Pressure cooker as autoclaveEarly WIP
Safety consideration
Pressure vessels are dangerous. Steam can scald. Even though modern pressure cooker have redudant pressure release mecanism, messing with the regulator on a pressure cooker carries a risk.
Using a pressure cooker for sterilizing solution for (own) human use obviously has a worse risk profile that industrially manufactured products. This page contains tips to minimize the risk increase, but far from negates it. Whether this is right for you depend on your risk tolerance - it is a personal decision you must seriously ponder. Please do not pass the fruit of this sort of protocol to other people that may not realize the implied risk.
And, as always, please think through before acting.
Choice of pressure cooker model
Due to the EU directive on pressure vessels, pressure cookers in the EU are not marketed for canning/sterilization capability, even though they may be adequate for that use. There is no such limitation in the USA. It is also possible to import a pressure cooker, or downright stove top autoclave, though shipping will be expensive (weight).
Some manufacturer have the same model available in both markets, so finding a suitable pressure cooker in the EU may necessitate finding such model, and checking for identical part number for the vessel and essential components.
Non-exhaustive list of suitable model:
- Tefal/Tfal Secure 5 Neo
(as manufacturer may change individual parts without changing the model name, still check part number matching)