Last week on the morning of 17th May, everything seemed normal in the house. My mother was busy in the kitchen. My father and I were getting ready for work. Out of the blue there was a loud explosion followed by a scream coming from the direction of the Kitchen. I rushed there and couldn’t believe what I saw. The pressure cooker had exploded spewing out everything from its belly on to the kitchen walls and floors. In the midst of it was my mother shell-shocked and unable to fathom what had happened. The explosion was loud enough to bring our neighbors and even the people living below us to their balconies wondering where the sound came from.
My mother must be one lucky lady to have survived without any injury. She was at ground zero and yet there was not even a grain of rice on her. The flying lids could have injured her or the boiling rice could have burnt her, by God’s grace nothing happened.
Food all over the kitchen counter All burners and the bread scattered Twisted Casket
Food on the roof On the Cupboards Bye Bye Lid
Some one threw up? Lighter bent and hiding Too much onion !
Innovative Design? I can't hear anything!!
We later found out that the pressure cooker was an old one and the safety value had been subsequently replaced. On high pressures, the safety value is supposed to break upon and release any additional built up pressure but we found the safety value still intact on the lid. The value must have been a defective one.
Few safety tips:
- Buy only branded cookers.
- Don’t over use the cookers. They are extremely dangerous.
- If there’s a problem with the safety value, make sure that branded valves are being fitted. To be on the safer side, replace the whole cooker and buy a new one.
- Clean the safety valves thoroughly. Any food residue will contaminate the value.
- Change the caskets frequently.
- If you notice anything strange while cooking, switch off the burners, make sure the lids have been properly sealed, check if the cooker has enough water and start over again.