With microwave ovens being the staple of most American homes, it is nice to see pressure cookers making a comeback. This product is ideal for meats, lentils, corn..... things that take a long time to cook. When cooking meats, I usually brown the meat in a skillet first and then put it in the pressure cooker for about 10 minutes - the resulting liquid can be used for soups or as a broth for other dishes. Lentils and beans cook very quickly and the clean up is easy as well. I also found that because it cooks with steam, one can reduce the amount of oil or fat that is used while reducing the cooking time. Good product that I can strongly recommend