On 2 Oct 2006 16:15:30 -0700, "merryb" > wrote:

>As I read yall's postings, pressure cookers keep coming up in the
>topics. I have never used one- when I was younger, I remember hearing
>about how they can explode. Is that something of concern, or is that
>just the older ones, or what? It sounds like many of you use them, and
>I would like to hear what you have to say. Thanks!

If you have one of the old style PCs (like I do), it's important to
make sure that the stem is not clogged. I use a pipe cleaner for this
purpose, having long since lost the little brush gizmo that came with
the PC. Mine did "explode" once -- the safety valve popped, scared
the beejeezus and at least two lives out of my cat, Norman Bates, and
vesuviused black bean juice all over my white ceiling. I deduced that
it did so because someone (pointing finger at self) neglected to clean
the stem. I've become right religious about doing so ever since.
Norman is pleased. The ceiling still has faint BB juice stains.

TammyM