Instapot - flash fad or worth it

Don't know if you saw this thread: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10714508/instant-pot-game-changer#latest

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.

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.

Does an instapot save time? Are the recipes easy? Healthy?

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.

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-4067671

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.

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.

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.

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!

Best kitchen appliance ever! At 52, I can finally cook healthy meals that satisfy my family. You will not be disappointed!

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.

Greatest gadget ever, run, don’t walk. Makes the worlds best oatmeal, beans, rice, steamed veg, pot roast, and more

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.

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.

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!

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!