I used to be afraid of them too - but they are not hard to use - they cook things very quickly. You just load it up and the most important thing is to put the top on correctly - that seals it - then listen to the sound of the cooker - once its done - you can let it cool by itself (may take hours) or you can dunk the cooker in cool water - I would turn on the cold water in sink and just run it over the top of the cooker - once the pressure drops - you can take the little pressure doo hickey thing off the top and open it up. They are really safe now - you will love it.