Stephanie writes: I've pressure cooked & pressure canned beans for several years. It helps to find your pressure cooker directions if you can. Our daughter found a used one and the company shipped her a new book for FREE! They all will caution that you don't fill over 2/3 full with beans & liquid total. If you follow that rule you should be fine. It does require an adequate amount of liquid... since they are dried beans to start with they need to be soaked and then cooked. We rushed a pot the other night. One of the girls put it on without enough liquid. Was "smelling" slightly... nothing burned... but we nearly had refried beans already:) Just added more water and finished cooking and they were great. NOW>... if you are talking GREEN BEANS... that's a different story:) <G>

Elena writes: I've been using a pressure cooker for a long time and my mom used one as far back as I can remember....we are Cuban and one of our main staples is...beans all kinds of beans. That is ALL I use my pressure cooker for! I can't imagine NOT having it. The beans are usually ready in less than 30 minutes unless it's garbanzo beans, they take about 45. I've used old pressure cookers from garage sales and NOT "clogged" them. I have a new one now and I like it better because the steam "thingy" on top cannot be removed. The brand is Rapida and it's from Bed Bath and Beyond.

A friend recently bought one that is exactly the same as mine but with a different name. It started with F.... I think. Hope that helps. BTW, the pressure cooker comes with its own cookbook.

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