ISO spare gaskets for unbranded pressure cookers

[tenzan]

Hello, I just joined this forum. I'm hoping to get a bit of help about selecting and owning a pressure cooker. I've seen many cheaper unbranded cookers on eBay. I'd have liked to get one of them but being unbranded I wasn't able to find spare gasket seals for them. Is it possible to find out what size/shape of gasket a pressure cooker needs if it isn't identified by a brand/model/item number? If it isn't possible then getting an unbranded pressure cooker would be false economy if an otherwise good cooker has to be abandoned because needed spares can't be found?
Thanks for your help!

Seb

 

[gadzooks]

Good luck. Nothing stamped on the bottom? I have several pressure cookers, 3, 4, and 6 qt., but they are all stainless steel Prestos. Older model, but I can always get gaskets and plugs at the local hardware store. Mine are all from thrift stores, probably cheaper than unbranded on ebay.

 

[tenzan]

I didn't buy it yet so I don't know. I tried asking some of the sellers, no response (yet). If the gasket seal is just a simple rubber O-ring then I'd only need the diameter and thickness of the ring to get a replacement even if I don't have a model number.

Sebastien

 

[Aunt Bea]

This might help.

Pressure Cooker Parts: Pressure Cooker Outlet

Good luck!

 

[medtran49]

I would never buy a used pressure cooker if I didn't know its history. They might be perfectly fine but I saw the results of a pressure cooker explosion (granted the woman overfilled it and it was a LONG time ago, maybe 40 years and they've come a long way as far as safety), but I would just never. I'm just now getting comfortable using the one we inherited from DH's brother (RIP) and he had just bought it and had only used it a couple of times before he was diagnosed and pretty much stopped cooking. That was several years ago and I can count on my fingers the # of times we've used it, and most of those within the last year or so.

 

[tenzan]

No, the ones I was looking at were unbranded but new. However I found a branded item with confirmed spare parts availability on sale, and that looks like what I need. Although, Prestige's website and eBay only appear to have spares on sale for other models of their cookers. Time to ask them about availability.

Prestige 6 Litre Aluminium Pressure Cooker | View all Kitchen & Dining | ASDA direct

(For those of you who don't know Asda/George, they're Walmart's brands in the UK).


Sebastien

 

[roadfix]

How often do they need replacing under normal use? We've never replaced our's as far as I can remember and my wife uses the cooker to cook frijores once per week for on average.

 

[sparrowgrass]

I have had my canners for 30 years, and have replaced the gaskets 2 or 3 times.

 

[95Austin12]

It had been years since I used a prestige pressure cooker. I recommend it. I cooked delicious green beans in several minutes, and dried beans only took 35. I believe the taste of both dishes was improved over the stovetop method. I've found the Cuisinart easy to use, and its safety features are superb. Nothing scary here.