Presto 01282 8-Quart Aluminum Pressure Cooker

Love this model and version so I had to replace my existing one. Had it for almost 20 years and kept using it despite a broken pot handle. Why it took me so long to get another? Because another model and design didn't satisfy like this one does. So very glad they're still making and selling them.

Paid $71.39 for this 8 quart aluminum pressure cooker - and I must say, it was worth it. I have an old 6 quart Mirro and it just didn't have enough room for a larger roast. (I'm now raising 3 grandchildren). I just tried it out and this 8 quart Presto was perfect with plenty of room for an almost 4 pound chuck roast (3.61lb) along with baby carrots, new potatoes, celery and pearl onions. I had about 2 inches of room at the top when all was added. My only complaint - the "rack" is very shallow. Not like the one I have for my Mirro that's about 1/2" tall. This one's maybe half that at best. So after adding the water for steam barely above the top, that didn't leave much room for error (as in running out of water). I had to watch it closely. (You can always tell when the water is gone by the smell - but by that time the inside of the bottom has gone dry and the residue has been baked on ... and it is not fun to clean although it doesn't usually hurt the roast). After about an hour and a half I had the heat down to just barely there with a very slight hiss - so it really holds the pressure well! Even though it was made in China, it would appear that you can still trust Presto for high quality!

I did a dumb thing with my old Presto. I was making a pot roast & somehow I got the cover misaligned with the pot. It was stuck - could not get it off or on correctly. I tried all the stuff that I could think of to dislodge it and I “broke my pick” trying to fix it, and decided to call Presto for help. The lady had no new clues either. Everything she suggested, I had tried already. Sadly I dumped the whole ready to cook pot roast & all the ingredients into the trash along with the Presto. Now I went on a search for a new pressure cooker. Costco had one of those “name brand, on TV” electric, do it all, pressure cookers for sale. I decided to try it. I did not even take it out of the box after reading the instruction manual. There are so any cautions & warnings with using it that I really did not feel comfortable to use it. Back to presto on Amazon. I found the same product that I had & just could not wait 2 days for it to arrive to make another pot roast. That meal was great. Yes, it doesn’t have all that fancy settings stuff and “press it & forget it” - but they just do not get same results as the Presto - is just not as good. I have also tried making some other meals that I have not tried before. They were easy to make and tasty & I wondered why I did not try this before. This size pot is perfect for doing a large hunk of meat for pot roasts & plenty of room for chicken, pork, or other dishes. I take JUST THE pot and rinse it out & I put it into the dishwasher. Perfectly cleaned. DO NOT put the lid into the dishwasher even if you take the gasket off. There still is a rubber plug in the lid that will dry out & make the pressure cooker a possible hazard. Just take the gasket off and clean the lid by hand - it is very easy & takes no time. I now am very carefully putting the lid on making sure it is all lined up & the top and pot are perfectly engaged. I know this one will last along time.

This is very easy to use and works wonderful, putting the handles on was no problem at all. I did buy a different Presto pressure cooker the same days as I did this one. You never know when you might need to cook more than one things at a time. Both work wonderful this doesn't have the release that the other one I bought does but I don't feel it needs to since I have the other one. Everything was evenly cooked with lots of liquid still in the pot when opening. It did not take long for the pressure to build up or come down once you take it off the burner. It is wonderful quality that will be used for years to come passing them down to my children and if they are like my caners to my grandchildren. I was looking at the electric ones at the same time I was this one and felt I would give this one a try, I won't be buying a electric one. I have some Presto caners that are 20 years old still good as new. Presto in my book is one of the highest quality products you can buy, they last long and you get lots of use out of them. I use this every week, sometimes a few times a week and have no problem at all. The price is a steal you won't go wrong if you pick this up you will be as delighted as I am I am sure.

This pressure cooker replaced the one I'd had for probably 20 years, same design and quality. it is a great kitchen must have. The reason for less than 5 stars is that the screw for the main handle on the body, the one that gets all the pressure because it is the one that is the mate to the lid handle used to close it, was too short. It kept coming loose and the last time I tried to tighten it, a layer of the bottom 3 or 4 threads came loose, meaning it was stripped and no longer useable. Upon a closer look, I realized that only those few threads were ever reaching inside and of course, was not enough to hold the handle for long. The overall length of the screw was only 5/8". I found a replacement that would work. It is size 10-24 x 3/4" long, combo round headed machine screw. I reused the washer that came with the cooker.

Works great!

Pressure cookers in general are great, they provide a wonderful way to quickly obtain a meal that would otherwise take hours and hours of cooking time. This both saves you time and reduces the energy required for cooking. This Presto 8 quart aluminum cooker is a nice size, not too large for cooking meals for 2, and not too small to prevent cooking a larger meal for a family. It's also reasonably priced and feels quite solid in its construction. I would say the highlight so far in its use has been the creation of split pea soup with a ham bone. Previously I've made the soup in a pot and just let it cook away for a couple of hours. This generally results in a soup with peas that retain some individuality, like lentils, that after being refrigerated combine into that large split pea mass I love. In the pressure cooker after half an hour the split peas literally fall completely apart and form into the semi solid mass that I usually don't attain until I'm eating it as left overs. Fantastic. Not to mention quick corned beef, speedy stocks, and delightful beans and brown rice. If you like to cook and are thinking about adding a pressure cooker to your arsenal, this is a great tool to have.

I purchased this 6-quart pressure cooker, and it has quickly become a staple in my kitchen. The size is perfect for cooking meals for my family of four, and it’s versatile enough to handle everything from soups and stews to rice and even tougher cuts of meat. What I love most is how fast it cooks. It does the job well. The build quality is solid and durable. The locking mechanism is secure , so I feel confident using it. Overall, I highly recommend this pressure cooker to anyone looking to make home-cooked meals quickly and easily. It's a fantastic value for the price.

Good quality 👍

Putting the lid on this pressure cooker is a nightmare. It can take me several minutes to succeed. Other than that, it's aluminum, so no acidic foods unless you want to taste the presto as well. Works great for potatoes, beets, and other starchy root vegetables.

After 2 months of use I can say that the lid does not adjust well to the pot. There is some leakage of water and steam when the pressure is high while cooking.... I will try to upload a video later. But I don't find this very safe.

It’s a good pot, but the video says it can also be used as a pressure canner, but it’s just a cooker

So far it's worked great. Rack works well and doesn't reduce cooking space hardly at all. Rattler isn't annoyingly loud even watching TV in the next room, unless you have it boiling too hard. Thought I might find it annoying, turns out it's actually a great way to tell if it's working normally without having to get up. Handle wiggles a bit but it hasn't given me any trouble so far. As long as you know this isn't the same as a normal pot, you have to check on it a bit as it comes up to temperature, etc, you'll be happy buying this. One thing is that if, at the end of cooking, you press the emergency release to check for pressure, and there isn't any pressure, and it's wet with water, it just pops off inside. This is no big deal, you just rinse it and put it back in, and I could solve this by not being an idiot, so I can't count that against it.