Instapot - flash fad or worth it
AmyOutOfControl
Posts: 1,425 Member
I am considering getting an instapot. I love my crock pot because I can dump ingredients in and come home from work to a delicious dinner.
Does an instapot save time? Are the recipes easy? Healthy?
I don’t want to buy a kitchen gadget that will sit around after a few weeks.
Does an instapot save time? Are the recipes easy? Healthy?
I don’t want to buy a kitchen gadget that will sit around after a few weeks.
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Replies
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Don't know if you saw this thread: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10714508/instant-pot-game-changer#latest1
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I love my IP. I have been using a stovetop pressure cooker for years. I finally bought an IP and I like the feature of the electric pressure cooker because it does not need to be tended like you would a stovetop cooker(they are cheaper, however).0
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I have a crock pot and an instant pot. I love both, but instant pot is great if you don’t decide what to make for dinner until the last minute (which is often how I operate 🤪). You can cook a whole meal with frozen meat in it in under an hour. This is huge for me because I hate having to defrost my meat in the microwave. It never quite comes out right.2
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I've been enjoying mine, but only had it for a few weeks, so far. They have functionality for slow cooking, as well as pressure cooking. It can also be used as a steamer, rice cooker, and other things as well. I haven't been disappointed by anything I've made with it so far.2
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I love my Instant Pot. I got it less than a week ago and have already used it twice. My crockpot is awesome too but I do have to be more on top of planning things out to use it. My instant pot is great when I haven't bothered to think of dinner and need something faster. Both the recipes I made in it were pretty easy and turned out great.3
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I love my crock pot, but with my job I can never tell if I’m going to run late and I’ve come home to some burnt stuff.
Instantpot ... worth it! I love that I can program mine from my phone, and that the majority of my meals are like 1/2 hour to complete3 -
Define healthy? If we're going off of calories (which is, ultimately, what I'm assuming you mean), it's not any healthier than any other appliance save for say, a fryer.Does an instapot save time? Are the recipes easy? Healthy?
It may or may not save time given that you have to take into account how long it takes to come up to pressure. I posted earlier today about how I'm bemused about the concept of cooking polenta in it. Yes it saves hours on broth - but the end result doesn't taste as good. Sometimes I'm more than willing to babysit something on the stove or in the oven for an exceedingly long period of time - other times I'm not. It depends on the day. Indian food is great in it, beans are as well.
Easy - I suppose it really is dependent on the recipe. A major issue that you have with pressure cooking that you don't have with most other forms of cooking is that you can't check on what you're cooking at any point.
Do I think it's a fad? Ultimately yes, I do - at least in North America. From what I can tell, there are parts of the world where pressure cooking is significantly more common, but I doubt Instant Pots aren't showing up there.
Also do read reviews before you buy. There are other multi cookers that you can buy. To get you started:
https://www.cooksillustrated.com/articles/595-testing-multicookers-electric-pressure-cookers
https://www.seriouseats.com/2016/08/equipment-the-best-pressure-cookers-review.html
https://www.thespruceeats.com/best-pressure-cookers-40676710 -
I don't have instapot, but Tefal 10 in 1 multicooker was one of the best buys I ever made0
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As already mentioned, Instant Pot is great for getting dinner on the table quicker than a slow cooker. It can enable you to cook healthy meals but in of itself isn't a cooker meant for that. Like any other appliance the recipe dictates the outcome.
I like mine, I use it mostly for soups and stews so far. I personally can't leave a slow cooker going all day since I'm out of the house far too many hours during work days; the slow cooker would have turned off completely by the time I get home.
With the IP, I can get home and have a similar dish that needs hours to cook done in about an hour. You do need to remember that you have to leave time for the pot to come up to pressure. For instance, last night I made Split Pea Soup with a left over ham bone from Christmas. Took about an hour total: 5 minutes to saute the veggies (my cooker can do this), about 15 minutes to come up to pressure, another 15 minutes of actual cooking, approx. 10 minutes of cool down and then releasing the pressure manually which takes a few minutes. Then, add in a few more minutes to remove the bone/shred the meat back into the soup etc.
An hour from kitchen to table for PERFECT pea soup is a huge time savings for anyone.
The model I have can make yogurt also but I haven't tried it yet.
It does have a learning curve. Getting the liquid to food ratio right is important. I made a stew once from scratch not following a recipe and well, it was way too watery so that was disappointing. I find following recipes designed specifically for Instant Pot turn out a lot better.2 -
_aenyeweddien_ I am intrigued by the multicooker. What do you love about it? Can you give example of a recipe? Where do you find recipes for it?0
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So worth it! Yogurt, soups, meat of all sorts, potatoes without boiling them over on the stove(bad habit of mine), beans from dried to edible in half an hour vs soaking overnight then hours of simmering, spaghetti squash(all squash I assume) in 8minutes, boiled eggs that peel without taking the whole egg white apart. My pot gets used about 3-4 times a week.0
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I'm not sold on this for me yet, partially because I do plan ahead, but if things change and I want one I would definitely get ATK's cookbook:
Multicooker Perfection: Cook It Fast or Cook It Slow-You Decide
When I was in Costa Rico I used a pressure cooker to cook beans and liked it, but didn't have electricity there, and when I got back to the US and electricity went back to using my crock pot for cooking beans. (They cook overnight; no soaking required.)0 -
phoebe112476 wrote: »_aenyeweddien_ I am intrigued by the multicooker. What do you love about it? Can you give example of a recipe? Where do you find recipes for it?
While I don't have that multicooker, I would just use pressure cooker recipes. You likely won't need special recipes for most of what you'll cook in a multicooker if using the pressure cooker setting. I suspect that some of the confusion about this has to do with the sudden proliferation of instant pots and people marketing to people who have them. Having used some recipes that are marketed towards them - just go with any recipe made for a pressure cooker.
Obviously this is not the case when not using the pressure cooker function (so say, making yogurt). That said there are blogs, cookbooks, facebook groups, and cooking websites (like Bon Appetit) that have recipes for the instant pot specifically and pressure cookers more broadly.0 -
I absolutely love mine. I have had it for over a year now and use it at least two times a week (sometimes 5). I make yogurt, shredded chicken, hard boiled eggs, soups, stews, risotto, cheesecake, and many other things in it. You do have to learn that not everything is good in the Instant pot. I would never cook whole chicken breasts in there (that I wanted to stay in one piece). They tend to have a weird texture for me. I would not cook a whole roast either. I do cut roast up into pieces then cook in it. I even made deer cubed steak that was really good in it and I don't even like deer meat...lol.1
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Forgot to add...It is awesome for spaghetti squash or butternut squash too. Put them in whole and pressure cook for a short time then cut them. No need to hassle trying to cut them in half and cut your finger off!2
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amymoreorless wrote: »I am considering getting an instapot. I love my crock pot because I can dump ingredients in and come home from work to a delicious dinner.
Does an instapot save time? Are the recipes easy? Healthy?
I don’t want to buy a kitchen gadget that will sit around after a few weeks.
Instantpot is great...what you cook can be as healthy or not as you want. It's just a cooker...what you decide to cook will determine whether it's healthy or not. We make a lot of soups and stews in it...also cook a lot of beans and lentils. I can cook a black bean soup with dried beans in under an hour...this would otherwise take hours to get the beans cooked.1 -
Best kitchen appliance ever! At 52, I can finally cook healthy meals that satisfy my family. You will not be disappointed!1
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I have been pressure cooking for more than 60 years with stove top and now InstatPot. It is hardly a fad. I love it.2
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I've had an Instant Pot for a year now and it was absolutely worth it, even for just two of us an even when I was living alone. My favorite thing about it is homemade yogurt and easy hard-boiled eggs. It's also awesome for chicken stock from chicken bones. Last night we made a steamed Christmas pudding, and I've made excellent cheesecakes in it. Chili and soup in it are great, and I sometimes cook a pound of dried beans at a time. Thanks to the Internet you'll have no trouble finding recipes that suit (or you can find) for your dietary needs and preferences.1
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LOVE, LOVE, LOVE mine! As far as a fad, many parts of the world use stove top pressure cookers, so I think it's here to stay. There are so many recipes out there, I've tried many new flavors, there's an Indian cookbook that I've enjoyed immensely. I say give it a whirl
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Greatest gadget ever, run, don’t walk. Makes the worlds best oatmeal, beans, rice, steamed veg, pot roast, and more2
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I got one for christmas. I’ve used it twice already-once for hard boiled eggs, and the other for brown basmati rice. Both turned out perfectly! The eggs peeled easily. I can’t wait to make more stuff in it.3
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I wouldn't call them a fad. Pressure cookers have been around for a very long time. I love mine. I use it at least twice a week. I can cook dried beans in 20 minutes without soaking. It cooks meats, veggies, rice, and it can be used as a slow cooker.2
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I love my Instapot. They're having a moment right now, but pressure cooking isn't a new thing.
The recipes are as healthy or unhealthy as you want them to be. You find find all kinds of cookbooks for the Instapot, it just depends on your taste. Pinterest has lots of recipes too and it didn't take me long to begin creating my own recipes.
I eat a lot of beans and it's amazing for that. You don't even have to soak them. I had black-eyed peas last night and I cooked them from dry in less than half an hour.2 -
janejellyroll wrote: »I love my Instapot. They're having a moment right now, but pressure cooking isn't a new thing.
The recipes are as healthy or unhealthy as you want them to be. You find find all kinds of cookbooks for the Instapot, it just depends on your taste. Pinterest has lots of recipes too and it didn't take me long to begin creating my own recipes.
I eat a lot of beans and it's amazing for that. You don't even have to soak them. I had black-eyed peas last night and I cooked them from dry in less than half an hour.
I had a stove top pressure cooker for years and never used it because I thought I was going to blow the house up. Instapot makes it really easy since everything is automated5 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »I love my Instapot. They're having a moment right now, but pressure cooking isn't a new thing.
The recipes are as healthy or unhealthy as you want them to be. You find find all kinds of cookbooks for the Instapot, it just depends on your taste. Pinterest has lots of recipes too and it didn't take me long to begin creating my own recipes.
I eat a lot of beans and it's amazing for that. You don't even have to soak them. I had black-eyed peas last night and I cooked them from dry in less than half an hour.
I had a stove top pressure cooker for years and never used it because I thought I was going to blow the house up. Instapot makes it really easy since everything is automated
This is why I never pressure cooked before either. Too many scary stories!0 -
What are we defining as flash fad? Been going on more than three years that I can tell and still sell out each year during the holidays.3
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I got one as a gift and didn't think that I would get any use out of it, but it is my absolute favorite thing. You can make a whole meal in one pot, in about a half an hour! Frozen chicken breasts (for those days you forget to pull something to thaw) to fall apart deliciousness in about 12 minutes cook time! Would definitely recommend it!1
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MelanieCN77 wrote: »What are we defining as flash fad? Been going on more than three years that I can tell and still sell out each year during the holidays.
I think some of the recipes are flash fads. There is no reason that EVERYTHING must be cooked in the Instant Pot. If it doesn't save any time or steps, or doesn't retain the original's texture or taste, why bother? For example I saw a recipe for creme brulee in the Instant Pot that mixes everything in a separate bowl, then pours into ramekins, then stacks those in the instant pot. Then you still need the torch at the end. Not sure how any of this saved time or dishes.
Beans, eggs, chicken breasts, stews, yogurt? Yes, sure. But like any device, it has its limits.1
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