US Patent 7322280 Appliance for cooking food under pressure

A domestic appliance for cooking under pressure. The appliance includes a cooking bowl and a lid. The lid is configured to be fit and locked onto the bowl to form a substantially leaktight cooking enclosure. The appliance further includes: means for locking and unlocking the lid relative to the bowl; pressure regulator means arranged to maintain a relative pressure inside the enclosure at a substantially constant predetermined cooking pressure value; and activatable and deactivatable decompression means arranged, when activated, to allow the pressure that exists inside the enclosure to drop. The pressure regulator means may be configured to maintain the cooking pressure substantially in the range of 10 kPa to 30 kPa.