Pressure cookers are amazing devices that make home cooking incredibly easy and efficient. However, they can be exceptionally hazardous if you don’t know how to properly maintain and use one. One of the most dangerous mistakes you can make when using a pressure cooker is opening it too soon.
Opening a pressure cooker too soon can be disastrous and has the potential to injure anyone nearby. This is due to pressure that has built up inside the appliance and hasn’t had time to be released. When you open a pressure cooker too soon, unreleased pressure can cause the appliance to explode, causing severe burns and other serious injuries.
The team at Zanes Law has a few recommendations for safe pressure cooker use, as well as advice for individuals injured by defective pressure cooker explosions.
Tips for Opening a Pressure Cooker Safely
When it comes to opening a pressure cooker, it’s important to know how soon is too soon? To play it safe, we recommend waiting for 15 minutes after you’ve turned your cooker off to open it. This will allow enough time for its internal temperature and pressure to drop to safe levels. It’s important to note that if the lid seems slightly stuck at first, you’ll need to wait a bit longer.
While this is the safest method to open your pressure cooker, not everyone has 15 minutes to spare. If that’s the case, consider using one of the following tips to help you open your pressure cooker safely:
- Dowse in cold water. Run cold water over your pressure cooker until the pressure valve releases. It should take about 20 seconds. Once the valve releases, it will be safe to open your pressure cooker as soon as you’d like. This method is only recommended for stovetop pressure cookers and should never be used for electric appliances. To make sure it’s safe for your cooker, read the manufacturer’s instructions to see if they advise against it.
- Manually open pressure valve. Open the pressure valve and let the steam and pressure evacuate your cooker. Be careful, as you could potentially be burned by the sudden expulsion of steam. We recommend wearing an oven mitt to stay safe.
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Maintaining Your Pressure Cooker Will Make Opening It Significantly Safer
Knowing how to keep your pressure cooker in good condition will make operating it much more safe. If your pressure cooker came with maintenance instructions, you’ll want to follow them. If it didn’t include instructions, you might want to look the up online
Alternatively, follow these simple steps that making opening your pressure cooker safe:
- Don’t overfill your cooker
- Keep it clean
- Inspect it once a year for signs of deterioration
Following these three simple steps will help you maintain your cooker and stay safe when you use it to cook delicious meals. Once you know how to safely open your pressure cooker and how to keep it in good working order, you can expect a hazard-free cooking experience, unless it has a defect.
Dangerous Pressure Cooker Defects
If your pressure cooker is defective, opening it too soon could be much more disastrous. In fact, even operating it at all could result in a dangerous and messy explosion. If you sustain injury from a defective pressure cooker explosion, you may be entitled to financial compensation.
An attorney can file a product liability claim against the appliance’s manufacturer if it’s found that your cooker has one or more of the following defects:
- Faulty gaskets
- Defective lid seal
- Defective lid
- Venting issues
- Automatic shut-off failure
If one of these pressure cooker defects causes an explosion that harms you or someone you know, an experienced attorney can help you get the compensation you need to pay for your medical bills and other expenses.
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Compensation You Could Receive From a Defective Pressure Cooker Injury
Knowing what happens if you open a pressure cooker too soon should be the least of your worries if your appliance is defective. Defective pressure cookers can explode and cause injuries that are considerably expensive to treat.
If you’ve been harmed by a defective pressure cooker, an attorney can secure the following damages for you:
- Medical bills
- Pain medication and assistive devices
- Pain and suffering
- Property damage caused by the explosion
- Wages you missed out on while staying home to recover
- Disability and disfigurement
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A Defective Pressure Cooker Attorney Can Help You Determine Your Best Course of Action
If you’ve been injured by a defective pressure cooker, you have two different legal options. You could file an individual pressure cooker explosion lawsuit or you could join a class-action lawsuit. A class-action lawsuit groups a number of similar cases together into one trial.
Depending on the specifics of your case, one route might be more advantageous than the other. To know which route to take, it’s best to consult an experienced product liability lawyer. They’ll be able to assess your case and help you choose the option that will result in the highest compensation possible.
Contact an Attorney From Our Firm if You’ve Been Injured in a Pressure Cooker Explosion
Knowing when to open a pressure cooker can only do so much good when you’re working with a defective product. If you’ve been injured in a pressure cooker explosion, the team at Zanes Law Injury Lawyers can help you file a claim and demand compensation from the product’s manufacturer. If they don’t offer a settlement, your lawyer will take them to court.
Contact us to get in touch with a pressure cooker explosion lawyer from our firm. They’ll ask you questions about your injuries and have your appliance evaluated by an engineering expert who will be able to determine if your pressure cooker exploded because of a manufacturing defect.
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