[bgill]

For days, people have been talking drilling holes in pressure cookers. There’s no need. Just rig a wire through the steam vent.

http://www.doityourself.com/stry/recommendcanners

[cynwoody]

For days, people have been talking drilling holes in pressure cookers. There’s no need. Just rig a wire through the steam vent.

I'd be inclined to jam the relief valve closed and drill a separate, smaller hole just wide enough for a thin insulated wire.

But, on second thought, that's probably a premature optimization. Given the time scale of an explosion, a small leak in the pressure vessel probably makes negligible difference in the physics.