Handbook
Worth knowing before you buy
Write-ups of the questions we get asked most about the five appliances on the counter, with the caveats left in rather than tidied away.
Last updated 11 September 2026
Three pieces so far. Each one exists because the same question kept arriving by email, and because the honest answer was longer than a reply could hold.
What a pressure cooker actually saves you
Manufacturers quote cooking time only. Add the minutes spent coming up to pressure and releasing it, and some dishes barely gain at all.
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An even slice, every time
Ragged cuts are almost never the blade. Temperature, feed rate and a carriage that is not quite square explain nearly all of them.
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Descaling a hot tap before it fails
Scale does not announce itself. By the time the flow drops, the element has usually been working too hard for months.
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The appliances themselves
Five machines, each with a reason for being on the list. Prices are what the courier collects, in cash, at your door.