HAWKINS Instaa Pressure Cooker, Induction Base Inner Lid Cooker | Hard Anodised Cooker | Black

Care & Cleaning

To get the best use from your Hawkins Pressure Cooker, observe the following directions.

Body and Lid

Remove label, wash, rinse and dry cooker before use. Remove any adhesive with baby or vegetable oil.

Do not hit or knock the rim of the cooker body with a ladle, spoon or any other object and protect the edge of the lid from dents which may disturb sealing.

Do not leave food or water in the cooker for hours. Do not leave the cooker lying in water or with dirty dishes. Chemicals and natural salts in the water and decomposing food can cause pitting of the metal. Do not leave salted liquid, vinegar, lemon juice, mayonnaise or mustard in the cooker. Never add salt to the cooker when there is no liquid in the cooker.

Handles

Plastic handles are liable to break under a blow.

Do not attempt to remove the "play" or movement provided for the lid handle bar where it is attached to the lid.

Rubber Sealing Ring/Gasket

Do not stretch the sealing ring, particularly when it is hot, as it may distort.

Replace the sealing ring when it no longer seals, becomes hard or cracked. Before replacing at the first sign of not sealing, however, check that the sealing ring is sitting flush in the lid curl and that the lid is properly centered. Sometimes just moving the sealing ring around or inverting it stops the leak.

General Cleaning

DO NOT WASH PRESSURE COOKER OR ANY OF ITS PARTS IN A DISHWASHER. The cooker body of the Hawkins Classic and the Hawkins Contura may be washed in a dishwasher but may tarnish.

Always wash and dry every surface of the cooker soon after use. Food, if not removed, can corrode the metal over a period of time.

Wash all parts of the cooker in hot water with a mild soap or detergent and a dishcloth or sponge. Rinse and wipe dry. Aluminium can become pitted if left wet.

Carefully remove the sealing ring when washing the lid. Gently wipe or wash and rinse the sealing ring without stretching it.

Check that the steam vent is clear after rinsing. If it is clogged, clean by carefully pushing a wire through the steam vent. Rinse with running water. A needle may be used to remove food from the steam vent nut.

The pressure regulator can be cleaned with a jet of water to clear the holes inside. The colour of the black spring of the pressure regulator may wear off over time. This is normal wear and does not affect its functioning.

Clean the area between the lid and the lid handle bar with a brush as required. (A special cleaning brush is supplied along with the Futura pressure cooker. The main brush is designed to clean between the handle and the lid. The shorter brush can be used to clean around the steam vent and the pressure regulator).

Metallic marks - most often from gas stove pan supports - may appear on the black hard anodized base. To remove metallic marks from base: apply a kitchen cleanser to the marks and rub with an abrasive kitchen scrubber such as Scotch-Brite or fine steel wool.

Baked-on Stains

If the pressure cooker is not cleaned thoroughly after each use, a thin layer of food or grease may remain. When the cooker is heated next, this food/grease becomes "baked-on" and very difficult to remove. Avoid "baked-on" fat or gravy stains; wipe off any fat or gravy on the cooker base before placing on hot stove. Ensure stove surface in contact with pressure cooker is free of fat drippings.

If you do get "baked-on" stains on the base, tackle them while they are still fresh. Soak in hot water. Make a thick paste of a chlorine-based kitchen cleanser and apply it to the surface. Wait 5 to 10 minutes, then scour with steel wool using a circular motion. Wash and wipe dry.

If food is stuck to the cooker, remove with a plastic scrubber and a non-abrasive cleanser or an aluminium cleanser. If food is badly stuck or burned: pour into cooker enough water (not above half full) to cover the area of burned food. Close cooker. Bring to full pressure on high heat. Reduce heat and cook 5 minutes. Allow to cool naturally. Open cooker. Wash and wipe dry. Do not use abrasive powders or bleach. For stubborn spots, a fine soap-impregnated steel wool pad may be used sparingly, knowing that the cooker surface may get damaged.

Loss of Shine

With use, the aluminium cooker body and lid may lose their shine. The loss of shine is the normal behavior of the metal over time.

Removing Stains Caused by Chemicals in the Water
(This section is not applicable to the Hard Anodised Contura pressure cooker, Futura pressure cooker and the black base of the Ekobase and Ventura pressure cookers.)

The inside of the cooker body may become darker due to minerals in the water. This darkening is neither injurious to health nor does it affect the taste and quality of food. To remove stains from inside the cooker body: fill cooker with water to half its capacity. Add 2 teaspoons tartaric acid (cream of tartar) or lemon juice for each quart/litre of water. Bring cooker to full pressure on high heat and cook 15 minutes. If you wish to remove stains from the upper half of the cooker body, do not pressure cook. Fill cooker with enough of the same water-tartaric acid solution to cover the stains. Boil 30 minutes. Wash and then dry with a soft, clean cloth.

Storing

Allow the cooker and all its parts to dry completely before storing.

The sealing ring should be stored fitted in the lid curl.

Store the cooker open to avoid mustiness.

How to Prevent Unnecessary Fusing of the Safety Valve

Check that the steam vent is clear by looking through it.

Do not fill the cooker more than 2/3 (for liquid foods, not more than half).

Do put enough water for the cooking time (See Easy Tips for Better Cooking ).

Do not place the Hawkins pressure cooker (except the Big Boy) on an industrial burner or stove - use only a domestic stove.

Do reduce heat to medium or lower when the pressure cooker reaches "Full Operating Pressure" (See Trial Run ).

Do take the pressure cooker off the stove when its cooking time is complete (Check cooking time in our Pressure Cooking Charts or Recipes).

Replaceable Parts

Always use genuine Hawkins spare parts for your safety and the durability of the cooker.

Counting whistles may give you the wrong time for cooking any particular food or recipe. As a result, food may not get properly cooked, and there are chances of water drying up and food burning, and/or safety valve fusing. Start timing recipes when the pressure cooker reaches full operating pressure. Use a kitchen timer or watch/clock – precise timing is critical to successful pressure cooking, which is much faster than conventional cooking so timing errors have greater consequences.

Cooking capacity in a pressure cooker is less than its full volume. The pressure cooker body should never be filled more than two-thirds its capacity. This is to safeguard against blocking the steam vent/vent tube and to leave enough space to allow steam to circulate. Certain foods, however, such as soups and other liquid foods, foods such as lentils and rice which expand during cooking should not be loaded more than half the capacity of the cooker body. Dals which sprout, such as tuvar and moong, should not be loaded more than one-third the capacity of the cooker.

Certain foods, such as applesauce, cranberries, pearl barley, oatmeal or other cereals, split peas, noodles, macaroni, rhubarb or spaghetti can foam, froth and sputter, and clog the pressure release device (steam vent). These foods should not be cooked in a pressure cooker. Cooking moong dal is not recommended in pressure cookers of capacity 3 Litre or lesser, as it is prone to excessive frothing and sprouting.

Minimum water recommendation is 1 cup/240 ml for the first 10 minutes of pressure cooking time and ½ cup for every subsequent 10 minutes or part thereof. It is important to follow the minimum water recommendation for pressure cooking because if there is less water there are chances of the cooker boiling dry. In such a situation, the temperature and pressure inside the cooker rise and cause the safety valve to fuse.

Every pressure cooker manufacturer recommends that the pressure cooker be filled no more than two thirds. This is because space is required for steam. What’s more, filling beyond a certain level increases the chance of food clogging the steam vent. Some pressure cookers such as the Futura and Hawkins Ventura have marked the maximum level to which food should be filled to make it easy for you to judge the required two-thirds level. The maximum quantities of food indicated are after allowing for this one-third empty space required in the cooker, which is the same for all cookers. You are therefore not losing any usable capacity by having an inside fitting lid. In fact, if you were to overfill the cooker by mistake the lid may not go in and that would remind you to reduce the food to the correct level. Here is an additional safety feature!

There is some ‘play’ deliberately provided for the lid handle, as it assists in centralising the lid over the mouth of the cooker body and helps in proper sealing of the cooker.

1. Ensure that you use a small burner or medium heat of a large burner when cooking in a Baby series cooker.
2. Do not fill the cooker (dal and water combined) to more than 1/3. Do not exceed dal and water quantities and cooking times given in the cookbooks.
3. Do soak dal (in enough water to cover dal) for 15 minutes before pressure cooking and add 1 teaspoon salt, ¼ tsp turmeric and 1 tsp vegetable oil per cup of dal, to dal and water in cooker before closing the lid.
4. Do reduce heat to medium immediately when the pressure cooker reaches full operating pressure.
5. Do not release pressure by lifting the pressure regulator.
To watch video, please click the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDJff1-a5Mo&list=PL6CYb6X3kNQ8BeDaRgoTskdTHC39Xvieg&index=5

1. If there is less water there are chances of the cooker boiling dry. In such a situation, the temperature and pressure inside the cooker rise and cause the safety valve to fuse.
2. When the vent tube is blocked, there is no outlet for steam, thus the pressure inside increases beyond the normal level causing the safety valve to fuse.
3. If cooker is used on a larger flame than required such as if a baby series cooker having a small base is used on a large burner of a gas stove, the flame will extend to the sides of the cooker, thereby overheating the cooker and fusing the safety valve.
4. Continuing cooking on high heat and not reducing heat after cooker reaches full operating pressure.

If the safety valve fuses, please shut the heat. When cool, replace the safety valve with a genuine Hawkins safety valve. Please see the section “Do-it-Yourself Repairs” at http://hawkinscookers.com/4.3.parts_and_service.html

If the safety valve fuses, please shut the heat. When cool, replace the safety valve with a genuine Hawkins safety valve. Please see the section “Do-it-Yourself Repairs” at http://hawkinscookers.com/4.3.parts_and_service.html

All Hawkins pressure cookers are quality-certified by the Bureau of Indian Standards, popularly known as ISI. Hence all pressure cookers manufactured by us carry the ISI stamp mark. Additionally, most of the Hawkins pressure cookers are listed by the Underwriters Laboratories, USA, an independent Worldwide institution testing products for public safety and carry UL stamp mark too.

Pressure: 15 PSI (pounds per square inch); Temperature: 121ºC (250ºF)

The pressure cooker should never be used as an oven for dry heating or baking as it reduces the strength of the metal & can damage the cooker. NO DRY HEATING !