The T-fal electric pressure cooker (CY505E51) has a 6-quart inner cooking pot with a non-stick ceramic coating. This T-fal electric pressure cooker review provides a summary of its operation, controls, cleaning, accessories, instruction manual and pot size. We also compare it to the more popular Instant Pot IP-DUO60. We conclude this review with our verdict of the T-fal electric pressure cooker.
How To Use The T-fal Electric Pressure Cooker
Remove all the packaging and promotional stickers before using the cooker for the first time. Open the lid and remove the pot. Clean the pot and all the accessories, but remember that the cooking pot is not dishwasher safe. Install the condensation collector.
Add the recipe ingredients into the cooking pot, but take care not to add too much. Make sure that the sealing gasket is inserted correctly. Put the pot into the cooker, close and lock the lid.
Place the pressure limit valve into its place on the lid. The valve does not click into place and therefore seems loose, but this is the way it is designed. Check that the pressure limit valve is in the down position. Connect the detachable power cord to a power outlet and wait for the T-fal electric pressure cooker to go into standby mode.
Use the control panel to select and start the program that you want to use. Let the cooker continue cooking the food until it is done. When the program is completed, you may press the steam release button that is located on the handle to release the steam. Keep your hands and face away from the escaping steam. Open the lid once all the steam has been safely vented.
Control Panel
The T-fal electric pressure cooker has an LED screen which shows time information. The rest of the control panel is littered with buttons for performing various functions.
Let us take a closer look at the control panel of the T-fal electric pressure cooker. Here are the buttons found on the left and right of the display:
- Keep warm/Cancel (automatic warmer function for up to 24 hours)
- Rice
- Oatmeal
- Baby food (we do not know what this does)
- Pressure-cook (choose low, medium or high pressure)
- Bake
- DIY (choose your own time, temperature and lid position)
- Start/Stop
- Stew/Soup (use menu button to select preset for fish, meat/bean or vegetables)
- Steam (menu button options are available)
- Brown (brown food in a little oil for no more than 30 minutes)
- Simmer (vegetables, fish or meat)
- Slow cook
- Reheat
The following items are located in the middle of the control panel. The LED screen displays the time: it counts the cooking time down to zero before switching to the keep warm time. Underneath the display are the delayed start, timer and menu buttons.
The delayed start function can be set for between 2 and 24 hours. Use the increase or decrease buttons to adjust the delay time. The Browning and DIY programs do not work with the delay start function.
You can press the Timer button to adjust the cooking time with the increase or decrease buttons.
The Temperature button can adjust the time for the DIY and Browning functions.
There are two lines of indicator lights. The food indicator lights are for vegetable, fish and meat. The pressure level indicators show low, medium or high pressure.
The pressure limit valve will rise when the contents are under pressure. The safety lock feature will then lock the lid so that it cannot be opened during cooking. Small amounts of steam might leak from the valve, but this is necessary to release excess steam from the cooker.
Cleaning The T-fal Electric Pressure Cooker
You should make it a habit to clean the pressure cooker after every use. You may start by wiping the housing and lid with a damp cloth. Next, rinse the condensation collector, sealing gasket and float valve. Also, rinse the pressure limit valve until it is clean. The sealing gasket should be replaced after about two years.
You can clean the accessories in the dishwasher. However, you should clean the non-stick cooking pot by hand with soapy water. Do not use an abrasive cloth because it might damage the non-stick ceramic coating.
What accessories are included?
Plastic spatula, plastic steaming trivet, plastic measuring cup, recipe booklet and instruction manual. The accessories are useful, and the recipe booklet has 30 recipes. Here are a few examples of T-fal electric pressure cooker recipes:
- Bean Pot Lamb
- Beef and Tomato Mince
- Chinese Pork Spare Ribs
- Creamy Chicken
- French Onion Soup
- Haddock with Potatoes and Celery
- Marbled Coffee Sponge
- Minestrone
- Potatoes with Bacon and Onions
- Ratatouille
- Spicy Stuffed Apples
- Traditional Rice Pudding
That list might give you an idea of the type of recipes contained in the recipe booklet. The recipes seem a bit fancy to us, but you can try a few. We wish there were more recipes to choose from in the recipe booklet.
Keep in mind that this electric pressure cooker only goes up to 12 psi. It might take about 20% longer to complete pressure cooker recipes written for stove top pressure cookers (which can reach 15 psi).
T-fal Electric Pressure Cooker Manual
The T-fal electric pressure cooker instruction manual does not provide detailed explanations on how to use it. The manual might look thick, but that is probably because it contains three different languages: English, French and Spanish. The first few pages contain drawings of how to use, or not to use, the electric pressure cooker. However, there are no text descriptions to clarify the finer points.
The rest of the instruction manual is better and gives an overview of the important safeguards, control panel, usage instructions, functions, pressure-cooking, cleaning, troubleshooting and limited guarantee. Nonetheless, it does not even have an index page.
You will need to figure out a few details by yourself. Therefore, the T-fal electric pressure cooker is not recommended for people who have never used an electric pressure cooker before.
Is 6-quart the largest size?
Yes, the T-fal electric pressure cooker is only available with a 6-quart capacity. However, the T-fal Clipso stainless steel stove top pressure cooker has an 8-quart capacity (see it on Amazon). Still, that model is a stove top pressure cooker and not an electric pressure cooker.
T-fal CY505E51 versus Instant Pot IP-DUO60
First, the price point. The T-fal electric pressure cooker is in the same price range as the Instant Pot IP-DUO60.
Second, the T-fal has a non-stick pot (not dishwasher safe) while the Instant Pot has a stainless steel cooking pot (dishwasher safe).
Third, the T-fal has a steam release button on top of its handle that keeps your hands away from the steam release valve. The IP-DUO60 has a quick pressure release valve which you turn by hand to release the steam. You have to be careful to keep your hand out of the way of the escaping steam, or else you might burn your fingers.
We would probably choose the Instant Pot over the T-fal electric pressure cooker because we want the stainless steel pot, a better instruction manual and access to more informative videos. There are many Youtube videos available online for the Instant Pot, but nothing for the T-fal (the last time we looked).
T-fal Electric Pressure Cooker: Verdict
This T-fal electric pressure cooker has a cooking pot with a non-stick ceramic coating which is easy to clean, but it will not last as long as a stainless steel cooking surface.
The best feature of the T-fal electric pressure cooker might be its one-touch steam release button. It keeps your hand away from the pressure limit valve while venting steam pressure at the end of the cooking process.
The worst feature might be its uninformative instruction manual. It lacks clear, step-by-step instructions for using all the different functions of the cooker. Instead, it uses pictures to convey the correct procedures. Nevertheless, if you have owned an electric pressure cooker before, then you might be able to figure out the finer details of its operation.
Bottom line: The T-fal electric pressure cooker is a good kitchen gadget, but its instruction manual is a distinct disadvantage for pressure-cooking novices (check price on Amazon).