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There are two possible causes for this, the first is caused by improperly storing the gasket in place. Over time it gets compressed and flattened, and as the gasket material begins to deteriorate it sticks to the surface of the cooker's rim as well as the lid. To avoid this, pressure cookers should be stored with the gasket laying flat in the bottom and some baking soda sprinkled inside to absorb odors and moisture.

There are several possible things you can try, and you can find a little more info on the Troubleshooting page from the website. You might need to do these steps more than once, there's just no way of knowing what might work best for you. In order of simplicity:

If it's not stuck too badly, you might be able to apply enough heat just by using very hot tap water to heat up the lid and soften the gasket enough to allow the lid to be opened.

Upending the whole cooker and dunking the lid in a shallow pan (like a roaster) of boiling water may
help.

Remove the weight or open the the valve and carefully heat the pressure cooker over a medium low heat,but be patient and give it time for the heat to begin to soften the gasket. Keep trying to open the lid, but don't use brute strength or you could snap off a handle or warp the lid.



The second, and less common cause, is a residual vacuum that remains inside the cooker, and no amount of force will open it until the vacuum is reduced. See the link above for the instruction on how to proceed with this.


In any case, once you do get the lid off, you must remove all the gasket material and sticky residue so the metal surfaces is absolutely clean. In any event, for obvious safety reasons, you will need to replace not just the gasket, but all the other replaceable rubber/silicon bits before using the cooker again.


Good luck, and do let us know how things work out.