Old it is, but made of metal and therefore still serviceable. Our Presto 6 quart pressure cooker model 126002 is over 20 years old and works well for cutting cooking time down for tough cuts of meat. We needed a new gasket, or what they call a “sealing ring”. Tried as I might, no stores in Toronto, Canada carry it that I could find, so I had to order online at…Home Hardware, a store I rarely even consider.

Presto pressure cooker, model 126002, still good after 20+ years. Photo by Don Tai
Our Presto pressure cooker languished for at least a decade. We had forgotten it, until one day out of the blue I went down and found it in our crawlspace. It was dusty but intact. Online recipes said that for cooking tough cuts of meat, such as pork shoulder, a pressure cooker can reduce the amount of time to 15 minutes. That’s fast compared to the overnight cooking in a crock pot. Not only is it faster, but cooking in the crock pot really damages the flavour of the meat.
My first pork shoulder I cubed, then pressure cooked for 20 minutes. This turned out to be way too long, and the pork was pulverized into meat strands. It was hard to believe the pork shoulder is able to transform to pulled pork in such a short time. It turns out that cubed pork shoulder only needs 15 minutes.
Alas after a least a decade, the pressure cooker seal was not sealing as well, and a new one was required. Apart from the gasket, there is very little to go wrong with this pressure cooker, something that I value. At $12CAD they are not expensive. I googled for it in Toronto but found that vendors on Amazon.ca were shipping from the US, and the shipping charge often exceeded $15US. A couple of appliance stores that I called had none. The only Canadian store that came up was Home Hardware (HH). HH will take your order online and ship it to your local store, where you can pick it up or return it. Shipping is free. As this is my first transaction I’ll see if they are true to their word.

Presto 6 qt Pressure Cooker, model A603, the model my parents used and that I remember.
It is sad that the big box stores such as CanTire or Home Despot will sell appliances but not their parts. I will not buy appliances that I expect to simply throw out when a service part wears out.
While the HH transaction went smoothly, the shopping part did not. HH had Presto gaskets with very little information on the product. While HH did have a photo of the product box, not only was the image details unreadable but they did they not have a text version of what was written on the package. Presto kindly provides a list of compatible pressure cookers on the package. I had to go back to the web and search up a larger image and its details. Bad for HH. Amazon.ca had not only a readable image, but also the text of compatible pressure cooker models. I would have bought the gasket from Amazon.ca at the same time if it was the same price. The HH description was also incorrect. The title said “Sealing Ring”, but the Presto model number includes a sealing ring and the overpressure plug.
Despite 2 noticeable oversights I bought from HH and will tell you how it went. Within 3-8 days the gasket should be at my local HH. Again, this was not written on my emailed confirmation, another oversight. For their online shopping experience HH still has a ways to go, but at least they are available online.
Addendum: It took 3 days to get my email confirmation of order delivered to my local HH. Today I picked up my order, without difficulty. What I ordered was what was delivered, very important to me. The cashier said that web orders were somewhat new, but were going smoothly these last 2 weeks. I showed my originally used credit card and photo ID, signed for my package and we were good. The gasket was packaged in a largish cardboard box, well cushioned. Overall, it was easy to pick up. I would order from HH again.
Is that the original pressure gauge? How do you measure the amount of pressure with a manometer of some kind? Some old models were bell shaped and the center of the gauge would rise to a line indicating 5, 10, & 15 mmm of pressure.
[Hi Mary, No, the old Presto pressure cookers do not have a pressure gauge. At 15psi the rocker over the air vent begins to rock back and forth. This pressure is set by the manufacturer and is documented in all their user manuals.
Don]