Anyone have an insta-pot? Thoughts?

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Replies

  • canadianlbs
    canadianlbs Posts: 5,199 Member
    MelanieCN77 wrote: »
    Can you please share your stock recipe? I've made stock a handful of times on the stovetop and it's been so underwhelming I never wanted to try again.

    honestly, it's embarrassing how much of a not-recipe i have. i just do bones and water, and that's it. the only remotely fancy thing i do is cool it afterwards and skim off all the fat.

    so maybe my standards are just lower than yours? to be clear, i make most of my stock to use as exactly that: stock. so i'm not very fussy about it because no matter how unimpressive it is on its own, it's still a step up from water. and for my preferences, better than storeboughten stuff because i'm not a big fan of salt.

    but i'm going to stand by the pressure-cooker version. that's still just a bag of chicken bones and water, and that produced something i would drink from a mug. could just be a matter of higher concentration since the pc holds less volume than my crockpot. but idk, there's just something richer and silker about it that makes me think the pressure gets something special out of dem bones.



  • karahm78
    karahm78 Posts: 505 Member
    MelanieCN77 wrote: »
    canadianlbs wrote: »
    i have a some-other-brand pressure cooker, not an instant pot. but having given that disclaimer, i do use it a lot; more than i expected i would.

    but the really huge revelation for me was stock. i've made stock since idek when, and it's always been perfectly fine in the slow cooker or on the stove. but for some reason i don't understand, the stock that comes out of the pressure cooker isn't just 'fine'. it's incredible.

    not even factoring the takes-less-time aspect.

    Can you please share your stock recipe? I've made stock a handful of times on the stovetop and it's been so underwhelming I never wanted to try again.

    This one has been the favorite I've tried: https://www.budgetbytes.com/2016/03/make-instant-pot-chicken-stock/
  • rheddmobile
    rheddmobile Posts: 6,840 Member
    I got one for Christmas - it's an off brand from Costco and I may return it for an instant pot one, since reviews indicate mine breaks easily.

    So far I am not impressed. I made steel cut oats in it, and it took forever. Twenty-one minutes to pressurize, eighteen minutes to cook - not even slightly cooked - so I tried it for another cycle - ten minutes to pressurize six to cook - not cooked - tried it for a third cycle, ten and six - cooked but still soupy. Turned it to sauté with no lid and cooked the water off it for about five minutes while stirring to keep it from burning. And that's not including the time spent for the stupid thing to release the pressure. I could have cooked on the stove in half the time.
  • sunfastrose
    sunfastrose Posts: 543 Member
    My sister-in-law got one for Christmas and made the potatoes with rosemary recipe that was in the instruction book. They were wonderful, so infused with flavor and perfectly cooked. Made me want to get one.
  • MelanieCN77
    MelanieCN77 Posts: 4,047 Member
    canadianlbs wrote: »
    MelanieCN77 wrote: »
    Can you please share your stock recipe? I've made stock a handful of times on the stovetop and it's been so underwhelming I never wanted to try again.

    honestly, it's embarrassing how much of a not-recipe i have. i just do bones and water, and that's it. the only remotely fancy thing i do is cool it afterwards and skim off all the fat.

    so maybe my standards are just lower than yours? to be clear, i make most of my stock to use as exactly that: stock. so i'm not very fussy about it because no matter how unimpressive it is on its own, it's still a step up from water. and for my preferences, better than storeboughten stuff because i'm not a big fan of salt.

    but i'm going to stand by the pressure-cooker version. that's still just a bag of chicken bones and water, and that produced something i would drink from a mug. could just be a matter of higher concentration since the pc holds less volume than my crockpot. but idk, there's just something richer and silker about it that makes me think the pressure gets something special out of dem bones.



    karahm78 wrote: »
    MelanieCN77 wrote: »
    canadianlbs wrote: »
    i have a some-other-brand pressure cooker, not an instant pot. but having given that disclaimer, i do use it a lot; more than i expected i would.

    but the really huge revelation for me was stock. i've made stock since idek when, and it's always been perfectly fine in the slow cooker or on the stove. but for some reason i don't understand, the stock that comes out of the pressure cooker isn't just 'fine'. it's incredible.

    not even factoring the takes-less-time aspect.

    Can you please share your stock recipe? I've made stock a handful of times on the stovetop and it's been so underwhelming I never wanted to try again.

    This one has been the favorite I've tried: https://www.budgetbytes.com/2016/03/make-instant-pot-chicken-stock/

    Thank you both! I'm not a recipe follower usually, just wondered if I was missing something with how bland mine have turned out over the years. I'm gonna assume salt and time.
  • andfivesixseveneight
    andfivesixseveneight Posts: 140 Member
    I don’t have the insta pot brand, but definitely use my cooker a lot. It makes great soups and curries. It’s convenient for batch cooking beans and pulses to freeze for later use.
    The steaming under pressure is a very versatile cooking method. Put winter squash and beets in whole- they peel and cut so easily once they’re cooked. It’s the best for tamales, much quicker than a regular steamer. Just recently started making khaman and dohkla (steamed Indian breads) in it too.
  • whavens2w2
    whavens2w2 Posts: 8 Member
    My husband loves ours. He likes the simple way most recipes are written out for it. We use it 3-7 days a week. I’d say soft boiled eggs are what we make the most. Also great for stock, rice, legumes, grains, stew, soup. One of my favorite features is being able to cook meats from frozen. I am guilty of forgetting to take meat out of the freezer for a planned meal way too often. I’ve used it for slowcooking and it worked perfectly.
  • illusion2269
    illusion2269 Posts: 95 Member
    I've had one for a couple years now. I've made many things with it like others have mentioned. But the thing I make most in it is yogurt. I have the version with a Yogurt program on it, and it works amazing for it.
  • RachelElser
    RachelElser Posts: 1,049 Member
    aaronagostini wrote: »
    I've used mine for all sorts of rice, grains, and spaghetti. Very quick, I like it a lot!

    how long does rice take? I'd like to replace my current Teflon rice cooker with a stainless steel one and instapot comes up in my searches.
  • OldHobo
    OldHobo Posts: 647 Member
    edited December 2017
    canadianlbs wrote: »
    i have a some-other-brand pressure cooker, not an instant pot. but having given that disclaimer, i do use it a lot; more than i expected i would.

    but the really huge revelation for me was stock. i've made stock since idek when, and it's always been perfectly fine in the slow cooker or on the stove. but for some reason i don't understand, the stock that comes out of the pressure cooker isn't just 'fine'. it's incredible.

    not even factoring the takes-less-time aspect.

    I make stock a lot on the stovetop. Never used a pressure cooker but have a new impulse buy Instant Pot. One of the bones of contention among amateur stock cooks involves temperature. Conventional wisdom is bring to a boil, skim the scum, reduce heat and simmer at about 190°F for x hours. Emphasis is placed on not allowing a prolonged full rolling boil. The reason usually cited is that the final product won't be clear which is really important to high-class chefs with consummés on their mind. Not being a chef, or high class, or interested in stock clarity I've never fretted much about it. "Cloudiness" certainly doesn't detract from the flavor, if anything, quite the opposite.

    But logging and monitoring my weight and calorie intake have convinced me there is a more important reason to control the temperature in the stock pot. What is happening at a rolling boil is the fat in the stock gets emulsified in the liquid like oil in mayonnaise. Here is what Shirley O. Corriher says about it in CookWise.
    Simmer only. It is very important to simmer stocks and not permit them to boil until after all the fat has been removed. If you boil a stock vigorously, the fat will emulsify or combine with the liquid and form a cloudy, fatty stock. Instead, you want the fat to remain separate and float to the top so that you can remove every bit of it. There are many times in cooking when you do want to make stable emulsions and get fat and liquid to stay together. This, however, is not one of those times.

    So I have some experience making and using "cloudy" stock and watching my weight increase more than it should, based on the expected caloric content. But I have no experience with pressure cookers in general or an Instant Pot in particular. Is there any way to prevent fat from being emulsified into the stock using an Instant Pot?

  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    I have an InstantPot I enjoy it, although I don't think it's magical like many of the "cult" members in the IP Facebook group I joined.

    Pros: being able to sauté in the same pot you cook in (for roasts that I usually do in the crockpot this is really nice) and being able to cook meats from frozen quite easily - I've done frozen ground beef and frozen chicken breasts.

    Cons: The cook times in recipes are a bit misleading because it doesn't usually account for the time to come to pressure and then for the pressure to release, depending what you're cooking that could be another 10-15 minutes on each side, taking this magical "dinner on the table in under 10 minutes!" Pinterest recipe to 30-40 minutes which may not be a time savings.
    That may not be a con per se, just a learning curve that I think a lot of new owners don't understand.
    Also, I haven't used the slow cook feature but I've heard it's not very good since the heating element is only on the bottom and the stainless steel isn't as good as the ceramic crocks of a crockpot.

    I haven't used mine for yogurt or hard boiled eggs but those are two things people rave about. I did get a small springform pan for Christmas and made my first cheesecake in it which we are serving tonight at NYE!

  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,372 Member
    MelanieCN77 wrote: »
    Yeah, the time thing is a bit of a fake out BUT I will say that once you close it and set it to go, you are completely free to go and do whatever. Never have to check, stir, adjust, watch. I would never use if for something I could make in 10-15 minutes on the stove top, but if I can decide at 5pm that I want stew for dinner and have it on my plate by 6.30, including shopping for the ingredients, that's pretty great imo.

    Ok my stews take an hour in the pot at least, plus prep, I wouldn't be able to do that in 90 minutes for sure, lol.

    But yeah the time thing is extremely irritating. I always add 30 minutes at least. I'm trying pulled pork today and it's supposed to take one hour in the pot so I'm going to count 2.5 hours including prep (which is pretty much cutting the pork and rubbing spices on it). There's always the 'keep warm' setting after that!
  • ljmorgi
    ljmorgi Posts: 264 Member
    I've had an Instant Pot for about a year and I love it for homemade yogurt, compote to go in the yogurt, hard-boiled eggs that peel every single time, and chicken stock (what people called "bone broth" before they decided it was a magical cure-all). I've also made a cheesecake that came out perfect, cooked dried beans in it, and made chili and Italian sausages in tomato sauce.

    I haven't tried it for rice since I'm cooking for one (I have a tiny little rice cooker), and I haven't tried it as a slow cooker, but I did successfully adapt my favorite slow-cooker palak paneer recipe for the pressure cooker function.

    Some pressure-cooked recipes do turn out with that overcooked taste that slow cookers tend to leave, and what people sometimes call "fork-tender" is just "overcooked." Not every cut of meat is meant for the Instant Pot, but what it does, it does excellently.
  • strongerbytheday
    strongerbytheday Posts: 116 Member
    I got mine a little over a year ago and fell in love! I bought 3 as gifts for family members for Christmas last year, but I know only one is getting used consistently. The other 2 are a bit intimidated... I use mine daily for my breakfast of soft cooked eggs. I use it all the time for rice, stock, soups, things potatoes, veggies, yogurt and to cook anything quick. Works great for food prep or if I forget to defrost something for dinner.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    I guess I don’t understand why one needs an instant pot for hard boiled eggs.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    If they actually peel easily, I'd use it.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    If they actually peel easily, I'd use it.

    I don't eat them but people say they peel really easily using something called the 5-5-5 method.
  • fitandpainfree
    fitandpainfree Posts: 38 Member
    Just got one this year for Christmas and all your comments are making me want to start exploring with it. (I've been a little hesitent so far - just reading manual and recipe scanning) Yum!

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