I took a circuitous path to my superb Kuhn-Rikon (KR) pressure cooker because I made the mistake of trusting the ratings of Cook's Illustrated magazine. Before buying the KR, I tried to find the least expensive brand that would deliver good results. So, on the recommendation of Cook's Illustrated (CI), I bought the 8-quart Fagor Duo, which CI has rated it highly in two successive reviews--one published several years ago, and another published in January 2013. Based on my experience, I can urgently advise potential buyers to ignore the CI Jan. 2013 survey of pressure cookers, which is uniformly inept and incompetent. First of all, note the glaringly large number of one- and two-star reviews for the Fagor Duo. THIS IS NOT A COINCIDENCE. I endured the same agonies with this product that have afflicted dozens of other amazon reviewers: failure to come up to pressure after only four or five uses, burned/scalded stews, a finicky lid that often fails to seal properly. The few times that it did come up to pressure, it emitted an annoyingly noisy, continuous steam of steam that betrayed an unacceptably high rate of moisture loss during cooking.THIS IS AN UTTERLY IRRESPONSIBLE PRODUCT. I cannot believe that CI tested a sufficient number of samples of this product over a long enough period--if they had, they would surely have encountered some of these problems. After carbonizing two consecutive stews with this atrocious appliance, I returned it in exchange for a Kuhn Rikon 3344 7.4-Quart Stainless-Steel Pressure Cooker. It was like upgrading from a Yugo to a Rolls Royce. The KR is ironclad and serenely competent, producing perfect dishes every time. Unlike the raucous Fagor Duo, the KR is blissfully silent during operation, emitting only a barely detectable wisp of steam, so its moisture retention is far superior to the Duo's (yet CI unaccountably rated the Fagor as superior in moisture retention--a falsehood that is easily refuted by anyone who has even watched both units in operation, much less cooked dishes in both of them). CI also downgrades the KR on two other criteria: they claim the unit is too tall and narrow to allow easy stirring and searing, and they assert that the unit promotes scorching because the bottom disk does not extend the full width of the base. Both claims are plainly false. First, a taller unit like the KR can be used, with trivets, to cook two or three dishes at once--something that squatter units like the Fagor cannot accommodate. Second, the aluminum in the encapsulated base of the KR promotes faster heating--so if it does not extend the full width of the base, there is no danger of scorching on the periphery, because unaugmented stainless steel does not conduct heat as well as aluminum. CI's comments here simply to not make sense--neither I nor any other KR reviewer has ever reported any problem with scorching. In fact, the KR garners near-universal approval from its amazon purchasers, unlike the widely disparaged Fagor Duo. Even CI acknowledges that the KR "produced tender beans and stew"--yet gives the unit only two out of three stars for cooking characteristics--a flagrant self-contradiction. It's as though CI adopted Fagor in advance as their "pet" model that they could recommend as a "bargain" to readers eager to save money; it's evidently easier to boost circulation if you lure readership into believing that they can achieve superior results on the cheap rather than giving truly competent, honest recommendations, irrespective of price point. In fact, the KR line of pressure cookers, with their vastly superior valve mechanism and sealing characteristics, are the overwhelming choice of professional chefs and pressure-cooker specialists. The two most respected pressure-cooker cookbook authors both recommend the Kuhn-Rikon: Lorna Sass and Miss Vickie. The KR also receives a top rating from HipPressure Cooking dot com. The New York Times called the KR "the Mercedes-Benz of pressure cookers." The ultra-high-end Modernist Cuisine cookbook also names the KR as its favorite pressure cooker. I earnestly implore you to take a hard look at the high number of negative reviews for the Fagor Duo and to ponder the high esteem in which the KR pressure cookers are held by professional experts in the field. Then . . . and only then make your decision on a pressure-cooker purchase.
