Why do culinary professionals hesitate regarding pressure cooker process oversight?

Deviations are difficult or impossible to make once the seal is set.

The primary reason chefs express hesitation centers on the fundamental loss of direct process oversight inherent to sealed cooking systems. Once the pressure cooker achieves its sealed state, it creates a high-pressure, high-temperature environment where external intervention becomes practically impossible until the cycle is complete. In a traditional kitchen setting, cooks constantly check visual cues, adjust heat based on sound, and physically probe food for doneness, allowing for minute adjustments, such as adding five more minutes of gentle simmering versus ten minutes under pressure. This ability to make mid-cycle adjustments is lost in a pressurized vessel, leading to unpredictable results that conflict with the consistency required in a commercial operation.