Anybody Own A Presto PF-6 Pressure Fryer?

Hi. I'm trying to find some information on this unit that Presto made during the mid 70's. They convienently disavow any knowledge of this unit and will actually deny they made it b/c you can't offer a product number besides PF-6 which they claim never existed. So will their repair depot. The unit was a narrow, cast aluminum 6Q offered in a regular or built in heat element version much like a hot plate operating at a much lower pressure then a regular pressure cooker. It is NOT the Mirro ChickNBucket that's fairly well documented even though Mirro also denies it's existance or claims it was subject to a CPSC recall (which never happened nor any injuries or faults ever documented) under Alcoa Aluminum.
 
I'm not interested in a manual. Just the pre-fry and lid on cook times and temperatures along with recommended oil volumes and weight/size of chicken.
 
Any info would be appreciated on this unit.
 
There are many of these units sold on E-bay, but I've yet to come across a manual for these fryers.
 
TIA,
 
dwt

i own a magefesa supercooker, basically the same thing except it sits on a burner instead of having it's own heating element. you heat the oil to cooking temperature with a thermometer until you reach 350 degrees, then add the chicken pieces slowly. cook uncovered for a few minutes to set the coating, then lock down the lid and cook for 20 minutes. take the unit off the heat(unplug it..) and let set for 5 minutes, after which you should be able to remove the regulator with gloves (it will vent some steam...) after venting the pressure, remove the lid and drain the chicken on paper towels.

I have a Magefesa also marzit, as well as a Fagor and Isagona Bra clamp cookers. Those cook with a pressure between 9-10PSI with 2-2.5 quarts of oil for the 6Q for about 2# of chicken. The old buckets cooked at around 5 PSI and they kept the oil levels unreasonably low for liability reasons. That affects the pre-browning time, cook time and smaller load of chicken. That's what I'm looking for. The pre-fry times are going to be a lot longer around 4-5 minutes with much less chicken then we use with the spanish kettles. I'm trying to compile recommended cooking times for both the built in heater versions and stove versions of both the Mirro and Presto units.  

DawnT


Hi. I'm trying to find some information on this unit that Presto made during the mid 70's. They convienently disavow any knowledge of this unit and will actually deny they made it b/c you can't offer a product number besides PF-6 which they claim never existed. So will their repair depot. The unit was a narrow, cast aluminum 6Q offered in a regular or built in heat element version much like a hot plate operating at a much lower pressure then a regular pressure cooker. It is NOT the Mirro ChickNBucket that's fairly well documented even though Mirro also denies it's existance or claims it was subject to a CPSC recall (which never happened nor any injuries or faults ever documented) under Alcoa Aluminum.

I'm not interested in a manual. Just the pre-fry and lid on cook times and temperatures along with recommended oil volumes and weight/size of chicken.

Any info would be appreciated on this unit.

There are many of these units sold on E-bay, but I've yet to come across a manual for these fryers.

TIA,

dwt

 
Hi Dawn, I think I know exactly what you are talking about.  I had a Presto Chicken Fryer in the late 1970's and I LOVED it.  It recommended 6 cups of OIL if my memory is correct. It was an electric cooker with a removable temp probe and nonstick inside and outside.  I wore mine out and couldn't get a proper gasket around 1984 so I stopped using it as a fryer, BUT I loved it as it was perfect size for 1 batch of jelly or candy which needs a good rolling boil and this pot had the height needed to not have to worry about boiling over.  It worked well as a slow cooker also, although a crock pot is better if you got one.
 
IF my memory is correct...(it's been a long time) I got temp to the recommended spot on the electric probe, I think it was only 325 ish.  5 mins then cover with lid and pressure 10-15 mins depending on size of chicken.  I did not brine my chicken and I used small fryers as a rule and cut mine where the breast had the wish bone piece cut off the breast, which does lower the time necessary for frying time.
 
I also put thighs in first, a min or so later, legs, then backs, then wings, breast, then wishbone.  I usually cut my chicken up and washed then used ONLY seasoned flour to shake pieces in. Therefore my chicken pieces were not as cold as they would be if one just used a tray of pre-cutup chicken.  Back in the 70's I never had a cutup chicken that I didn't cut up myself.
 
The reason I put pieces in the order I did was so I could keep the oil temp up and keep the chicken from absorbing too much oil.  My chicken was GREAT Texas style.  We didn't like a thick breading, and we cut chicken into as many pieces as possible due to fact 1 chicken had to feed whole family.  Chickens now days are much larger and precut ones are larger pieces than I used, so brining, breading, size and how cold the chicken is need to be considered.  I found adding pieces in stages, kept chicken from sticking together and cooked evenly in the sizes I used. IF I was cooking 2 or more chickens, I under cooked a few mins, and placed chicken pieces on a rack in a warm oven while I cooked the other chickens. I usually had to add only a little bit more oil each time and with the electric probe, I could get temp up fast while walking my draining chicken over to the oven.
 
I had a similar problem with Presto pretending they never made a chicken fryer.  But I know they did and used mine till the nonstick coating got so scratched I got worried about it being in my jelly.  I stopped using the fryer part of it, when I couldn't get a gasket to fit it and Presto seem to have amnesia that they ever made a product.  I was worried about using a regular pressure rubber seal that I found that would fit, but wasn't confident it wouldn't be a risky buisness, since obviously there had to be some safety issues for the cooker to disappear from the market. 
 
I hope to get a nice pressure fryer again someday cause it was so great.

I forgot to add that the Presto Chicken Fryer I got came to me second hand because someone got it as a gift and apparently there was a rumor (?) about being pulled off market.  Hubby dragged it home, checked it out, and said use it.  So I used it!  The booklet if memory serves recommended replacing the gasket q 6months due to the oil breaking down the gasket, but of course my hubby being the expert of all things, said BALONEY, and insisted I get all the use possible out of the gasket.  SOOOOOO I used mine at least 1 a week for fried chicken for well over a year with each gasket, and he of course said there was NO difference in a gasket for a pressure fryer or a regular pressure cooker.  I was always a little wary...but he was a mechanical genuis and was always right so I trusted he knew more than anyone else concerning safety.  I never had a problem other than when the gasket started getting old, it warped and stretched a bit larger.  Which meant time for another one.

Thank you for the information and welcome aboard the forum MsNeuropil.
 
Those times and the amount of oil seem to be about the same recommendations that the Mirro buckets used. I'm not only trying to find the information for those that are buying these used, but also to try and create a oil to load ratio among the early buckets and the recommendations for the Spanish clamp kettles being sold as pressure fryers. I've been working with a modified version of one of the current Presto 6Q stainless pressure cookers with a built-in heater element for about a year. There's still details to work out for a reliable process, but the oil to chicken ratio for the 6Q clamp cookers seems pretty close to ideal. What you discovered is the weak point of this unit that has a 1300W element which was also similar to the old buckets with heaters. Max temp that the thermostat will allow the oil is around 385 which is adequate. 2lbs of chicken at 45 degrees will drop the temp to around 290 with little recovery during the pre-fry period. The heater simply doesn't have the power to recover. Warming the chicken in warm water a bit helps tremendously as well as a longer pre-fry time. This may have also been part of the reason they chose to use less oil and a smaller load in the older ones. Holding the chicken as you did at 175 degrees at times longer then 15 minutes seems to deliver a better textured breading as it firms up a bit .
I've also found the same utility for the new cooker as you did. It makes for a wonderful soup pot and all around multi cooker and deep fryer by just adding a lid.
 
There was never one single documented case of injury or potential danger with either Mirro or Presto's ever produced to substantiate those "boiling hot oil bomb" claims that are now propagated by a self-proclaimed web expert on pressure cooking as gospel truth. There's always people that you have to save from themselves and this was probably a legal dept liability call about the same time the CPSC was getting agressive back in the late 70's.  Five PSI is a very low pressure and the myth about boiling oil under pressure is ridiculous. Once that cap is on, the temp falls to 230 degrees due to the steam from the chicken cooling the oil very quickly.

Hi Dawn, I agree, I have used pressure cookers for canning, frying and just about anything you can imagine and never had a failure. However I remember my grandma's clamped down pressure gauge style canner losing it's safety value once when she was cooking a large pot of Lambsquarter greens.  It was because she let the antique canner pressure gauge get too high...what a mess. But with weighted pressured cookers/canners I've never had a failure.  Sadly, I can't get my daughter in law to even consider a pressure cooker for her whole family has not used them and she is afraid.  I bought an electric Cuisnart with due pressure...thinking perhaps I could get her to try it, as well as use it as a pressure fryer. But decided this design definitely isn't one to try pressure frying in.  But it is a good low evaporation type cooker with NO possible burning by forgetting how long your pressuring something.  But it obviously isn't going to be a lifetime pressure cooker with it's electronics and inside cooking pot with nonstick coating.  I have had to throw away 2 of my OLD pressure cookers from the 50's 60's recently due to inability to get the suckers open and breaking handle trying.  So I have gone to newer type cookers, and really love them compared.  For people with arthritis...the one hand opening of the Cuisinart electric makes it worth buying even if it won't last a lifetime like a stainless steel stovetop would.