Do I keep my INSTAPOT?
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I rage bought my Instant Pot when hubby had both of our slow cookers in use for winter camping prep. I stomped over to Kohl's, grabbed an Instant Pot from an aisle display of them, and went home on my way to start my IP journey. I only realized when I got home after doing no real research on how to use an IP and the different sizes/types, that I had just purchased the mother ship (at the time) of Instant Pots: the DUO 80.
At first, I used it to cook steel cut oats and quinoa, and it delivered both perfectly (after some research of recipes and best practices).
I have been slowly branching out to convert some of my slow cooker recipes to see how they behave in the IP and have had mostly success. I've done pulled pork, a roasted red pepper soup, a few varieties of chili, and even pork spare ribs.
Overall, I would say having the IP is worth it. Over the holidays, my big slow cooker insert cracked, so I've been using the IP a lot more to see if I can go without replacing the slow cooker. So far so good.
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janejellyroll wrote: »wilson10102018 wrote: »Pressure vessels do bad things to food. Some folks don't notice or care. That is ok. Their choice. Everyone is entitled to a preference when it comes to food prep.
But, there is a reason that the only place one can find pressure vessels is in processed food factories (think Spam), pet food factories and prison or military mess halls. It is that the chemical changes in food caused by high temperature cooking under pressure are not desired by chefs.
For my part, I use my old school pressure cooker for two things. Dry bean soups and homemade cat food.
I watch a lot of cooking shows and some of those chefs use pressure cookers.
Thats because they are in a hurry.
Trust me, there is really no substitute for:
Braising / roastint / grilling etc. in a pressure or slow cooker.
Frying in air fryer.
Convenient and faster? Yeap. Thats about it.
Yes, they're using them because they are in a hurry. But I was responding to someone who claimed that pressure cookers were not found outside of factories and mess halls. This isn't true and if the tastes created by pressure cookers were truly unacceptable, then chefs wouldn't use them in competitions. Home chefs, particularly in India, also have a fairly lengthy history of using these devices. So while some people may find the tastes unacceptable, it's clearly not shared universally.
I don't think anybody is proposing that a pressure cooker is an acceptable substitute for roasting or grilling. But this doesn't mean that there are no valid uses for the device.4 -
kshama2001 wrote: »wilson10102018 wrote: »Pressure vessels do bad things to food. Some folks don't notice or care. That is ok. Their choice. Everyone is entitled to a preference when it comes to food prep.
But, there is a reason that the only place one can find pressure vessels is in processed food factories (think Spam), pet food factories and prison or military mess halls. It is that the chemical changes in food caused by high temperature cooking under pressure are not desired by chefs.
For my part, I use my old school pressure cooker for two things. Dry bean soups and homemade cat food.
If you're serious about the cat food, I will take a recipe - just got a cat.
Sorry to derail, but assuming you are new to cat ownership do lots of research before making food for them. They're obligate carnivores and cats can get deadly vitamin and protein deficiencies if you don't balance their diets correctly. Commercial food is forfeited to prevent this.
I love my pressure cooker, I use it to batch cook most weeks. I'm thinking about getting the special slow cooker lid so I can use it as a slow cooker too. Skinnytaste has a lot of instant pot recipes and I haven't had bad luck with any of her stuff yet! The main benefit for me (besides fast cooking time) is that it doesn't need any babysitting the way a pot on the stove does. Just seal it set it and forget about it until it beeps at me. Sometimes the end result has too much liquid for my taste but then I just turn on the sauté function and boil out liquid until it thickens.1 -
I love it, I make coconut rice and quinoa in it weekly. I also make dried beans quite often. I use it to make eggs and I find them easier to peel.0
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I also keep all my veggie scraps in freezer and make stock with it too1
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I don’t care for any food cooked to mush,cheesecake or shredded meat. That being said,we are retired,just the 2 of us here,so no need to be in a rush. I love making bread,soups & casseroles.
BTW,don’t sell your slo cooker if you use one. The IP slo cooking isn’t good......
You need to add time for Instant Pot to come to pressure & to de pressure in order to open it.Mine is going to be sold on Craigs List,but maybe you will like it.Won’t know till you try.3 -
trisH_7183 wrote: »I don’t care for any food cooked to mush,cheesecake or shredded meat. That being said,we are retired,just the 2 of us here,so no need to be in a rush. I love making bread,soups & cassaroles.
You need to add time for Instant Pot to come to pressure & to de pressure in order to open it.Mine is going to be sold on Craigs List,but maybe you will like it.Won’t know till you try.
You don't have to add time to de-pressurize for all recipes, there is also a quick release option that just takes a moment or less.
I would say that if all your foods are coming out as "mush," then reducing the cooking times are an option. I've cooked foods like potatoes, pasta, and fresh vegetables in mine and they had a great texture.
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Grimmerick wrote: »debrakgoogins wrote: »As someone who isn't a fan of food prepared via slow cooker, crockpot, etc. I don't understand the appeal. Numerous people have insisted to my wife and I how great they are and I just kinda shrug. I'd be more inclined to explore Sous Vide methods.
Don’t mean to derail but I do not understand the Sous Vide craze. My husband and I got one for our wedding and it’s just chilling in the box. I’m kinda scared of it.
Agreed, and it takes soooo long.
Yea I think that's kinda one of the main points of the pressure cooker you can cook fast but it tastes like you cooked it slow even from frozen. As a person that works all day and has to come home and cook dinner, I'm looking for fast options with maximum flavor and texture.
Also successfully does beans right from the bag -- the slow cooker/crock pot did not (for me at least the time I tried it).0 -
Try soaking beans overnight. Drain,put in slo cooker with chopped veggies,seasoning,any meat you want & cover with broth. Turn on low & yum yum when you get home.2
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cwolfman13 wrote: »We use ours all the time...it's basically an automated pressure cooker with some additional functions like saute and slow cook. We eat beans a lot and we make them in the Instantpot now in about 40 minutes rather than hours on the stove top. We also batch prepare meals for the week...just chop and prep all of the raw ingredients and freeze them...get home and dump the frozen lump of food into the Instantpot and voila...dinner is served in 30-40 minutes and mostly hands off so you're not sitting over the stove and cooking and can do other things like homework with your kids.
There are tons of recipes on line and on pinterest for Instantpot, both fresh and the frozen I spoke of...it's pretty awesome, especially for weeknights when we get home from work later and have other things to do like homework with the kids.
This.. a million times this. If you're someone who wants to just dump a (large) pile of stuff in a pot that you don't need to babysit (I can go to work/dancing/etc while it cooks) - then it is a miracle appliance. especially if that large pile includes dried beans. It (mine) can also boil ~6 lbs of potatoes that I can throw in the fridge and microwave later throughout the week.1 -
As someone who isn't a fan of food prepared via slow cooker, crockpot, etc. I don't understand the appeal. Numerous people have insisted to my wife and I how great they are and I just kinda shrug. I'd be more inclined to explore Sous Vide methods.
Don’t mean to derail but I do not understand the Sous Vide craze. My husband and I got one for our wedding and it’s just chilling in the box. I’m kinda scared of it.
I bought my (chef) fiance one for his birthday and the meat comes out so juicy and tender. Best steak I've ever had. Try it!1 -
It's weird that people think the food turns to mush. That just means you're not doing it right. Experiment with timing for various things and you can get better results.7
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It's weird that people think the food turns to mush. That just means you're not doing it right. Experiment with timing for various things and you can get better results.
People want a camera with a magic button that makes them a great photographer. People want a kitchen tool that turns our Michelin star food with the push of a button. People want to take a magic pill and lose weight. We all start there - myself included. It's a bit of a theme here, eh?1 -
trisH_7183 wrote: »Try soaking beans overnight. Drain,put in slo cooker with chopped veggies,seasoning,any meat you want & cover with broth. Turn on low & yum yum when you get home.
Having lived through a house fire, leaving something with a heating element in it turned on all day while I am not home to monitor it is not something I will not chance.3 -
Mine sits on concrete floor outside,but I’m usually home,so no worry. I won’t even leave a W&D running when I’m not there. No fan etc either. On the other hand,there’s a fridge & 2 freezers always on. We just have to do what works for us.0
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trisH_7183 wrote: »I don’t care for any food cooked to mush,cheesecake or shredded meat. That being said,we are retired,just the 2 of us here,so no need to be in a rush. I love making bread,soups & casseroles.
I use my IP at least twice a week, and have been doing so for the past year. Never once had a meal turned to “mush.” Perhaps you’re cooking the food too long. A soup that would take all day in my slow cooker is done (with all the wonderful flavors intact) in an hour or less.
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I use my instant pot everyday. My daughter got me a Instant Pot Keto cookbook for my birthday.
I used my IP to make the "insides" of chicken enchilada verde. I loved making fake fried chicken with it. Start the chicken in the IP, and finish in the oven. It was fall apart delicious.
I'm pulling out a roast right now.0 -
Chef_Barbell wrote: »
Yep. This. I've yet to have mush anything.0 -
garystrickland357 wrote: »It's weird that people think the food turns to mush. That just means you're not doing it right. Experiment with timing for various things and you can get better results.
People want a camera with a magic button that makes them a great photographer. People want a kitchen tool that turns our Michelin star food with the push of a button. People want to take a magic pill and lose weight. We all start there - myself included. It's a bit of a theme here, eh?
I fully agree with this. Not all the things are supposed to be made in the IP. Not all the meat is suppose to be "fall apart" ie. mushy.
I do use the IP all the time for convenience when I dont have time. But hey do an experiment. Braise a piece of meat in the oven long and low and then do the same in the IP. If you cant tell the difference then, go ahead and keep using the IP for everything.
I tried an IP recipe for pork spareribs. That's a no-go for me. It cooked them, but not to the result I wanted. On the other hand, I whip up a mushroom/chicken/spinach risotto in the IP that is TO DIE FOR. So much that I made it and served it at Christmas dinner.
I'm busy AF and the IP helps me make amazing food that my family and I enjoy when I don't otherwise have the time or desire to cook it using more traditional methods.2
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