I have been trying to figure out if that is indeed the case, and if so, if I should send it back. So I'm looking forward to seeing the results!