In the late 90s, or possibly early 2000s, a new generation of pressure cookers seemed suddenly to be available, and when I rhapsodised about them to my late mother-in-law, she was amused at their comeback, telling me of her pressure cooking years in the distant past and the particular glory of her pressure cooker crème caramels.

Pressure cookers are better at breaking down tendons and muscle fibers in tougher cuts of meat that usually require long braises. I really enjoy the blue/orange LCD screen, which gives you clear indications of whether the machine is actively cooking or whether you're still adjusting settings. I misread the recipe and marinated it overnight first (the author was saying there’s no need to) but it certainly didn’t hurt. The easy to use interface contains 15 pre-set menu options, such as meat, vegetables, steaming, searing, slow-cooking, broth, curry, congee and more.The cooking results are excellent with this pressure cooker: we had beautifully cooked, tender meat, vegetables with great colour and texture and a rich, thick gravy made in under an hour — all of this with a staggering 25- year guarantee. The valves and rods are also easy enough to remove and clean, which is important to maintain proper function. Relatively easy-to-cook cuts of meat, like chicken breast, aren't likely to benefit from being cooked in a pressure cooker. You’ll then need to manually keep track of cooking time, unless your appliance has a built-in timer. I put the beans on at noon, brought the pan up to pressure, the piston moved up and released steam, then they cooked for 20 minutes on the lowest flame.

Pricier stove-top pressure cookers are often made of stainless steel instead of aluminium and have a thicker base, making them more durable than cheaper models.This is in line with what our friends at Hip Pressure Cooking found, which indicates to me that it's not specific to my cooking arrangement. There are different capacities available in the cookers, such as 2 L, 3 L, 5 L, 6 L, 7 L, 8L, and 10 L. The microwave helps the silicone pressure cooker reach pressure almost instantly, so it’s one of the quickest ways to cook. Then start the 2nd para with, “Put 2cm (3/4 in) water in the base of your pressure cooker and add the trivet. Slow cookers use indirect heat to slowly heat food over long periods of time, while pressure cookers speed up the cooking process.

So easy and delicious and a great way of hiding a range of vegetables in what looks like tomato soup, so ideal for kids who may be a little veg averse. These are usually made of silicone, so are easy to clean after cooking, whether you pop it in your dishwasher or wash it by hand. As for the slow cooker vs pressure cooker debate, the two one-pot gadgets operate very differently and have pros and cons to each.The slow-cooker functions on most multi-cookers work just fine, though they don't allow as much liquid to evaporate as a regular slow cooker will, which means that the already-bland food that comes out of a standard slow cooker is even blander coming out of a multi-cooker. The device also boasts a 24-hour delay timer, fast re-heat and keep warm options - making it suitable for preparing dishes in advance.