Which do you use more - food processor or instant pot (or other pressure cooker)?

abbynormalartist

I sort of want both but want to know which to start with. Which one do you use more, or at all? Any other handy kitchen gadgets? - other than a food scale

anaxmann

I think it mostly depends on what kind of food you like. I think my slow cooker is tied with my immersion blender for usefulness in my kitchen, although I love my stand mixer as well, but could live without it. I don't have an instapot, so I can't comment on that, but I also don't feel like I want one. I also really like my Nutribullet, but that was a gift and I don't know if I would have bought it for myself. I only get my food processor out once in a while.

JenHuedy

I love my pressure cooker and use it all the time. Simple stuff like rice and boiled eggs to more complex soups, stews and braises. And the BEST mac & cheese in the time it takes to make a box of Kraft! For me, pressure cooker makes better tasting food than the slow cooker and saves more time and dishes because I can brown and cook in the same pot. Even with a digital slow cooker that switches to warm my workday/commute is so long that most food is tasteless mush by the time I get home. Would have kicked my slow cooker to the curb if I hadn't found out how to use it to make yogurt.

I do like my food processor, but for most everyday tasks find a good quality chef's knife and cutting board are quicker and more convenient. Mainly because of cleanup.

mjbnj0001

We have an old-style "jiggle top" stovetop pressure cooker that gets 1-2 uses/wk in the cooler seasons. Drops off in the warm (but now I'm using our grill 5+ times/week). Slow cooker varies about 3-4x/month during the cooler season. I'd use the slow cooker more, but I tend to run behind on my daily meal preps, so by the time I'm ready to cook, it's early to mid-afternoon and we wouldn't be eating until late due to slow cooking - my wife is up for work at 0500, so that's not going to work for us. I use the pressure cooker for a variety of things, for whole meals, soups and sides (rice, beans, etc.). It's large, 8L. The slow cooker mostly for whole meals and soups. I'm a bit lazy and usually use a crock liner bag to save on cleanup; this impacts my ability to easily run an immersion blender in the soup to puree it up.

I use both a full-size and mini food processor 1-2+/wk all year. I just used both today - the mini to render a bunch of cilantro for an herb-y mixed bean salad, and the full-size to shred up veggies for coleslaw. I agree with the poster above, that a good chef knife and cutting board are often more convenient, esp. including the cleanup. For instance, for the bean salad, I used normal knife skills for some veggies and the green beans for the bean salad, but got lazy and just piled fresh cilantro into the mini chopper. Likewise, I manually peeled carrots and cleaned them of their greens, plus chopped the cabbage head, before putting them through the feeder into the large food processor. Although my larger Cuisinart claims dishwasher-safe bowl/etc., I always hand wash them - the thing has thus lasted over 15yrs. The replacement bowls are expensive.

Which is better? We get a really great veg-beef stew from the pressure cooker, and an OK one from the slow cooker. On the other hand, chicken-barley soups and stews are better in the slow cooker. Depends, depends ....

I don't usually do anything with the food processor that goes into either the pressure cooker or slow cooker. Knife skills for more chunky recipe components are usually called for. One exception: slow cooker salsa chicken using my food processor to make the salsa.

Good luck!

Tried30UserNames

I use my food processor constantly. I don't know how I lived without one for so many years. I use my blender a lot, too.

ValeriePlz

I only have a few kitchen "gadgets," and two are food processor and slow cooker.

I tend not to like how things taste coming out of the pressure cooker (or maybe that was just how my mom cooked), and I am paranoid that they will explode. I know it won't...but I still fear it, haha.

malibu927

I can't remember the last time I touched our food processor, and we don't have an instant pot (but I'd like one)

janejellyroll

I use my Instant Pot all the time. It's amazing. I use my food processor pretty often, but if I personally had to give one of the two up, I would keep the Instant Pot.

ritzvin

For me- The pressure cooker, definitely. (or barring that, the slow cooker). especially for beans.
I don't have a food processor. It could be useful to me for chopping onions I guess.
(I batch cook and eat most of my meals away from home).

heavensshadow

I personally love the ninja mini food processor we have at home. I use it to prep veggies for meals throughout the week (and make chocolate avocado "pudding" or frosting), the cleanup is easy because it's so small, and it doesn't take up much shelf or counter space. We also use the Instant Pot a lot, but some stuff comes out with weird flavors IMO. Makes a fantastic cheesecake and hardboiled eggs though! And it's super quick in comparison to other methods for dishes that traditionally take longer to cook.
If I chose between the two, I'd pick the food processor for prepping purposes, easier cleanup, and storage space. I'm surprised no one has mentioned spiralizers, as it's super useful. I have a hand-held version that works pretty well.

rdmitch

Neither, the air fryer gets used the most

CorneliusPhoton

My Instant Pot sees the most action, followed by my Vitamix, followed by my food processor. I'd actually rather chop things with a knife than drag out the food processor and have to clean it afterwards. I'm good at chopping. But I do use it for ricing cauliflower or grating carrots.

mjbnj0001

janejellyroll wrote: »

I use my Instant Pot all the time. It's amazing. I use my food processor pretty often, but if I personally had to give one of the two up, I would keep the Instant Pot.

I had also meant to say above that, while I like my "ol' trusty" jiggle-top pressure cooker, I'm beginning to lust after that nice, push-button, multi-use Instant Pot.

The other thing to say about pressure cooking is that nice, "frozen meat brick to tasty meal in one fairly quick step" facet.

SolotoCEO

I use my (multi-function) pressure cooker at least 2x a week - so often it sits on my counter. My food processor...it's in the back of a cupboard somewhere. If you have a stand mixer that has add-on components - such as a slicer, grinder, pasta maker, I use that instead of the food processor 99% of the time.

Lounmoun

I don't have an instant pot/pressure cooker. I don't really need one.

I use my food processor for a lot of things.
Slow cooker, hand held blender, mixer are things I actually use.
Pasta machine- got one this winter and my family loves the homemade pasta and it is easy to make.
Pizza stone has gotten a ton of use for pizza and bread baking (pita bread, sourdough breast, stuffed bread loaf) over the years.

mom22dogs

I don't even know what an instant pot is, and I have a food processor that I thought I needed, but never use. I use my crock pot and George Foreman grill all the time though. Couldn't live without either.

DawnEmbers

I mostly use the pressure cooker that is my sister's and for veggies. We have a slow cooker but I don't use it near as often though might soon as I really want to prep and plan more for my next bout of eating in a deficit.

lucys1225

Definitely the Instant Pot!

annacole94

You can do what a food processor does in other ways, but nothing can do what a pressure cooker does except a pressure cooker. I really like my instant pot. I've saved quite a bit of money making my own greek yogurt, as a bonus.

I do also have a food processor, but I only break it out a couple times a month. It's only worth it when I need a lot of something shredded or thinly sliced, like a full brick of cheese or a whole bunch of sweet potato.

janejellyroll

mjbnj0001 wrote: »

janejellyroll wrote: »

I use my Instant Pot all the time. It's amazing. I use my food processor pretty often, but if I personally had to give one of the two up, I would keep the Instant Pot.

I had also meant to say above that, while I like my "ol' trusty" jiggle-top pressure cooker, I'm beginning to lust after that nice, push-button, multi-use Instant Pot.

The other thing to say about pressure cooking is that nice, "frozen meat brick to tasty meal in one fairly quick step" facet.

I'm vegan, but it's as awesome for dried beans as I hear it is for frozen meat!

mjbnj0001

janejellyroll wrote: »

mjbnj0001 wrote: »

janejellyroll wrote: »

I use my Instant Pot all the time. It's amazing. I use my food processor pretty often, but if I personally had to give one of the two up, I would keep the Instant Pot.

I had also meant to say above that, while I like my "ol' trusty" jiggle-top pressure cooker, I'm beginning to lust after that nice, push-button, multi-use Instant Pot.

The other thing to say about pressure cooking is that nice, "frozen meat brick to tasty meal in one fairly quick step" facet.

I'm vegan, but it's as awesome for dried beans as I hear it is for frozen meat!

Agree! I've never pressure-cooked actually dry beans; I've always pre-soaked them. This is for their, um, digestive effects, LOL - we don't seem to have big issues with our beans as a result, plus they seem to foam less while under pressure (always an issue with the jiggle top - need to add a bit of oil to suppress the foam).

Rice is great, too. As are rice-and-bean mixes. Although now a semi-retired omnivore, I was vegan for about a decade in my 20s-30s, coming to foodie age in the "Diet for a Small Planet" era. If there is a cuisine made for pressure cooking, that's it, LOL.

As a result of monitoring this thread, while I was flipping through my cable channels guide late last night, I saw the "Power Pressure Cooker XL" infomercial was playing, and watched it (again). Folks on this thread with either Instant Pot or Power Pressure Cooker ... any thoughts on which?