[Sca-cooks] Gytha's Cooking Safety Tip of the Day:

[Maggie MacDonald]

At 08:32 AM 5/10/02,Erika Thomenius said something like:

>-Gytha "Facial scalds suck" Karlsdotter
>
>(To sum up:  I put an aluminum pot on top of a steel pot to make rarebit.
>The aluminum expanded faster than the steel, formed a seal, and exploded
>when the pressure built up.  Aside from some minor steam burns, I'm ok, the
>pot's ok, everybody's ok, but I got a hell of a scare.  And I'll be picking
>cheddar out of the cabinetry for years.)

Let me add Maggie's recent discovery:

When you have a pressure cooker with a clear silicone gasket, and you
grease it, per the instructions in the owner's manual, it makes it VERY
easy to scoff at the pressure interlock, and with a minimal amount of extra
force open it while it is still under pressure.  The top had been a royal
bear to get open the previous few times I had used it, so this time when it
stuck a little bit as I was trying to open it, I figured it was the same
thing, and just wrenched harder. (Woops).

Corned beef makes a lovely special effect as it sends a consistent six inch
layer of foam across an entire cooktop.  It would have been even neater if
my hand hadn't been in the middle of it. (Never fear, I have Cook's Hand,
all I got was a mild first degree burn on the hand. My tummy caught the
steam blast though, and I lost a whole 2 inch square bit of excess).  I was
impressed, but terrified, then impressed, but terrified.

Regards,
Maggie