Bellini Electric BTPC10

Recall – Please note everyone. This product has a fault and has been recall for full refund. Go to any Target store, and let them know that you heard of the recall. You can search it on line. Sorry it was a good machine, but there is a problem with the lock pin....so can cause damaged.  Show details

Plan on extra time for a learning curve – This electric pressure cooker has a pretty steep learning curve if you've never used one before. The first meal took me over an hour before I was confident that I wouldn't explode the meal across the kitchen. Megan_Michie's review & tips (Sep 2012) were invaluable. Now I am far more confident I use it at least weekly to cook large batches of… Read more

food. I'm still on a flavour profile/wateriness learning curve but have had no failures as such. In fact some meals are so fast and easy (lasagne!) I won't ever bother cooking them in a conventional way again.

Fantastic electric pressure cooker – I have had this pressure cooker for sometime when it went on special at Target and have recently started using it. I cannot believe the easiness of its use and how cook my meals are cooked. I made beef curry in 20mins and cooked perfect rice. I will be using this pressure cooker in all my meals to reduce cooking time. I love this product.  Show details

Cheap, confusing, a confused cook – I just bought it from sale in Target, I am a reasonable cook and have two pressure cookers (stove top, and electric). This device really stumps me. First the manual function is only to adjust the cooking time of preset cooking time. There is no way to gauge the temperature but only guessing that fish preset is likely to be less hot than the meat… Read more

setting. The manual is poorly written and using this machine requires a little of guess work. There is no pop up button to tell you that the pot has reached pressure. Furthermore, you have to guesstimate the cooking time if you have more than four portions, you may require an extra run to achieve a cooked dish, but add more liquid or you risk a burnt bottom. Safety first, always wear thick hand gloves when releasing the pressure valve to open and if you are tall do not stand looking down over it, This one will go to the op shop for somebody else to figure out how to use. It functions, but obviously has not been tested in a domestic kitchen. It needs to be reengineered to include at least a temperature control on manual mode, a pop up pressure button and a set of basic tested recipes for each of the setting.

Hopeless – Takes longer to make it workwork than if i just put stuff in the oven. Just spent 40 minutes trying to get it to go and now my dinner is burnt to the bottom. Have only used it a few times but steam seems to escape.. when it does actually work food is great.  Show details

so easy to use – I am 71yrs old have used pressure cookers since I first learned to cook by my grand mother. my bellini is my first electric one its so easy to use I love it, cant understand why people find it difficult, maybe they are afraid of cooking with pressure they don't know what they are missing out on  Show details

Won't buy this again – I have never used a pressure cooker before and I thought it would be easy to use I was wrong.I had to go on line and watch youtube to find out how to use it. I have used mine once and I am ready to get rid of it.The instruction book is useless. It would be helpful if there was a recipe book to go with it.  Show details

Working Well – Have used the Bellini Pressure Cooker now by cooking soups and curry. I have never used a pressure cooker before so I am impressed with the results. Its the first one I have purchased so I may go for a more expensive brand next time. The programs are easy to use and you can also cook on a manual setting. I cooked a Curried Lamb Soup with bones and it was beautiful.  Show details

Will Never Use The Bellini Again – The manual is hopeless. We have used the pressure cooker twice. Following from all the injuries reported by users of thermomix and pressure cookers; i.e. high pressure hot liquids we will not use the Bellini again. Refer to Choice Australia and TV reports. We do not know where to fit a small round nylon seal and can get no assistance or diagram… Read more

to assist us to fit this seal. We will definitely not use the Bellini again. A request for assistance has been outstanding unanswered since May.

The quality and detail in the manual is hopeless beyond belief.

It is not worth the risk.

Great machine – Really happy with machine. I brown meat without lid on. Then add rest of ingredients making sure pressure cooker vacuum plug is in its right position. It takes about 15 minutes to build up to pressure. It beeps to let me know when pressure cooking begins. Then the timer begins it's countdown. When finished it beeps again to let me know it has gone to warm mode . Simple to use. Terrific results.  Show reply

Is okay – How do you set the timer? I was looking for the manual book.i couldnt find it. Im trying to cook meat and set for 3 hours.the number is set but is not moving or counting down.i dont know if is working or what? I hope my meat is cooking now.

Good – Quite happy with it so far. I'm just learning, food tastes great. Would have been better with stainless pot. On scale. 7/10 that's the truth. Oh the instruction book needs better directions. I had to go online to find other make that explained how to use it on youtube.

Great – I cooked a whole roast and veggies in 20 mins- no joke, spag bowl in 15 mins while the pasta cooked!!! And tasted like it has simmered away for hours. I wasn't sure about the amount of water needed my thoughts were "water makes steam" but not much at all is needed better if you get it from canned tomatoes, cream- watery products with flavor and it's completely safe.

Very average – When I try to cook a stew the cooker beeps all the time irrespective of the liquid levels. I can only cook stews on the soup setting to stop the beeping. Suggestions from anyone would help. I have found it cooks soups & corn beef really well. The instruction manual is useless & the recipes tell you settings that don't exist on this product!… Read more

The 30 minute increments are too long and 15 minutes would be easier to work with. I have owned stove top pressure cookes before and understand the method of operation. If I wasn't experienced with pressure cookers I would have put this appliance in the rubbish bin! Cooks soup & Corn beef (silverside) very well

Tips for using Bellini BTPC10 Electric Pressure Cooker – Manual is very poor. People have made some good comments in these reviews that will help you work it out. And here are a few more tips i have worked out from reading around and experimenting: 1. If you want to precook (eg. brown meat), select one of the function buttons (I use "meat") and just leave the lid off until you have finished… Read more ·  5

precooking. Then press cancel and select whichever function is appropriate for pressure cooking. (the "keep warm" button won't heat high enough to precook)

2. The beeping noise should only happen a few times when the cooking has finished. I managed to make it go off continuously, like an alarm, by heating the cooker to precook but not adding the food quickly enough. So maybe it occurs when the temperature gets too high, or the lid isn't sealed properly for pressure cooking. To stop it, I unplugged the cooker and let it cool down before starting over.

3. The timer only works in 1/2 hour increments - so you need to use a kitchen timer for accurate cooking, (but at least you can set it so the cooker will stop sometime before you burn the kitchen down if you forget it). To use with the timer, use the timer to select the number of half hours you want to cook for, then a function button for the kind of recipe. Thats all!

4. I don't use the timer because I have found that the function buttons time things well. To use them, just fill the cooker, put the lid on and select a function button (meat/soup/rice etc) according to the kind of thing you are cooking. The cooker will heat to pressure, cook, time itself, beep when it has finished, and then change to keep warm setting.

5. If you wish to use pressure cooker recipes from elsewhere there are a few things to keep in mind:

a. This pressure cooker cooks at a maximum of 10.16psi. A standard stove top pressure cooker works at 15psi. (most electric ones don't tend to go as high). You can approximate the correct time for this cooker by multiplying the cooking time given for standard cookers by 130% and cooking on the "meat" setting. (for things like rice that would use a pressure lower than 10.16psi anyway, there is no need to adjust times)

b. Cooking times given in standard recipes usually start from when the cooker reaches pressure. This is he point when you can no longer open the lid on our cooker. (Mine also seems to make a burst of steam at around that point). Start timing from then.

c. If this is all to complicated, don't be too bothered. When I have timed the cooker when it is using the automatic functions it has ended up pretty close to the calculated time anyway (taking into account the time taken to get to pressure) so I don't bother with these calculations mostly. I would only worry when it is something that doesn't fall easily into one of the categories on the function buttons.

d. Often recipes specify the kind of release of steam at the end of cooking. To approximate a cold water release, move the pressure release valve open and closed in short bursts. To imitate quick release, open the valve and leave it open. For natural release, leave cooker (off) until pressure drops on its own. (don't burn yourself!)

6. The other major thing to keep in mind if you don't have a manual - you must only operate the cooker when it is more than 20% full and less than 80% full. If the food will expand, or will foam up, only fill 60% full.

7. Lastly, remember that the majority of the water in the pot will be retained - there will be no reducing to concentrate or thicken sauces etc. So don't put too much liquid in. (I kept thinking that recipes had too little liquid and adding more so ....and ended up with such delicacies as baked bean soup and apricot chicken soup by mistake.)

Hope this helps. Cheaper than other brands and models (on sale at Target). Great to use once I got the hang of it. Easy to clean. Bad instruction book. Non stick coating scratching a little (but have used it a lot).

Bad – I finally had the courage to pull out the new electric pressure cooker from the box today to try the receipe in the manual of the roast chicken. Originally I was excited at my purchase since it was on special at Target - I then came home and read the poor instruction manual which deflated my enthusiasm. I read fellow reviews on this site which… Read more

gave me hope to try it out since others had great results despite the poor instructions. Well I note the 'roast chicken' function mentioned in the booklet doesnt exist, so I pre-warmed the machine and then selected 'meat'. The beeping started about 5 mins into cooking and then stopped after 3 or so minutes. Then the beeping started again 5 mins later and seemed to stop after 5 minutes. Nothing I pressed stopped the beeping and I didnt want to cancel the cooking preset. I have no idea what the beeping was for. Somewhat still hopeful on the booklet I left the chicken to cool for the 10 mins prescribed. I have just checked and the chicken is not quite cooked (still pinkish) but has a lovely browned base. I think I was a little too hopeful for 20 mins total cooking time. I have now flipped the chicken over and put it back in on the timer 'meat' selection and while check it in say another 10 mins. Given the 1/2 hr timer, I will have to time this myself and cancel the cooking manually. Bit disappointed. I already have a giant rice cooker, looks like I have two now. I might even try the gas electrict pressure cooker I have sitting in my cupboard mum gave me that I was too scared to try out before. Price (on special at Target) and electric. Very poor instruction manual, no information on the internet and constant beeping like a truck backing up that just wont stop!

Dont bother trying the preset cooking function, just use the timer and select the cooking option (i.e. 0.5 and then 'meat'). A bit of guess work in working out what are the high and low pressure settings.

Excellent – This is the first pressure cooker we bought. Before, we are choosing between non-electric and electric pressure cooker. Finally, we choose electric cooker because Target have half price discount ($A87) on this model. After we purchased it, my wife loves this cooker very much. She is now using it about 4-5 times per week to make meat, red-bean… Read more

soup, soup. It is very easy to use and we loved the taste of end result of food. Quite impressive.

Actually, the manual is not that clear (this is very very not clear). Also I cannot find the warranty card information and manufacturer contact information. Maybe, I will ask Target later to get the information in case.

This cooker has 2 modes : A) Timer mode and B) Automatic mode.

We used to use Timer mode before. But later, we take some time to figure out how the automatic mode works beacuse the manual is really not that clear.

After that , we always use automatic mode because we don't need to worry about the timing. It will automatically cook the food (depended on which type of cooking you choose). When it done, it will turn itself to "Keep Warm" mode automatically and then release the pressure automatically.

This is how the automatically mode start (For the user who don't know how to use the auto mode):

1. Put the food inside the cooker and close the lid.

2. Press the button for type of food you want to cook (e.g. "Soup", "Meat", "Tendon/Bean", "Rice", "Fish").

3. That is, the cooker will start automatically and turn to "Keep warm" automatically when finished.

That is only "one-click" opeartion and you don't need to worry about the timing. And the end result of food is quite impressive so far in that mode.

PS: after some google in Asian website, this Bellini cooker is manufactured by the same China manufactures as "Cuisinart". So, I guess the quality should be the same. By comparing these electric cooker, I prefer the Bellini one beacuse the Tefal and Cuisinart electric pressure cooker does not have the "Auto mode". You need to set the timer in Telfal and Cuisinart but their timer function is better because they can be increment by 1 min. Not 30 mins like Bellini. I also found that some Asian model (not sold in Australia) can even provide more cooking feature than Bellini. Anyway, I love that Bellini pressure cooker so far... Easy to use. Having automatic cooking function(no need to set timer). The meat is very soft and the taste is very good. Quite impressure! The timer mode can only make incremented by 30 mins. so, I cannot set the timer fro 25 mins or 45mins. The user manual is very unclear and difficult to understand. Cannot find warrantty card.

Disappointed! – Through travel, I didn't use the cooker for 7mths or so. The computer card died in it last week - it is US and obviously out of warranty. Seems a pity to waste such a well looked after item - I have kept the pot part for cooktop cooking. Loved it - automatic switch off - browned well - tasted terrific. Never got sick of meals that I did in it. unfixable after a year's use

Bad – I will be investing in a different pressure cooker next year. Although I have cooked some lovely meals in this, it wasn't quite the 1 pot cooker I was hoping for. It couldn't brown meat well and the beeping whenever it started to beep for whatever reason it beeped for and then wouldn't stop, was extremely annoying. I'm glad to read it wasn't just… Read more

mine that does this. I liked the idea of the settings and timers, but they didn't work or I couldn't figure out how to work them because the manual was so poorly written. I only got this one because it was cheap, Tefal also put an electric pressure cooker out that I will be considering, but honestly, I think I'll go the good old stainless steel or even ceramic next time. Cooks fast. Bad instruction manual, doesn't brown meat well, the beeping!!!!!!!!

Quite good for the price – It cooks food in a small amount of time. It does a good job of cooking too. It is simple and efficient. To cook with The Bellini Pressure Cooker you can do it a number of ways: 1. Manual or direct. You just press the button that corresponds with what you are cooking. So if you are cooking a stew with meat, you press meat. Put your stuff in… Read more

and brown the food. After you have finished browning ingredients you can put the lid on and use it as a pressure cooker.

2. Timer. To do this you press the button that corresponds best with what you are cooking. Then press the timer. It goes up in 30 minute increments. If you cycle through the timer button you can also get the cooker to go delayed start.

Once your meal has cooked, either turn the machine off or hit the keep warm button (this is the low setting). Cooks well. Easy to clean. Efficient. Saves time. Would have been nice if it went up in 15min increments. I didn't have any problems with it though. It was pretty straightforward. It only has 2 settings; High and Low (Keep Warm).

Bad – The quality of the pressure cooker seems to be good, with non stick inner pot easy to clean. The instruction manual, is badly written and difficult to understand. It is compact,and the inner cooking pot makes it easy to clean. The instruction manual is unclear,and badly written. I am still unsure of the workings of the cooker.

An Excellent Kitchen Accessory – I have been using the Bellini pressure cooker for 12 months now and have had no trouble with it. I only use the manual to get some idea of cooking times for similar recipes. I find this works OK. I googled pressure cooker recipes and got a lot of good ones which were easy to convert from the high pressure stove top electic. I usually use the soup,… Read more

meat or tendon settings. I find that the soup setting will cook gravy beef to a delicious tenderness, meat for beef strogonf and tendon for things like lamb shanks.

I never brown or saute meat etc in the cooker, I find it too difficult. I use a yok. I find I can control the temperature and time much better using the yok.

I have a multimeter (volt meter) with a thermocouple for measuring temperatures. By inserting it in the valve in the handle, I was able to accurately measure the temperature. I found it rose to 115 deg C. and gradually dropped to 110 deg C. and then rapidly rose to 115 deg C again, so I suppose it would be at 115 dec for about 90% of the time.

A few months ago I bought a Russel Hobbs 7 litre stove top presssure cooker. What a disaster! I tried to cook a Morrocan tagine recipe. It chard the meat and filled the house full of acrid smoke. My wife forebade me to use it again, but I talked her around and tried stirring until the liquids boiled, but it still took a long time to build up pressure and the meat was still caught. The trouble was that the cooker was so massive and made of poor conducting stainless that food was bound to char. Anyway, I decided I had had enough of it and gave it to the Salvos this mourning. So the moral of this story is to stick with an electric pressure cooker. Easy to use, do not worry about the poor instruction manual, usei it as a guide, get in and try it! Well worth the money

Good – Overall, I was pleased with the product; and you should be as well as long as you disregard it's ugliness. In spite of this, I would definitely recommend it. This product cooked meals very efficiently, and is surely one of the more quicker deviced to use on the market I dislike the design. I find it repulsive

Bad – I have just bought the cooker, and I can't find a manual - I actually bought the cooker new for $25, but don't know how to use it, as I haven't owned a pressure cooker before. So, I am actually wondering if someone would be willing to send me a copy of their manual? Not sure yet

The Best Risotto Ever in 10 Minutes! This Cooker Is Such A Time Saver, I'm Converted Forever – Bought our Bellini from Target on a $49 clearance, not bad given they were being sold months earlier for $160. The operating instructions leave a lot to be desired and I found the notes being offered by the previous Reviewers a great help. I also found the instructions available for other cookers such as Presto are a good generic reference & they… Read more

have some great free recipe books available as PDF downloads. Most instructions can be adapted to suit the Bellini. We have cooked a meal in this unit 12 days out of the last 14 and the family loves them. Inexpensive & quick to cook. Easy to clean non-stick pot. Useless user instructions & the "beeping" is not explained at all.

Bad – great price at $84 on special at Target, even if I cant work it out - it will still be ok as a rather expensive rice cooker.... Have only used once but cooked very quickly When recipees ask for cooking before the lid is put on and the unit is pressurised, the heat in the open cooking functin is not hot enough to actually do anything at all -… Read more

meaning I may need to use 2 pots - one to pre cook and then the pressure cooker to pressure cook instead of the convenience of one pot one meal. [censored word removed] instruction booklet - literally lost in translation - meaning lost and poor and limited array of recipees and description of how to use....

Terrible – great for quick cooking but very very poor instruction booklet and can't find anywhere on the net to get better instruction I love the idea of quick cooking saves on time and electricity The instruction book is a leaves a lot to desire it doesn't explain well enough on how to use it or how to set it, in the book there are recipes that you have to set on roast chicken but there are no button on it for roast chicken very confusing.

Good – This is my first pressure cooker!!!I have so far cooked one meal that I converted from a slow cooker recipe and it was super quick although it started beeping and I don't know what that means and manual no help. great to clean although not too sure about cooking TENDON, BONE or CONGEE????? It was half price. I have read the manual ten times and… Read more

still don't know how to use it.. What does the beeping mean???????? PLease hire a decent translator!! Keving Rudd is out of a job surely he might be up for it.

Bad – I LUV it's operation! Much, much better than a manual pressure cooker on the stove top as I at least know that it will shut itself off at the end of the 30 minute timer setting - phew! I nearly burnt down my kitchen when I forgot that I had the pressure cooker on the stove some years ago! wonderfully efficient & quiet while pressure cooking -… Read more

you hardly know it is operating! confusing manual - obviously mistranslated into English;

the timer function only operates to 30 minute increments - very frustrating as I thought it would be "self setting";

Target catalogue promotes this pressure cooker as having "two heat settings - low & high" - NO it does NOT! - only the one temp as far as I have been able to work out from the crummy manual. I was drawn to the dual temp function as I cook a LOT of vegetable dishes & do not need high temp all the time;

frustrating trying to work out how it really works mainly due to the poor manual.

Excellent – The instruction booklet is dreadful. Where is the pre-heat setting? So I can cook everything in the one pot. Is it the keep warm setting? having curry tonight, would like to do it all in one pot. Will try the keep warm setting and see if this works. Mum could do it all in her old time pressure cooker. Have wanted one of these for ever, am not… Read more

dissapointed yet. My boys were pretty impressed with the lamb shanks, 1 and a half hours, awesome. Elaine Quick curries, casseroles and the almighty LAMB SHANKS in a hurry Pretty huge but also like this