I have only used the cooker twice, once for soup and once for a whole chicken. I had to look at a couple of recipes to come up with an approximate time to cook both of them. On the soup I will cook longer next time and the chicken I will cut the time in almost half. I also added too much liquid both times I used it, I now realize that the liquid does not evaporate like it does when you cook on a range top and the items cooking release their own liquid so what liquid you put in will probably be the amount of liquid you originally put in and maybe a little more. Both times, the dishes were extremely good, especially the chicken, moist and very flavor able. There are just the two of us (retired) and we made three complete meals out of the chicken. The small pieces plus the liquid remaining I put in a zip lock bag and froze it so I can contribute it to my next stew. PLUS the wonderful smell of it cooking and even warming is very appetizing. I'm anxious to cook a roast and ribs in the cooker too. Something one has to consider is the time it takes the cooker to get to the pressure point, not that it's a long time but consider it for the time you want it finished. It's easy to clean and store and I think I'll enjoy using it for a number of things......however, one MUST be careful of the steam. Being a new user and just getting acquainted with which way to do what, the steam release can let you KNOW if you're using it wrong. I think we'll use it a lot and recommend it to others.