Fagor Splendid 2-in-1 5 Piece Pressure Cooker Set

Fagor Splendid 2-in-1 5 Piece Pressure Cooker Set

I'm very happy with my pressure cookers, purchased a few months ago. I agonized over whether to purchase the 4 quart or 6 quart model, as I wanted both to be able to cook small amounts (e.g. 2 cups of rice) for small meals and larger amounts for dinner parties. This combination set is perfect, as it allows me to do both, without buying two lids and gaskets, and for considerably less than the cost of buying the two separately. I've made batches of beans and grains in the 4-quart pot, and a variety of soups in the 6 quart pot. It's also been great for cooking winter squash in just a few minutes.

The pressure cooker is easy to use and easy to clean (& I'm new to pressure cooking), and thus far the gasket has sealed with relative ease. The steaming basket and flimsy trivet aren't ideal, but this is a minor complaint.

I had hoped to save on my energy bill by pressure cooking - since food cooks in a fraction of the time, it should only use a fraction of the electricity / gas. I can't say that I've noticed any changes to my electric bill though, because it turns out that energy use for cooking is a relatively small part of overall energy use. According to Natural Resources Canada (from whom information happened to be conveniently available) the average household with an electric stove uses about 775 KWH (kilowatt hours) of electricity for the stove per year. At $0.12 per KWH, that would amount to about $95. Fagor claims that a pressure cooker reduces energy use by 70%. Assuming that you'll actually pressure cook one-fourth of what you cook on a stove-top that would mean that your average yearly savings would be $95*1/4*0.70, or about $17. Given that the pressure cooker set costs currently about $120, that means it would take about 7 years to recoup your investment in terms of energy savings (this would change a bit if you take into account that in winter the extra heat from cooking helps to heat the house, and in summer you have to pay twice, once to heat the stove and once to re-cool the kitchen). If you buy a new gasket every couple of years, it come out nearly even.

In conclusion, my pressure cookers have allowed me to eat more healthy foods - whole grains, legumes and winter squashes - without spending all day cooking. For that it's a good investment, but not so much to save energy.