The Wolfgang Puck Pressure Oven promises faster, more mouth-watering meals

Busy home cooks are always on the lookout for faster, easier ways of preparing great tasting meals. For $249.95, that's exactly what the Wolfgang Puck Pressure Oven is offering. With the moisture-sealing, flavor-infusing power of a pressure cooker packed into a versatile countertop oven design, this is an appliance that makes some pretty bold performance claims -- including promises of cooking a 14-pound turkey in less than an hour.

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The Wolfgang Puck Pressure Oven can be used just like a standard oven, with easy, familiar controls -- just turn the knobs to set the time, temperature, and cooking method. Aside from baking, you can set the machine to toast, roast, broil, or warm. For an extra $50, you can upgrade your oven to include a built-in rotisserie rack.

To pressure cook, you'll need to turn a small valve on the top of the machine to keep the heat from escaping, then pull a lever on the front to seal the door shut as well. This gasket sits a bit loosely in its fitting, and will hiss out hot air even when sealed, all of which is normal. At the end of cooking, you'll need to be sure and turn the top gasket back to the vented position to release the built-up heat before opening the door.

So what are the benefits of pressure cooking? First off, it's a time saver, as the pressurized chamber causes superheated steam to permeate the food and cook it more rapidly than dry air can. This process also requires less energy than boiling your meal or cooking it in an oven. Additionally, Chef Puck's team claims their oven concentrates flavor better than other cooking methods, leading to better-tasting meats, casseroles, and even vegetables. And, unlike standard pressure cookers, you won't need to open the Wolfgang Puck Pressure Oven and disrupt the cooking process simply to look inside and check on how your food is cooking.

With its multiple levels of functionality and promises of powerful cooking performance (not to mention the premium price tag), the Wolfgang Puck Pressure Oven falls in line with other high-end countertop appliances that we've seen recently, such as the Cuisinart CSO-300, the Sharp Convection Grill Microwave, and the Ninja 3-in-1 Cooking System. Products like these can be hit or miss, but so far, Chef Puck definitely has us intrigued. Once we've put his Pressure Oven to the test, we'll be sure to let you know what we think of it with a full review.