Pressure Cooking Properly Explained: Save time and money with your pressure cooker

Whether you've just bought your first pressure cooker, or you have left your old one languishing at the back of the cupboard for a while, Dianne Page will help you get the most out of this most useful piece of kitchen equipment.

Pressure cooking cuts conventional cooking times to a third. Soups can be ready in minutes. Favourite recipes, which traditionally take hours to prepare, can be cooked and enjoyed at the end of a busy day. Plus shorter cooking times mean lower gas and electricity bills.

Other benefits include:

- Food retains its flavour, vitamins, minerals and colour

- Cheaper cuts of meat - that are packed with flavour but normally need long slow cooking to make them tender - can be cooked quickly

- Less steam is produced so no condensation in the kitchen