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I noticed that Macy's has the Casa Essentials brand on sale, much lower than the Fagor brand. Last time I saw this model, its shape was different - now it looks identical to that of the Fagor 4 L/qt model.

I looked for the difference and the only two things I noticed was a slightly different dial on the cover and the numbers on the bottom of the cooker. The unit in the store was labeled as having been made in Spain. Numbers on the bottom were 0.7 and 1.15 vs. 1.05 and 1.6 on the Fagor brand, which according to other posts on this thread refer to the pressure. The other thing of note is that the Fagor brand has a ten year warranty vs. the Casa only has a one year warranty.

I had thought the numbers might refer to the metal quality. Perhaps the pressure difference may explain why this unit is much lower priced. The Casas pc was made of heavier stainless steel and did seem nearly identical to the Fagor model.

I have a Fagor pc and after one year's occassional use is still very effective in cooking quickly and quietly. I highly recommend this brand. My unit was made in China and cooks at 15 psi.

If the Casa unit does cook at 15 psi, is there any reason why this unit is not as good as the Fagor branded pc?
In today's world, I don't know why Fagor would make a pc that doesn't cook at 15 psi.

Also - is a 6 qt pc less efficient in cooking a smaller amount of greens vs. that of a 4 qt pc given the extra "empty space" inside between the top of the bunch of greens and the cover? Fagor has a 4 qt and a 6 qt size (as well as larger sizes). For just cooking a small amount of greens like kale and a small amount of beans, it would seem that a 6 qt unit would be unnecessarily too large if just used for cooking small quantities of food.

My 4 qt pc come to pressure quickly, within about 30 seconds, is very easy to handle and very easy to get into to remove food inside. I have noticed that if I need to re-seal the pc for additional pressure cooking, that the gasket doesn't expand as immediately as the first pressure cooking and results in steam coming out from the edge of the cover for about one minute befor the gasket expands to seal off the inner steaming action. It is as though the material of the gasket requires more heating to expand in the same manner as when it is much cooler just prior to the first pressure cooking process.

My Indian friends use pressure cookers from India - the Futura brand looks like Fagor, in being a second generation cooker, in not having that "rocker" mechanism, and cooking quietly. The Hawkins units they have use the whistle/rocker mechanism. I was impressed with my neighbor's Futura model . My neighbors were unfamiliar with the Fagor brand.