These are words used by Dr Steven Gundry in his excellent book on nutrition entitled Plant Paradox.

Dr Gundry uses them to destroy ‘lectins’ in beans, but modern pressure cookers are a far cry from the hissing machines of 50 years ago. For a start they are (astonishingly) silent in operation and have proper safety features in place.

The one that I use has 6l capacity and draws 1000 watts. It can sauté the food prior to cooking and keep it warm after the pressure cycle has been completed. It cooks a chicken in 22 minutes of steam pressure and makes it tender and succulent. It cooks a 3.5Kg turkey in 30minutes such that my partner, who always ate my ‘UK cooked’ turkeys with long teeth, actually confessed to liking them, and even encouraged me to buy more!! For anyone who has boiled beetroots on a hot plate for hours to be able to skin them, you will be surprised at how quickly a pressure cooker deals with them.

We are all interested in saving electricity and I unreservedly recommend them to fellow ‘Forumers’.

Apart from the electrical saving they are very easy to clean because of the lightweight inner lining, which is removed for washing. They also have a slow cooker function.

Savings in electricity are probably more than 50%, but the improvement in food's tenderness and taste are real pluses.

We have a similar one, cooking ham for Christmas, the absolute best and like you said in a fraction of the time. Stews and soups in winter man oh man what a pleasure. And the drop in cooking bowls make cleaning up so much easier.