Multi-cookers use pressure to cook foods faster. For example, cooking red kidney beans to make a chili may require you to soak the beans overnight and boil them for an hour or more. You don't need to soak the beans to pressure cook them in a multi-cooker. Kidney beans can be cooked in a multi-cooker in roughly 40 minutes unsoaked or 20 minutes pre-soaked. Cooking a brisket is also much faster. While a brisket typically needs about 60 minutes per pound to cook, you can adjust cook times to 20 minutes per pound when you're using a  multi-cooker.