Pressure Cooked

Do you know why a pressure cooker -- despite urban legends to the contrary-- is not likely to ever actually explode?

It has a safety valve.

(I guess device malfunction might cause otherwise.)

What kind of things do you do to keep the pressures of modern life from bringing you to the bursting point? What kind of measures do you take to keep things going smoothly, safely, evenly?

Feel free to discuss this topic or any other in the comments below.

-- Aaron.