My 7qt slow cooker glass cover doesn't have a small hole for the steam to escape, so while it's cooking it is continually lifting the cover spitting out water and dripping over the whole counter, is that the way it's supposed to be?

There is a small vent hole at the bottom of your oven door that is made to allow you to reach a brush up to clean the glass.. It sounds like your stove seal isn't sealing.

the holes are to allow condensation and heat to escape during the cooking process
you will notice that the glass door is made up of many small holes so that you can see the cooking process
the holes are of such a size that the length of the microwave is unable to penetrate and so cause radiation outside the oven
tat is what the oven light is outside the oven proper ( behind the holes section) as the micro waves cannot get to the metal fixture
If you are still concerned , talk with a repair shop

Cooking food in there will cause steam as the microwave heats the water content in your food to make it hot. This will mean some escapes and will settle somewhere it can find cooler than the rest of the unit

Cover with the lid and turn the heat down to its lowest setting. Leave it alone - once the lid is on, set the timer and go away! If you lift the lid and let the steam out you can slow down the cooking process, and rice should always be cooked as briefly as possible. Give white rice 15 minutes and brown rice 40 and use a timer - overcooking is what spoils rice. The best way to test if it is cooked is simply to bite a grain. Another way is to tilt the pan and, if liquid collects at the edge, it will need a couple more minutes' cooking.

Hi. Some steam is ok. But when it is running it should be sealed up. The little rocker should be doing it's thing too. Good luck.

I wouldn't recommend it as the lid has a plastic handle which will melt. The covers
themselves are made of pyrex glass generally and would stand the heat, It is just
a concern as to what material is attached to them as far as knobs and trim ring.
Hope this helps.

Make sure the inner container is dry... plug he unit off then on again.

Eventually, the "E4" display would appear. I determined the steam vent valve (loose piece) was not seated on the vent hole in the cover so the pressure never built up. I removed the loose piece which consists of a metal cylinder and a black plastic cover with a handle.

It should rattle if it is a pressure cooker This item will be round and should have a hole
in it. steam will escape from this hole as its cooking and it will rattle. It is a weight.

If it is a pressure canner it will have two items,
a pressure relief and a pressure gauge. Many had wing nuts which held the
lid in place such as mine has.

Wikipedia has a nice treatise on pressure canners as a reference.
hope this helps.

There is a small pressure bell that is supposed to be placed over the hole on top to regulate the steam release.

Hi I have the same model - I absolutely love it. The only problem is that the seal is broken and because Breville no longer supply parts I'm using it more as a slow cooker!
It's pretty simple to use:
The basics:
1. Pull the handles apart (note you must have the 'pressure lock - the only sliding knob on the lid) in the 'unlocked position'.
2. Set the temperature on Max (only until the meat, onions etc are brown, then turn down to 1 or 2- just enough to keep the orange button 'popped' on the top of the machine
3. turn the timer (bottom dial on the front of the cooker) to an hour (you can always turn the dial more if needed, but not reduce time) by the time you've browned meat & chopped veges, etc that will be about 10-15 gone. I've never had it pressure 'cooking for more than an hour for anything'
3. re timing - casserole takes about 40 min from when the orange button on top 'pops' up (ie. steam build up enough pressure to cook quickly)
4. don't over fill - there's a little cast iron bump about an inch from the 'top' inside the cooker - that's about the max.
5. if you're cooking meat dishes have the dial on the top 'pressure release dial' on 3 - lighter dishes (e.g. soups) have on 1 or two.
6. until you get use to it keep an eye on the orange button - you get to know what temp to put it on by how much steam is released - it it's hissing away, turn the temperature down.
7. makes great casseroles, rissotto, soups (even with dried beans, only about 40 min)
if you ever find a supplier for seals, post an answer!