Crux Pressure Cooker Lawsuit Attorney

What is the Crux Pressure Cooker?

According to Crux, pressure cookers are designed to slow cook, steam, brown, pressure cook, warm, and cook rice. Pre-set functions included with the Crux Pressure Cooker include sauté, soup/broth, meat/stew, egg, poultry, desserts, rice/risotto, and multigrain. The cooker also features a pressure release valve, safety valve, and auto-locking lid [1].

What Can Cause a Pressure Cooker Explosion?

Pressure cookers utilize a combination of heat and steam to create a high amount of pressure to cook foods in far less time than conventional cooking methods.

According to Modernist Cuisine, a pressure cooker is essentially just a pot with a semi-sealed lockable lid and a valve that controls the pressure inside [2].  It works by capturing the steam that, as it builds up, increases the pressure in the vessel. 

The temperature inside a pressure cooker runs approximately 40 degrees hotter than the boiling point of water, and the steam it generates can be extremely dangerous.

If a pressure cooker’s lock, vent, lid, seal, or gasket is faulty, the pressure cooker can explode, causing severe injury or even death to anyone nearby. People who have experienced a pressure cooker explosion have suffered burns, amputations, blindness, concussions, broken bones, and disfigurement, not to mention damage to their homes.

Related Article: Pressure Cooker Lawsuit Update

Pressure Cooker Explosion Injuries

According to LezDo TechMed 2022 research, first, second, or third-degree burns can be caused by poorly built or malfunctioning equipment [3].

Contact with electrical outlets or circuits on electric pressure cookers can result in electrocution injuries, such as electrocution burns, as steam and highly heated water make up the majority of the explosion’s debris.

Other major pressure cooker injuries include:

• Serious burns
• Hot steam burns
• Second-degree burns
• Third-degree burns
• Eye injuries and blindness
• Traumatic brain injuries
• Scalds
• Permanent scarring
• Disfigurement
• Emergency medical treatment
• Kitchen and/or property damage

What are Lawsuits Alleging?

Below is a list of just some of the lawsuits our firm has filed in various courts throughout the Country. Each court (Federal or State) has different requirements but for the most part, our lawyers will file what is called a “COMPLAINT AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL”, which claims the following:

• Strict Products Liability
• Negligent Products Liability
• Breach of Express Warranty
• Breach of Implied Warranty of Merchantability
• Breach of Implied Warranty of Fitness for a Particular Purpose
• A violation of a specific civic code (dependent on locale)

Claims Based on Defective Pressure Cookers

To establish a product liability claim in connection with a pressure cooker that caused you harm, you will need to show the existence of a manufacturing, design, or marketing defect. Generally, a pressure cooker does not explode under normal conditions, and if it does, it may have a defect.

Some reported defects in pressure cookers include inadequate venting of steam that results in explosions, faulty gaskets that allow a pot to be opened even under high pressure, or inadequate seals for lids, which can result in intense, hot spills.

Manufacturing defects

Manufacturing defects are flaws in how the pressure cooker is made. Typically, when there is a manufacturing defect, it is a one-off problem, and other pressure cookers in the line do not have the same problem. For example, a gasket that simply was not molded correctly might be defectively manufactured.

Design defects

Design defects occur in all of the products in a line because a flaw exists in the design of the pressure cooker. Different jurisdictions require you to prove different elements in connection with design defects.

Generally, to show a design defect, the product must have posed a foreseeable risk when it was made as intended and used for its intended purpose.

Marketing defects

When a manufacturer knows that there are risks associated with the use of a product, it has a responsibility to provide warnings to consumers. These warnings should be adequate to warn consumers of the risks of using the pressure cooker in certain ways, or of using the pressure cooker at all.

Pressure Cooker Lawsuit Settlement Statistics

The potential settlement payout or verdict in a pressure cooker lawsuit hinges on the extent of damages suffered by the plaintiff.

Settlement amounts in pressure cooker cases vary widely, ranging from $25,000 to upwards of $2,000,000.

Typically, pressure cooker settlements encompass compensation for medical costs, lost earnings, pain and suffering, and other losses.

Cases involving physical harm, emotional anguish, and material damages stemming from a pressure cooker explosion may yield higher settlement figures than those solely involving physical suffering.

For instance, thermal burns are the primary injuries in pressure cooker explosions, with settlement values influenced by the severity and location of the injuries.

In auto accident cases, first-degree burns may garner $25,000 to $75,000, while third-degree burns in product liability cases could range from $100,000 to $1,000,000.

In pressure cooker lawsuits, the average settlement may fall between $125,000 and $200,000 for second-degree burns and $600,000 to $2,000,000 for third-degree burns.

Cases involving severe damages, like permanent disfigurement, may result in even higher settlement sums.

It’s essential to note that these figures are approximations based on past outcomes in similar lawsuits and injuries caused by various accidents and products. They do not guarantee financial compensation for any particular pressure cooker lawsuit.

General Pressure Cooker Statistics:

According to the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System, the majority of pressure cooker users are over the age of 30, with 46% of injured parties between the ages of 30 and 50, and 10% between 51 and 70. In 2008, of 39 sampled cases of pressure cooker-associated emergency room visits, 17 involved injuries where the pressure cooker either exploded or liquids burst from the pot, causing burns. The remaining 22 involved contact burns or steam burns.

There have been several recalls of pressure cookers in recent years due to safety concerns, including:

• FagorSplendid Chef: Over 400,000 were recalled from 2007-2015, with more than 70 burn injuries reported.
• Tristar Pressure Cooker: Recall of 145,000 units in 2012 due to lid detachments caused by excess pressure buildup, resulting in 29 reports of injuries.
• Power Pressure Cooker XL: Recall nearly 1 million cookers in 2018 due to explosion and malfunction complaints.
• Instant Pot Gem 65: Some batches were recalled in 2018 for potential fire risk from overheating.
• Crock-Pot Express Crock: 2019 recall of 119,000 units following 99 incidents of the lid detaching violently.

Related Articles:

• CrockPot Pressure Cooker Explosion Lawsuit
• Ginny’s Pressure Cooker Explosion Litigation
• Healthy Cuisine Pressure Cooker Lawyer

See all related product liability cases that we’ve covered.

Get a Free Crux Pressure Cooker Lawsuit Evaluation With Our Lawyers

The Product Liability Litigation Group at Schmidt & Clark, LLP law firm is an experienced team of jury trial lawyers that focus on the representation of plaintiffs in Crux Pressure Cooker Lawsuits. We are handling individual litigation nationwide and currently representing burn injury victims in all 50 states.

Free Confidential Crux Pressure Cooker Lawsuit Evaluation: Again, if you or a loved one suffered serious burns or other serious injuries caused by an exploding pressure cooker, you should contact our law firm immediately for a free review of your potential case. You may be entitled to recover damages and financial compensation for medical bills and lost wages by filing a Crux pressure cooker explosion lawsuit and a lawyer can help.

References:

1. https://cruxkitchen.com/collections/crux-series/cookers
2. https://modernistcuisine.com/mc/how-pressure-cookers-work/
3. https://www.lezdotechmed.com/blog/pressure-cooker-lawsuits/