Hundreds of people across the United States have sustained severe burns from being scalded by the contents of defective pressure cookers that exploded.
Multi-cookers from Instant Pot and other bestselling brands highlight the safety features that are meant to prevent accidents. However, in many of these lawsuits, claimants have argued that some design or manufacturing defect led to the explosion and its subsequent injuries, the Grand Rapids Herald-Review reported.
Numerous electric pressure cookers and multi-cookers have been recalled in recent years, including Instant Pot-branded appliances and more than , Crock-Pot multi-cookers by Sunbeam Products. The pressure that builds up inside a pressure cooker helps break down raw food products into fully cooked, flavorful meals faster.
That same pressure could prompt the appliance to explode, forcefully projecting its contents all over the kitchen. When a pressure cooker explodes, the mess is the least of your worries. In the gush of liquids, steam, and solid foods heated to scalding temperatures more than 40 degrees above the boiling point of water, anyone in the vicinity could suffer severe burns.
Some pressure cooker explosions have been violent enough to break off parts of the appliance itself. Besides propelling lids upward so that they get embedded in the ceiling, these malfunctioning appliances can turn whistles, handles, and other metal components into shrapnel. Second-degree and third-degree burns that require skin grafts to treat. Eye injuries and damage, up to and including permanent blindness and loss of vision.
Concussions and traumatic brain injuries TBIs. Cuts and broken bones , due to the impact of metal components flung into the air or to a fall that resulted from the spilled food contents. Amputations that result from shrapnel injuries, extremely severe burns, or infections and other complications that develop following the injuries. In several reported instances of exploding pressure cookers, other family members—even small children, as reported by the Associated Press —have been caught in the crossfire simply by being near the appliance.
There are steps you can take to reduce the risk of a pressure cooker explosion. However, even if you do everything right, an accident can still happen if something is wrong with the design or the appliance or with how it was manufactured. What the hundreds of injured Americans whose pressure cooker injury lawsuits are ongoing have in common is that they followed the right safety precautions.
If you still want to use a pressure cooker, here are some steps you can take to help minimize the danger of an explosion. Check online for any recalls on your device prior to each use. In at least one of the reported instances of serious harm arising out of a pressure cooker explosion, the victim stated that the manufacturer later told her that checking for recalls was her responsibility, according to the Daily Mail.
Before you begin using a pressure cooker, read all instructions and safety warnings carefully, and follow those instructions to the letter. Use the recommended amount of liquid. Learn the correct procedures for venting steam from the pressure cooker and opening the appliance. Make sure you understand how the safety features work and follow the right procedures every single time.
Take precautions, such as using tongs rather than your bare hands to open pressure release valves. After each use, clean the appliance thoroughly as directed, paying specific attention to valves and vents that could be blocked by built-up food residue. First, practice first aid techniques for burns, which may include removing clothing and applying cool water to the injury. Focus first on getting medical care right away, for the dual reasons of 1 giving you the best chance at recovery and 2 documenting your injuries.
Richard P. Console, Jr. Now imagine that someone shakes up a can of Pepsi and sets it in front of you. Any potato cannon especially this one could do better. It was about what the worst thing that could happen was. If you disable the safety valve, there are plenty of ways to produce much more dangerous pressures. You could completely fill it with water and heat it, fill it with Drano and aluminum foil , or just pump in air from a compressor.
The result would depend on your pressure cooker. Chances are it would start to leak. Frankly, there are so many options it would be impossible to survey them all. But for my money, one of the most horrifying things you could do is this:. Bayer says it has settled 98, out of , Roundup cancer lawsuits filed against it in courts nationwide. A product liability lawsuit filed by a commercial applicator claims he was never warned about the risks of Paraquat exposure, which led to him developing Parkinson's disease.
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