Modern pressure cookers don’t ever explode unless you are a Tsarnaev. 3 Levels of safety. Blow off valve. Secondary sacrificial blow out valve. The seal between the pot and lid has a gap and in case #1 and #2 fail, the seal blows.
If you want a good pressure cooker look for one with a disk bottom. One as thick as possible. Non disk bottom ones burn stuff on on the bottom. (Mine is a Fagor) Don’t fear pressure cookers. They make it so easy to make a stew, soup or sauce that seems cooked all day in 30 minutes. They are a great cooking tool.
No consumer pressure cooker approved for frying (broasting) chicken, but a few do the job safely, like my beloved Fagor. Capacity is key. You need lots and lots of head space if you are going to try and broast, and you need high pressure capability. My Fagor has a 17 psi setting which is higher than the 15 psi standard which few even get up to. Still prefer to do chicken in a cast iron chicken fryer. Fried chicken is a weekend meal. Pressure cooker is to make a weekend like meal after work.
Thanks for the excellent info. I will at least read up on it.
I think I’ve also read that pressure cookers retain a lot of nutrients and flavor that other kinds of cooking don’t.
-JT