Pressure Cooker
Display: Fire and Heat
Culinary Technique: fuel conservation
Date: 1932
Manufacturer: Kochfix
Location: Germany
Dimensions: 12" h x 12" w x 9" d
Watch collection donor Mel Mickevic demonstrate this object with
Dean Christopher
Koetke, School of Culinary Arts, Kendall College,
and Victoria Matranga, exhibition curator.
Pressure cooking involves cooking food inside a sealed vessel to allow liquids to reach higher temperatures before boiling, thus producing steam to cook foods faster. The steam is released through a valve, preventing the pressure from rising too high. This enameled steel pressure cooker, marketed in the United States as the Quick Cooker, was introduced at the Century of Progress World's Fair in Chicago in 1934. It claimed to roast a piece of meat and four vegetables in ten minutes, saving fuel and time. Advertisements stated that physicians recommended the cooker because foods retained their mineral salts, vitamins, calories, and individual flavors.
Note the pressure release valve on the lid, marked geschutzt, or "safe." The handle snaps the two-part lid tightly, sandwiching and sealing the vessel's rim.