Food storage and cooking vessel with a valve

A removable lid for a container of a vessel includes a valve (301) configured to selectively allow air to vent out of a fluid retaining interior region of the container when the lid is positioned on the container. The valve includes an opening that extends entirely through a thickness of a portion of the lid, and a valve plug. The valve plug includes a valve top portion (303) that extends vertically above a top surface of the portion of the lid, a valve bottom portion (304), and a valve central portion (302). The valve top portion (303) is configured to be contracted, by a downward pressure, into a more vertically compact shape. The valve top portion is further configured to, absent the downward pressure, expand back upwards out of the more vertically compact shape. In one example, the valve top portion further comprises two or more connecting segments (440) that spiral upward from a bottom level (436) to a substantially circular top level (432) having an opening in the center. In another example, the valve top portion comprises an upward curved flap (452) having an opening (456) in the center and is coupled to the valve central portion at a bottom section (454) of its curvature. The invention provides a removable lid with a convenient hand grip for opening a valve to selectively allow air to vent out from a container.