Today’s pressure cookers are not your mother’s (or grandmother’s) chugging hunks of iron. Sleek and 100% safe in stainless steel, they’re one of the biggest time-savers in the kitchen.

Two years ago we wrote all about pressure cooking and how it can change your kitchen life. There’s a brief learning curve, but you’ll be so happy that you decided to learn!

In the heat of the summer, when you don’t want to turn on the oven for one hour much less for four, the stove top pressure cooker will cook your food without heating up the kitchen.

You don’t have to stand over a hot pot: all the heat is contained within the pressure cooker until you’re ready to remove the lid. In the winter, hearty stews and other favorites take 30-40 minutes—not half a day.

Today, we take on two favorite recipes—braised short ribs and pulled pork—in our review of the new Kuhn Rikon Ecomatic pressure cooker. This shiny kitchen appliance is the best $100 we’ve spent in a long time.