Cookers slow and fast

This article on the Crock-Pot and women's labor force participation is interesting, if in need of some editing. In my household we have owned a slow cooker for a few years, and more recently I purchased what might be considered the device at the opposite end of the speed spectrum, a pressure cooker. Neither one gets used very often. I'd much prefer to load up one of my wonderful Creuset Dutch ovens and stick it in the oven or on the stove top at low temperature for a couple hours... It's more civilized to eat late, anyway...

I've never been very happy with the results from the slow cooker, but maybe it has something to do with the bland recipes. The pressure cooker, on the other hand, is really rather amazing for certain tasks, such as dried beans or braised short ribs. But no matter the assurances from me or the manufacturer, Laura doesn't quite trust the thing... and I confess that the hissing and sputtering from the pressure valve is indeed a little unnerving.