The Instant Pot is a popular choice for families to prepare home-cooked meals because of its speed and convenience.
Despite the company advertising many safety features, an Instant Pot accident is more likely than you think.
In recent years, Instant Pot has recalled hundreds of thousands of cookers for overheating, exploding, and melting.
If you’ve experienced an accident with an Instant Pot, you don’t have to accept your injuries.
California requires manufacturers and distributors to pay for injuries caused by their defective products.
What Can Happen in an Instant Pot Accident?
The main feature of the Instant Pot is the electric pressure cooker. When you start the pressure cooker, it starts to heat the food and liquid inside.
A “float valve” and “a gasket or sealing ring” create an airtight chamber to hold the steam. As the steam builds, the heat rises above boiling to cook food evenly.
Among the dangers an Instant Pot pose is an explosion.
When the Instant Pot explodes, it can spray boiling food and liquid all over the room and ceiling at a high velocity.
Injured Instant Pot users report second-degree burns to the face, eyes, chest, and arms and other injuries from defective products.
Which Models Are Recalled?
In 2018, Double Insight, the distributor of Instant Pot, recalled 104,000 Gem 65 8-in-1 multicookers sold at Walmart from August 2017 through January 2018.
The company issued a recall after receiving 107 reports of overheating.
According to the company, a manufacturing defect “causes the multicooker to overheat and melt on the underside, posing a fire hazard to consumers.”
Previously, Double Insight recalled around 1,000 of the Instant Pot “Smart” and “Smart-60” models for an electrical problem.
The recalled models were sold Online at Instantpot.com and Amazon.com from November 2014 through May 2015. Three users reported being shocked while using the Instant Pot.
In 2020, Sunbeam Products, Inc. recalled nearly 1 million Crock-Pot 6-Quart Express Crock Multi-Cookers.
One important feature of electric pressure cookers is the self-sealing lid.
Over 100 users reported that they could easily remove the lid during cooking, causing the burning contents to spray their face, chest, and arms.
Other users reported explosions as the pressure forced off the lid. The faulty lid resulted in 99 reported burn injuries ranging in severity from first-degree to third-degree burns.
Instant Pot Liability
Under California product liability law, a manufacturer, distributor, supplier, or seller that provides consumers with a defective product is liable.
An injured consumer may have a claim if their pressure cooker:
- Contained a manufacturing defect,
- Was defectively designed, or
- Did not include sufficient instructions or warning of potential safety hazards.
You may not know if your model contains a defect as a consumer. An experienced product liability attorney can help determine if the company is responsible for your injuries.
Reach Out to Us with Your Instant Pot Questions
The Law Office of Chuck Geerhart understands your pain after a household appliance injures you or a loved one.
Our attorneys have over 30 years of experience in complex litigation and product liability cases. We are here to help you recover after an Instant Pot accident.