Instant Pots?

SusanDSME
SusanDSME Posts: 194 Member
in Food and Nutrition
My mom has found a good deal on an Instant Pot. She's trying to decide if she should go for it.
Any thoughts? Has anyone found them helpful?

Replies

  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    I love my Instant Pot, I use it several times a week.

    It's amazing for cooking grains and beans quickly. Also great for vegetables.

    I eat a lot of Indian-style dishes and it works really well for those.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    I have one and enjoy using it - I haven't found it to be as life changing as I know some people have - but it is a fun addition to my small appliance collections. People in the Facebook group I follow use it for hard boiled eggs and homemade yogurt and have great success with that. I've mostly used it for things like soups, rice based dishes, and cooking chicken breasts from frozen to use in other meals/recipes.
  • MelanieCN77
    MelanieCN77 Posts: 4,047 Member
    They're awesome.
  • rheddmobile
    rheddmobile Posts: 6,840 Member
    I want one for Christmas. Pot roast in twice no time!
  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
    SusanDSME wrote: »
    My mom has found a good deal on an Instant Pot. She's trying to decide if she should go for it.
    Any thoughts? Has anyone found them helpful?

    I absolutely love my electric pressure cooker. Bulk pack of frozen chicken breasts cook in ~20 minutes (for soup, chicken salad, ..); chili; anything with beans or lentils; soup; hard boiled eggs that peel easily;.. Other than the microwave, it's the kitchen cooking item I use the most.
  • avskk
    avskk Posts: 1,787 Member
    Love mine. I actually have two. I use at least one nearly every day, and find myself using both at once at least twice a week. I cannot recommend them highly enough!
  • nic_27_grassisgreener
    nic_27_grassisgreener Posts: 193 Member
    It doesn't do anything fancier than a "regular" electric pressure cooker. I do like mine for dried beans. Without the pressure, it takes soaking overnight plus 2 hours on the stove top. The pressure cooker takes 30 mins plus warm up and cool down. The warm up/cool down time is significant, but it's overall still way faster than the conventional way.
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,487 Member
    I am making yogurt in mine right now.
  • SusanDSME
    SusanDSME Posts: 194 Member
    Ready2Rock206 wrote: »
    I am making yogurt in mine right now.

    I've always wanted to try making yogurt, but it seemed too hard (glass jars, cooler, hot water). I might have to borrow my mom's now and then!
  • Rosered3333
    Rosered3333 Posts: 171 Member
    Just made my first meal in it: meat loaf and mashed potatoes. I love One Pot Meals and this one worked beautifully. I got the 8 qt and it is a little too big for my space but I got a great deal on it. I'm really looking forward to creating some freezer meals for it.
  • lllooper
    lllooper Posts: 14 Member
    I got one for my birthday, can't wait to start using it!!
  • madwells1
    madwells1 Posts: 510 Member
    Ready2Rock206 wrote: »
    I am making yogurt in mine right now.

    Me too!!

    I love mine. I never thought I would use it, now I use it all the time.

    I love chicken soup, so easy in the instant pot. And beef. And curry. I could go on and on. I am now a convert!

    My favorite of late is homemade stock/bone broth because it's getting colder out. It's so easy to make, and cheap. When I cut up onions, carrots and celery for soups or snacks, I keep the ends in a ziploc in the freezer (which I used to simply throw away). If I buy a roasted chicken (or make one in the oven), I throw the carcass in with my frozen ends of vegetables and 4 hours later have enough bone broth to last me the week...for more soup!!

    Lots of posters here gave some great insights for me on this...and it really is awesome to have homemade stock all the time.




  • sgt1372
    sgt1372 Posts: 3,997 Member
    madwells1 wrote: »
    If I buy a roasted chicken (or make one in the oven), I throw the carcass in with my frozen ends of vegetables and 4 hours later have enough bone broth to last me the week...for more soup!!

    Can't you do the same thing in a large pot on your stovetop? That's what I do to make chicken and turkey stock.

    FWIW, I have a crockpot and a pressure cooker and never use them because I just don't need them and don't like to use them. Prefer cooking everything on the stovetop, the old fashioned way.

    Have looked at them but I'd never use an instant pot for the same reasons.
  • madwells1
    madwells1 Posts: 510 Member
    sgt1372 wrote: »
    madwells1 wrote: »
    If I buy a roasted chicken (or make one in the oven), I throw the carcass in with my frozen ends of vegetables and 4 hours later have enough bone broth to last me the week...for more soup!!

    Can't you do the same thing in a large pot on your stovetop? That's what I do to make chicken and turkey stock.

    Absolutely!

    For bone broth though, it takes about 4 hours in the instant pot. I can't imagine how long it would take on the stove....and I would most likely forget about it and wouldn't want my stove to be on that long.

    There is nothing to replace a stove...but sometimes life is just a little easier with new tools.
  • sgt1372
    sgt1372 Posts: 3,997 Member
    edited December 2017
    madwells1 wrote: »
    There is nothing to replace a stove...but sometimes life is just a little easier with new tools.

    Perhaps but I've thrown out, given away or put into storage more "new tools" than I've kept and used, including juicers, food sticks/choppers, waffle makers, coffee makers, countertop ovens and mucrowaves, crock pots and pressure cookers.

    ;)

  • MelanieCN77
    MelanieCN77 Posts: 4,047 Member
    You can do anything the IP does the regular way with a stovetop or crockpot, it's a time saver and fairly idiot proof is the point. I like deciding at 5pm that I want beef stew for dinner and can shop for it, drive home, start it up, shower and change while it's cooking and have it on the plate by 7.

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