I'd never used a pressure cooker, but then again, I'd never been hang gliding or cliff diving and isn't a pressure cooker the culinary equivalent of an extreme sport?
It's got the danger and it's got the risk and as far as I could see, little real value.
My stock pot, sauté pan and oven were handling things quite nicely, thanks very much.
So I was wary about checking out claims that pressure cookers had changed, that they were safe and really honestly deserved a spot on my kitchen counter.
Pressure cookers aren't new, they were a fixture in British kitchens after World War II for the simple reason they used less fuel.
Marguerite Patten demonstrated them at Harrods in a bid to boost their popularity, but it was tough to get beyond their links to post-war austerity Britain.
“I think there was this really strong association of pressure cookers with rationing food, so lots and lots of stewed offal and everything being very grey and beige,” said Catherine Phipps, food writer and author of the Pressure Cooker Cookbook.
As soon as times improved, people ditched their pressure cookers and didn't look back. But now pressure cookers are enjoying a renaissance.
Phipps said chef Heston Blumenthal deserves credit for going public about pressure cookers. “When he started admitting that he used them, so did a lot of chefs and it kind of tied in with the whole modernist cuisine thing, as well because they talked about how you could use pressure cookers.”
Now pressure cookers seem to be popping up everywhere, including television shows like MasterChef where time-pressed competitors realise what a boon pressure cookers can be. “Their repertoire could be expanded massively by using pressure cookers because then they could look at all the traditionally slow cooked cuts of meat they normally couldn't do.”
Phipps said she was sceptical until she watched her Brazilian sister-in-law whip up a meal of black beans with sausages in just over half an hour, starting with dry, unsoaked beans.
Now Phipps keeps two on the stove and uses them everyday for everything from risottos to pasta and steamed puddings.
It's her default method of cooking vegetables including broccoli and green beans that are notoriously easy to overcook using traditional methods.
Pressure cookers tick a lot of boxes
* Phipps starts with the fact that cooking times are reduced by 70%, so you're cutting energy costs, as well as time spent in the kitchen.
* You save more money because you can use less expensive cuts of meat and dried beans in cooking.
* And studies have shown that food cooked in a pressure cooker retains more nutrients, so it's healthier.
Phipps said there are lots of excellent stove top models from which to choose, including her favourite, the German-made WMF brand. She does recommend getting a 6-litre or 6.5-litre capacity model, so you can could make large quantities with the option for leftovers or freezing.
And my safety worries of apocalyptic steam explosions and visits to A&E?
The new models have lots of safety measures built in so all it takes is a bit of practice and common sense.
“The key thing is that these accidents have happened when people have put a pressure cooker on the stove and left them at a high temperature once they've reached high pressure.”
Once it reaches high pressure, you reduce the heat.
“I've never had an accident and I've been using them several times a day for years and years,” she adds.
There are also electric pressure cookers on the market, which is what I decided to try. Phipps recommended the Instant Pot, which is a multi-function cooker that can be a pressure cooker, slow cooker, rice cooker and steamer.
You can sauté food in it and even make yoghurt. I did an initial test run, as recommended, which helped me figure out how it works, and the good news? It does work incredibly well.
After getting over my initial jitters I soon made a batch of chicken stock and then some chick peas using the pressure cooker function.
With the chickpeas, I drained off some of the liquid once they were cooked, switched to sauté mode then added tinned tomatoes, fresh spinach and some cooked chorizo. Dinner was ready in a frighteningly short amount of time. And the chick peas were cooked perfectly.
With Instant Pot, you can choose low or high pressure depending on the recipe, input the cooking time and when it's done the machine automatically switches to "keep warm" mode. It has a quick release (this is the dramatic geyser of steam I'd been waiting for) or natural release where the steam is released gradually at the end of the cooking cycle.
I won't lie, the Instant Pot is large, so it takes up some space, but I don't mind. You can do so much with it that it's a counter top keeper. But whether you go for an electric or a traditional stove top model, it's worth giving a pressure cooker a go.
It's changed the way Phipps cooks and I think it just might do the same for me.