Customer Reviews

Magefesa Mageplus Stainless Steel 8.5 Quart Super Fast Pressure Cooker

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've had this pressure cooker (my first) since late March 2010, and have used it about 5 times each week as I learned to use it.

Overall, I'm very pleased with the product, as well as with the customer service from the company, and would recommend this model to anyone looking to reduce cooking time anywhere or to improve cooking at high altitude (we live at over 8,000 ft).

Pros:

1. Well made, sturdy
2. Easy to use (and, yes, the instruction manual is in English)
3. Reliable (I've used it heavily for a month with no issues)
4. Attractive

Heads up! (neither pro nor con):

1. The bottom of the pot, while sturdy, seems thinner than my other pots. You must be careful when bringing the pot up to pressure to not use a high-output gas burner or a range setting higher than "medium-high". In fairness to this product, Miss Vickie's Big Book of Pressure Cooker Recipes, which I highly recommend, makes it clear that you must follow these instructions with any pressure cooker; failure to do so can lead to a thin or not so thin layer of burnt food on the bottom - which does wash up easily).

Cons:

1. It takes a little effort to find a replacement gasket. Note that the original gasket is still just fine, but a recommendation from two different books I read regarding pressure cookers (Miss Vickie's and the Pressure Cookers for Dummies) suggest that having a spare on hand is a good idea - you can't use the pressure cooker without one, and they will eventually wear out).

You can buy a spare gasket directly from the Magefesa USA web site. The MagePlus and "Ideal" pressure cookers have several parts in common, including the gasket. Go to the magefesausa website and click on "Parts and accessories", and then you can select the model Ideal" and then select the silicon gasket (or just go to [...]).

MagefesaUSA's customer service was quick to answer my question about gaskets, which is a Pro for this item.

Finally, regarding the description:

It used to be that Amazon allowed purchasers to recommend changes to descriptions of items in their catalog. Apparently, they don't do this anymore. If they did, I would change:

"3 cooking levels: traditional slow cooking: max 6 psi, fast cooking: max 9 psi, super fast cooking: max 15 psi. Silent and air tight."

to:

"2 cooking levels: fast cooking: max 9 psi, super fast cooking: max 15 psi. Silent and air tight."

There seems to be a problem with the description of this and at least one other Magefesa pressure cooker in that they are described as having three (3) pressures available, when in fact they only have two (9 & 15 PSI). I don't consider this a drawback in any way (I'm new to pressure cooking, but the two books I read said nothing about cooking at other than 15 PSI). It is confusing, however, when you get the unit and initially try to figure out how to get 6 PSI. Don't bother (and don't worry, who needs it?).

Overall, I'd rate this product a conservative 4 stars. After I've used it a few more months, assuming it continues to have no problems and the gasket remains in good shape, I'll likely raise it to 5 stars. (I would have given it an immediate 5 stars if it had been easier to find the gasket).

Good quality product. Well made. The only reason I can't give 5 stars is beacause the owners manual was a real pain in the butt to get. The enclosed version was only in Castillian Spanish. No english version on the net, but you can do a Google translation, which helped, but things are still lost. Selling to the American market? Provide English paperwork.

My only problem was that the instructions were in Spanish, I think. I just googled for instruction and I was cooking. Really easy to use once you have the instruction in hand. I also bought one for my daughter.

Pressure cooker has lived up to it's excellent reviews. The manual is actually very helpful, but requires careful reading because it has both pictures & text. It makes delicious dinners fast. Bring it up to speed on medium high (NOT HIGH) until the blue button shows the second white ring, then turn it down to low and let it do its thing. Beef is a lot more tender if after you let it cook for the dish's recommended time, you just turn off the heat and let it cool down for 20 minutes before opening the lid.
We ordered the 8 quart as a pressure cooker needs head room and found it perfect for our 4 person family. Doing a 4lb chicken in 20 minutes (plus 20 minute cool down time) is awesome. Just wipe down the lid and dishwasher the pot.
The cooker is very well made and has been a joyful discovery for us, saving time and energy.

I was really looking forward to receiving this cooker after my 20+ years old Tefal seal stopped working and it was impossible to find a replacement - the actual cooker is still fine, though. My Tefal cost about $100 in the 80s. Comparatively, my old Tefal has much thicker and sturdier base and sides, the lip of the pot is finished with precision (important, since the cover has to fit well). What made me return the Magefesa were 3 things: 1) the lip of the pot had fairly sharp edges and I worried that I could cut my hand when washing; 2) the plastic handle on the cover and on the pot seemed not sturdy enough - it wiggled a little - and I worried that it would fall off and I would be in the same situation I was before with my Tefal; 3) I found the pot to be close in quality of workmanship to a $90 pot I previously saw in my local hardware store (at that time I decided not to buy it as it was "cheap" looking and I wanted something with a little "heft". Needless to say, I returned this pot as I could not justify keeping it for the price. As I only use a pressure cooker occasionally, I ended up buying the $90 pot. If I was using the pressure cooker frequently, I would probably fork over the $250 to 350 and get the Kuhn Rikon or the WMF cooker as I have tried cooking with those on my trip to Europe and can testify to the quality of workmanship.

Agree with other reviewers, a bit expensive I think, they would have to lower price if the want 5 stars from me. It's nice to have such a huge pressure cooker, we still have a small one for everyday stuff, but it's nice when you want to make a whole bunch of beans to freeze for example.

Pros: Nice look, really saves energy, you can use minimum gas to keep it cooking. Cooking is fast and food is tender. the bluepoint stuff seems work well but I'm not really sure.

Cons: I got this one with Spanish instruction inside,I have to go to their website to get the English one.

Tips: you don't have to click to let air go, just leave it there for a while,pressure air will go away pretty soon.

extremely well made. Up to date features make using a pressure cooker much simpler. Included instructions are a bit vague, but had also ordered several guides and recipe books that have made using a pressure cooker a pleasant experience. Price is very reasonable and shipping times were great.

Seemed like a nice Cooker but there was no instructions/recipes that were printed in English. I returned this item and went with another named brand SS Cooker. Great return policy here at Amazon and fast delivery of alternate item.