We discovered using the pressure cooker a couple years back. We now use one all the time. First, I have to tell you that some of the worst meals my dear Mom ever turned out were done in a pressure cooker. She eventually, saints be praised, retired it to the basement. Given that experience I was decidedly skeptical until a friend mentioned how well they worked.
My wife and I bought a [bleep] 6qt stove-top model and started playing with it. What speeded us up the learning curve was a copy of the not immodestly titled Americas Test Kitchen book Pressure Cooker Perfection. I highly recommend it.
My wife makes a great mushroom risotto but it takes nearly an hour of ladling hot broth into the mixture and constant stirring. Waaaay too long for a weeknight dinner. The pressure cooker turns it out in about 6 minutes flat.A whole whole chicken, browned first in the pressure cooker is done in about 35 minutes and it produces some of the best , most moist chicken we have had. Asian style beef ribs which would take 4 hours in the oven are done in 30 minutes or so.
We do a lot of entertaining, especially at our summer home in Maine and found we needed a bigger model, so we bought another [bleep]... this time the 8 qt. The pressure cooker has become absolutely indispensable. Get the ATK book. I know a lot of people are buying the electric models, but they really are not necessary and to me, just complicate things. The book has recipes adapted to the electric models also.
