Best Buy Gourmia Pressure Cooker Warning Follows At Least Four Severe Burn Injuries: CPSC

Gourmia pressure cooker explosion incidents have led to at least two lawsuits filed by consumers who allege they were injured by defective devices.

Federal safety officials are warning consumers to immediately stop using certain Gourmia pressure cookers from Best Buy after reports that the lid can open while the unit is still pressurized, causing scalding hot contents to eject onto users and others nearby.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced the Gourmia pressure cooker alert on February 24, following at least five reports of incidents involving the forceful expulsion of hot contents, including four reports of severe burn injuries.

Pressure cookers are designed to cook food quickly by sealing in steam, which increases both internal pressure and temperature far beyond what is possible with conventional stovetop cooking. To prevent accidental openings, modern units are marketed with multiple safety mechanisms intended to keep the lid locked until all internal pressure has safely dissipated. 

However, if those locking systems malfunction or fail to properly detect pressure levels, the lid can open prematurely, releasing built-up steam and boiling food with explosive force and creating a serious risk of burn injuries.

In the wake of similar alleged failures involving other brands, Gourmia has now joined a growing list of manufacturers facing pressure cooker lawsuits, each raising allegations that the safety features marketed to consumers were defective and failed to function properly, resulting in severe injuries.

Gourmia Pressure Cooker Explosion Warning

The new CPSC warning impacts approximately 43,500 Gourmia pressure cookers labeled with model GPC625. The devices were manufactured in China and sold at Best Buy and other retailers between 2017 and 2020, with prices ranging from $50 to $80.

The affected Gourmia products are digital pressure cookers featuring a six-quart cooking chamber, stainless steel and black plastic finishes, a locking pressure lid, a digital temperature and function display, and front-mounted button controls.

Like many modern pressure cookers, the units are equipped with a float valve designed to rise when the appliance is pressurized and drop once pressure has fully released, signaling that it is safe to open the lid. However, in the Gourmia models at issue, the float valve is positioned inside the handle and is not easily visible to users. Safety officials warn that this design may create confusion and could lead consumers to believe the pressure has dissipated when the cooker remains pressurized, increasing the risk of sudden lid release and expulsion of hot contents.

In addition, the pressure cookers have incorrect volume markings on the inner pot, which can lead consumers to overfill the devices, causing hot food and liquids to be ejected when the cooker is vented using the quick-release method or opened while pressurized.

The CPSC urges consumers to immediately stop using the pressure cookers and dispose of them. They should not be sold or given away. Any incidents involving injury or product defect can be reported to federal regulators at www.SaferProducts.gov. 

Gourmia has objected to the CPSC’s announcement, and the importer, Steelstone Group LLC, which does business as Gourmia, along with retailer Best Buy Co. Inc., have declined to agree to an acceptable recall to address the alleged safety hazard.

Pressure Cooker Lawsuits

Numerous recalls and lawsuits have been filed in recent years over similar alleged pressure cooker design defects involving explosion risks in products sold under major brands such as Farberware, Ninja Foodi and Instant Pot.

In 2023, nearly one million Best Buy Insignia pressure cookers were recalled due to lid safety failures linked to seven burn injuries from explosion incidents.

Two years later, a Missouri man filed a product liability lawsuit claiming he suffered severe burn injuries when a Sensio pressure cooker exploded after the lid detached without warning that the hot contents were still pressurized.

Within the following two weeks, a Kentucky couple brought a lawsuit, claiming they suffered serious burn injuries when a Crock-Pot Express pressure cooker unexpectedly released scalding contents during use.

In addition, a product liability lawsuit brought last month alleged that a Farberware-branded pressure cooker sold through Walmart exploded during normal use, causing an Illinois woman to suffer severe injuries that required medical treatment.

Consumers injured by similar defects may be entitled to financial compensation. Pressure cooker injury attorneys are offering free case evaluations to help individuals determine whether they qualify to file a lawsuit.

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