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Oy, a 23 quart pressure cooker? Big does not equal more useful.

Really, the most important thing is that it is easy and intuitive to use. But I'm the freak at the store seeing how I would hold it, pour from it, close it, open it...as a lefty I have to keep an eye out for what works well for me.

I really love my Presto Professional, 8-qt pressure cooker. http://indoors.pricegrabber.com/pots/m/1562416/

http://www.magefesa.com/menaje/catalogo/ollas/mageluxe.htm

I own that one (it's Spanish-manufactured, so I don't think it's available nywhere else but here) and I have a 4 8 duo. I got a 4 liter body and an 8 liter one which work both with the same lid. It's really useful, even though we're just two at home. It comes in very handy for batch cooking, etc.

that 23 quart pressure cooker seems like a good deal actually, if you're canning. you can't really can in anything less than a 10 quart, and then only with pint jars. i honestly can't really imagine using a pressure cooker to actually cook anything. it seems needlessly complicated to me, and cooking time hasn't really been an issue for the things i make. but pressure canning sounds awesome, since you can can pretty much anything, which isn't possible through other methods.

I have the fagor duo set. 8 quart and 4 quart, plus pasta drainer and glass lid. I think it was about $100 at amazon.

Anyways, I love love love the fagor set. I used the 4 quart as a regular daily pot all the time. It heats water up real fast.

ConsumerSearch has a good roundup of reviews of pressure cookers. I'm looking to buy a Fagor Duo because it comes in a small size (4-quart) and there are only two of us.

http://www.consumersearch.com/pressure-cookers

Hmmm, I just read the Amazon reviews of the Fagor set. Though most of the reviews were positive, the few reports of blowups freak me out.

I have been teaching pressure cooking for the past 13 years and have a website http://www.pressurecookingonline.com , blog and DVD, Pressure Cooking: A Fresh Look, Delicious Dishes in Minutes, as well as videos on You Tube at TheVQ.

I have owned the following cookers: Fagor, Magefesa, Fissler, Kuhn Rikon and WMF. They are all stainless steel. I recommend staying away from aluminum cookers.

You also likely want to avoid the "jiggle top" cookers as those are the ones which can have problems, usually attributed to user error.

My junior college students have been using pressure cookers (older model Magefesa), with little training, for 8 years and we haven't had one incident.

As for using a pressure cooker for cooking and not canning, the pressure cooker is an amazing way to cook great food fast. It's like the microwave in speed but food tastes great when it comes out.

If you want to can, buy a 10 quart cooker in which you can cook and can. I like my 10 quart cooker least of all since it doesn't make sense for everyday cooking for a small family, which is what I do in my cooker daily.

A 4-quart cooker is good for just 1 or 2 people. I usually recommend a 6 or 8 quart. You can get one with 1 lid and a 4 and 8 quart bottom, plus glass lid. Many options. Good luck.

The Fagor cookers are most affordable and easiest to find.

have got a Lagostina more or less like this one http://www.simply-natural.biz/Lagostina-Brava-Pressure-Cooker.php
and I'm very satisfied with it

I use the Lagostina Opera. It's not too big and really easy to use. http://lagostina.ca/boutique-c/page43.html I highly recommend it!

sooo.... I'm sorry if this is a stupid question, but what are the advantages of using a pressure cooker? I know they're very common in Brazil for cooking beans, but what else would they be more useful for than stovetop cooking? I would love it if you could do a sort of roundup. (I don't know if you already have, I'll check.)

While I'm demanding features, it would be great if you could do a "best things to make in a slow cooker" sort of feature. I'm very tempted to get one, but since my kitchen is so small, I want to be certain I'll get a lot of use out of it.

Also: I've heard that pressure-cooking beans retains many more of the nutrients in them than does slow-cooking them; that makes sense, but anybody know if it's really true?

I have one - cute little thing and perfect for one or two.

http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524441894729&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302696309&bmUID=1236712237960

Read up some more on the pressure canner, as I think it's only meant to process canned goods and not cook food.

I have both a Fagor Splendid and a Presto. They both perform really well, and are easy to clean. Stay away from Fagor's "Cook's Essential" (available at Amazon and Cookware.com). I bought one, and the thinner steel and non-stick surface didn't survive the high heat demanded to bring the cooker's content to high pressure. Food stuck and burnt to the bottom after a couple of uses and made the pot useable to cook any solids. As well, I've never come across many recipes where you need low pressure (8 psi), so getting that as an extra feature (on Fagor's Duo, for example) isn't really justified either.

Another thing to look for is how easy and/or expensive it is to get replacement parts. Living in Canada, I had to order parts from Fagor by mail, pay with a money order, then wait six weeks for delivery. Ordering a pressure valve, an upper handle, and a replacement gasket, plus shipping, costs me almost as much as buying a new cooker. Your experience might be different if you live in the US.