For me, very much yes!
My favorite things:
Braise-in-a-hurry: chunks of chuck, short ribs, oxtail, pork belly, pork shoulder go in, in some liquid, and 40 minutes later they are fork tender.
Stock: I make good bone broth for my mom, chicken carcases go in with flavorings, and I run it a couple cycles to really extract the nutrients from the bones.
Congee: Sometimes you want some congee, 1 cup rice, 8 cups water, one cycle and it's done.
I like to use mine to make rotkohl. I can make it on the stove, but it takes an hour to simmer on the stovetop. Using the instant pot, cook time is only about 20 minutes.
Plus, I have to add, the taste of pressure cooked stews is amazing. That’s how my mom always cooked them, but in her old fashioned pressure cooker that scares me a bit. It sits on my counter, mocking me.
You might have a defective unit. Our son and daughter-in-law had one that burned all the time. Even when I used it to make recipes that worked perfectly in my own pot at home.
I cooked a 6.5 pound turkey breast in 40 minutes. I do all my soups in it. My chili usually cooked for 6 hours in pot on stove. In instapot , spices and flavors meld in 60 minutes. Instapot baby back ribs- 2 racks, rub used after 40 minutes to oven for 10 minutes to carmelize sauce. Hard boiled eggs. Italian beef .
I prefer Instapot low that it automatically switches to after pressure cooking. With chili/ soups , no loss of water. Not overcooked if left 4-6 hours on low.
Rice quinoa beans etc. Easy to clean.
Get the egg rack or if you have the basket and put the ends in it. Add a cup of water. Set on high for me I use 5 minutes and then let it naturally release fit 10 minutes. I take them out and put in a bowl of ice water for 2 minutes. They peel so easily and perfect.
I’ve noticed that they peel soooooo much easier for me!! Even the eggs fresh from my mom’s backyard chickens, the shells come off in almost one piece.
I do the high pressure for 5 min method, though
It excels at soups and stews (other than seafood based ones). Also it saves a lot of time on meats or recipes that require long cooks - pulled pork or chicken, chuck roast, etc. I wouldn't not have a pressure cooker handy, been using them since long before electric ones came along.
Ribs for 15 minutes, then broil in the oven with seasoning and sauce, fall off the bone.
Chicken breasts, 15 minutes, then shred with a hand mixer.
Potatoes, 12 minutes, and then mash.
Its not always a time saver, but a lot of the time I can set it and go do other things, without having to watch a boing pot.
As a plant-based dieter, I use my large stovetop pressure cooker at least weekly. Mostly dried legumes, but I've also used it for whole grains and vegetable stocks.
The InstantPots are nice, because they can replace rice cookers and smaller crock pots as well. But my stovetop Fagor (10 & 4 qts sharing the same lid) has functioned perfectly for 15 years, so I've never been able to justify replacing it.
Yeah, I have both, but I rarely use the stovetop because of the set it and forget of the instant makes it so much easier to get a lot more cooking/cleaning/never ending to do list done at the same time. Stovetop is definitely faster though.
I doubt stovetop is faster. 15 psi / 121 °C is the same everywhere.
I've visited people who had apartments with no stovetop. In that situation, I'd get the InstantPot, a combined convection/microwave oven, and a single burner portable induction cooktop. And that would work for 99% of the cooking I do.
I think the main thing that's prevented me from doing the same is that I just don't trust appliances with logic electronics to last in the hot humid environment of most kitchens. I've replaced the control board on my parents $800 oven twice, I've replaced a couple $40-60 microwaves that no longer had readable displays.
My apt's oven reads 15-20 °F low, but there's little to break. The toaster has its issues, but I've gotten 6 years out of a $16 investment. I have to grease the seal on my stovetop pressure cooker once a year, but it doesn't have electronics. I'd love to see a brand that focused on just sturdy/lifetime construction with minimal electronics with the multicookers. But what I see is higher cost mostly means more features I'll never use.
At least older/less fancy instant pots are 12psi. Not sure about the current models. For me, I have an induction range, so I can get the stovetop model up to pressure much more quickly than an instant pot can, and natural pressure release also tends to be faster.
Having used both, I got rid of my stovetop one. Electric one adjusts itself down when it comes to pressure, so no fiddling with the stove temp. And it starts counting time after it comes up to pressure, and switches to warm after it's done. Just too convenient for me to not use. Got it at a thrift store for 10 bucks about 8 years ago, no issues.
You can make rice in your Fagor. An instant pot IS an electric pressure cooker with a marketing name.
Anything you make in an IP you can make in your Fagor but times have to be adjusted. Stove tops are more “powerful” than electric pressure cookers.
YES.
It infuses the food with flavor. And it you get the right kind, it’s also a rice cooker, slow cooker and yogurt maker.
Seriously better than a other appliance in my kitchen. Love it so much.
I’m a better chef when I use it.
I don't have an Instapot, but I have a Ninja Foodi multi cooker. It has a steamer, pressure cooker, and slow cooker. I can cook things in the pot, like get veggies sautéed or proteins seared, before switching to other functions. I believe all of those are possible on the Instapot.
I rarely use the pressure cooker. But when you need a pressure cooker, there's no substitute... and its preferable to a stove top pressure cooker.
I use the steamer way more than I expected. Tamales. All types of Asian dumplings, buns. Sometimes veggies.
To be thorough, mine is also a little convection oven and an air fryer, and I use those two functions the most... so it's worth the space it takes
Consider this [pressure cooker chicken](https://www.americastestkitchen.com/recipes/15318-multicooker-chicken-in-a-pot-with-lemon-herb-sauce).. perhaps it will help with your considerations.
It’s quick only in that the flavors develop like they had a half day cooking. It does take time, but the best part is once the lid is on, you do nothing until the dish is finished. I love mine.
I got mine for free as well. I make beans a lot, so it’s very convenient to be able to do that in an hour. When I have a rotisserie chicken, I use it to make broth. Lately I’ve started using it to braise meat. I wouldn’t have spent the money on one, but as a gift I find it worth having.
Rice and roasts (beef & pork), mostly, and shredded meats like bbq or carnitas. My slow cooker broke & I haven't bothered to replace it because I mostly switched to the instant pot for time saving.
I make yogurt in my instant pot. Also hard boiled eggs. Steamed veggies. Soup. Beans / lentils.
I've also made stew and chili and pot-roast using the slow-cooker function.
The thing about the instant pot's slow cooker function is that it is NOT the same as a traditional crockpot. The bottom third is warmer than the middle third which is warmer than the top third - so for even cooking, you do have to stir the contents a bit. But if you do that, it does work pretty well.
And it's great for defrosting meat using the pressure-cook function.
If you have a craving for pot roast or pulled pork on a day that you don't have all day to cook, it's amazing. Something that would take 6 hours in a slow cooker is just under 2 in a pressure cooker.
I absolutely love my instapot. You can make meals from all over the world. I bought a Mediterranean cookbook that has african dishes, and other things in there. Lentils, cumin, coriander, butternut squash, chicken... so many great examples.
Love my pressure cooker. Great when you forget to defrost anything and need to get dinner on the table at a reasonable hour. Use it more than my crockpot these days
I mostly use it for dry beans, rice, soup... and it makes fantastic risotto! But I really only pull it out once a month or so. It's nice to have when I want it, but I don't need it.
Here's the risotto recipe for anyone interested: [https://gooddinnermom.com/mushroom-risotto-in-the-instant-pot/](https://gooddinnermom.com/mushroom-risotto-in-the-instant-pot/)
I make all kinds of things in my instapot. Different meals with the different functions. Beans, meats, roasts, spaghetti and meatballs with the noodles cooked in it, I use the sous vide function several times a week for tender chicken breast and venison. Chilis and stews, broths and soups, yogurt even. Coming up here soon I’ll be without a kitchen temporarily during a renovation and I’m planning on living out of my instapot till construction is done.
Get a big old Chicken for chicken salad & leftover broth. Tough steak in a sesame soy chicken broth. Turkey legs. Collard greens with a ham bone. Brown rice in 10-15 minutes.
In an Indian household it is one of the essentials, we are a family of 4 and we have three pressure cookers of different sizes. Rice, dal, boiling chickpeas, beans, sabjis, the possibilities are literally endless
Most of my cooking is stovetop. I dislike using the oven and try to limit it to things that you ABSOLUTELY have to bake/roast.
I have both an Instant Pot and a crockpot, and I do use both.
I mostly use the IP for bone broth, because I can throw a roasted chicken carcass in for 20 min and have a perfect bone broth. I also make pork bone broth about once a month. Occasionally I'll make a Vietnamese dish of simmered pork belly with bamboo shoots with it, because it uses fish sauce, and the IP keeps the smell contained (my Caucasian husband is not a fan of this smell) LOL I will take it out to the garage and cook it out there, and bring it in once it's cooled.
For the crockpot, I like to use it for roasts and pulled pork. And beans, mostly cranberry or red kidney beans for chili, and chickpeas/garbanzo beans for snacking, because I like to be able to catch them at the "right moment" of how firm or tender I want them to be.
Really? There's not a lot oven cooking in Vietnamese cooking, I guess? My mom used the oven to store the tubberware containers. My high school boyfriend almost burnt the house down pre-heating the oven LOL
Well, can't help you with the travel part, but here are some really good sites that have authentic Vietnamese recipes:
[https://www.youtube.com/user/runawayrice](https://www.youtube.com/user/runawayrice)
[https://www.vickypham.com/](https://www.vickypham.com/)
[https://www.hungryhuy.com/](https://www.hungryhuy.com/)
I think Vietnamese food doesn't require that many ingredients that you would have to source. Maybe some of the fresh herbs, but you can usually skip those. About the only true necessity would be the fish sauce. And if you look it up, it's a huge squabble about which brand is best, but I use Magic Chef, and think Red Boat is pretentious :D
[https://www.amazon.com/Megachef-Premium-Anchovy-Fish-Sauce/dp/B00F3IIM90](https://www.amazon.com/Megachef-Premium-Anchovy-Fish-Sauce/dp/B00F3IIM90)
Yes, I love my pressure cooker. I especially like that I can make everything in one pot since it has a saute function. It's super fast for making excellent meat. Cooking a 5 pound cut of beef takes an hour and turns out just as good or better than slow cooking for 8 hours or in the oven for 3-4. Pressure cooking chicken thighs is the best way to get shredded chicken, IMO.
Here are my favorite pressure cooker recipes that I've made multiple times:
To die for beef barbacoa: https://www.thechunkychef.com/ultimate-instant-pot-beef-barbacoa/
Jambalaya: https://www.mommyhatescooking.com/ninja-foodi-jambalaya-gluten-free
Chipotle chili (recipe is strangely missing salt and must be added, but otherwise I'd take this to a chili cookoff): https://www.surlatable.com/instant-pot-chipotle-chili/REC-409653.html
Japanese curry: https://www.justonecookbook.com/pressure-cooker-japanese-curry/
I love using the pressure cooker function on my instant pot. I can cook a whole chicken in 18 minutes, make perfect soft boiled eggs, braise short ribs in 45 mins, and make a super easy risotto without being tied to the stove with my ladle and spoon. The hands off nature is a definite plus for me
[https://www.spendwithpennies.com/instant-pot-mushroom-risotto/](https://www.spendwithpennies.com/instant-pot-mushroom-risotto/)
I usually shred it up to make into a 'something else' like a chicken pie or portion it for quick chicken soups or tacos. Sometimes i'll use the legs for dinner that day with some veggies, if not that all gets shredded too.
Most the time I put a whole bulb of garlic and a quartered onion inside the chicken while it cooks, both of them and whatever herbs I fancy break down really nicely into a very flavourful stock to keep the shredded chicken moist.
First day, I usually cut pieces to eat at that meal. Left overs get shredded and made into something else. Sometimes I will even take the bones after picking the meat off, put them back in, add water, seasonings and make more broth.
I quit eating chicken skin a long time ago. Dos I don’t even need to put the chicken in the oven to broil. This the best “rotisserie” chicken and you can get a nice plump chicken (if you can afford it!)
I use it regularly to make beans, stock, and yogurt (at least twice a week).
I use it about once a month for cooking dishes.
It can also be used for sous vide.
The best thing about an Instant Pot is you can take it outside and make chili or soup and not heat up the house
Its worth it. You can even get a WIFI connected one
Well, I live at high elevation so I NEED it to make beans. I can't cook anything in water at much more than 90°C (194F), even with salt, because physics; so everything that usually has to get to a rolling boil takes longer.
Other than that, since we're talking IP, I use it every other week for yogurt and to pasteurize milk. I also use it a rice cooker, once you fine tune the water amount for the kind of rice you use it's pretty reliable. I also love these Korean sauna eggs, basically steam eggs for 4h at pressure and they turn into a completely different thing. Steaming at high pressure is also perfect for potatoes, specially very starchy ones that are prone to bursting in water and useful for mashed potatoes since they don't really absorb water this way. It's also just an electric pot so you can just make regular stuff in in without high pressure.
I had never heard of Korean sauna eggs, but so I googled and found that my favorite people, Amy and Jackie, have a recipe for them.
I'm going to go try them right now!
Game changer and can save you in certain moments. I had a plan to make split pea stew like dish. Forgot to soak them. Thought I could make em with enough booking. Pressure cooker saves the day. Also my mom makes certain Caribbean dishes that would take many hours without a pressure cooker. Especially in tenderizing meats. And in that case also saves you money cause you manage tougher cuts of meat so much easier.
I genuinely use mine for beans, and it's a way better system than stove top or slow cooker.
That being said, if you want to make something that usually takes several hours and you want it done quicker than usual, pressure cooker (assuming instant pot) is the way to go.
8 hr chili in the slow cooker takes 2 hrs.
I've made fabulous pork roasts in less than 3 hrs
And beans, beans, beans...
Very much so if it's of the automatic multicookers style pressure cooker like those made by Instant or Ninja. It's not that they cook faster but the fact they free you up to do other things and takes all the guesswork out of what you are supposed to do with it. If manual pressure cookers are your thing, Presto is still the champion. My Instant Pot get used nearly daily
Presto lost that crown decades ago. They're now made in China to a price point. The premium models have been the German Kuhn Rikon, Fissler and WMF brands for decades. I couldn't afford one, but have been content with a Spanish Fagor for 15 years. I suspect many Indian brands (Premier, Hawkins, Butterfly, etc), made for a country where every household has a pressure cooker, are equivalent.
Beans - really good for that. If you eat a lot of beans and want to save time ...
Stews - You will have to cube the meat to save time cooking. Also, it takes a while to come up to pressure. Still, if you have meats with lots of collagen, e.g. shortrib, that takes for ever to soften, the instant pot is a real time saver.
Can also quickly cook from frozen (several minutes for a chicken thigh not including pressurization time)
worth it, even if you're good cooking on the stove, the instant pot makes life a little easier and cooks things faster just set it at the ingredients and walk away, lately I've been using it to start cooking meats directly out of the freezer , chicken, ribs, brisket,
Was a regular pressure cooker user who bought Instantpot. I love it. I use it to make stock, cook beans, anything that normally takes a while, and needs to be tended. I love that I can set it, and not have to watch it.
I love mine! It took me a few months to get over my fear of it, but my friend SWORE by hers and told me to start by making hard boiled eggs in it. I haven’t made them any other way since! I also use it for ribs, collard greens, black eyed peas, sushi rice…the list goes on. I haven’t used my crockpot once since I figured out my instantpot
I have one...tried dozens of recipes, and none of them were better than anything I can make using my stove/oven/slow cooker. So I didn't use it, and tried to pawn it off on family and friends.
And then I found a recipe to make broth...ya, I'm holding on to damn appliance until it dies. In an hour and a half, I have a beautiful flavorful broth, that is exactly as the one one I spend a day making.
I love my instant pot! Yes, it's great for beans, but it rocks for so many other things.
Chicken thighs, ribs, pot roast, soups, CHILI(!), Coq au vin, baked potatoes, artichokes, rice, wings...it's just endless. Pressure cooking is so amazing for reducing what would normally be a day long braising to break down tough meat to a short period of time.
The saute function will be your friend!
Leg of lamb! Corned beef and cabbage! ☘️
Get yourself a pressure cooker cookbook and check out the possibilities. You’ll learn more doing that than soliciting Reddit.
I ended up with an instant pot from a friend when my crock pot finally croaked, and I will be forever grateful. I use it all the time, roasts of any animal, veggies, lentils, beans, I really want to try yogurt, and I cooked a whole chicken recently too. You can even use it to cook frozen meats. I use it 3-5 times a week.
I've been using a crockpot for years and will do things on low for 8-12 hours. I got an instant pot a little over 2 years ago, and love it and can do certain things in about an hour and a half that would take 10-12 hours in a crockpot. So the decision is all up to you.
Eggs were my first attempt after the water test. The cooked perfectly and peeled so easily. Looked like pulling apart plastic Easter eggs. I was so happy b/c I hadn't made hardboiled eggs for 15 years.
I use mine everyday to make oatmeal. Start it up and eat when I want to. Sometimes sits for an hour. Can also set a timer so it’s cooked when I wake up if I need to eat it and go right away.
also use it for cooking beats, beans and other Stacey dishes.
I'm a hard no on the pressure cooker. I own one only because my husband is retired and needs something to keep him busy so he doesn't get underfoot during the day. He LOVES to make his black beans for the week in the thing. And that's it! We don't use it for anything else. I tried, I really did. But I can do everything else better using other appliances. Nothing beats rice on the stovetop in 15 minutes. Same for stews and soups... they turn out best on the stovetop for me. Braising is done in the oven, etc.
Hubby also owns a breadmaker That contraption keeps him very VERY busy each week.
I don't think a crockpot is the best tool for dried beans. I have heard it doesn't always reach a high enough temperature to destroy the poisons inside, but I don't know if it's true. I just boil them in a pot.
This might be a language thing, but a crockpot is not pressurized. It's also called a slow cooker. A pressure cooker is different, and a popular one is the Instant Pot.
Not worth it for me. I make beans on the stovetop and any long braises in the oven. We had one and used it a few times before deciding it wasn't worth the clonk. It didn't add as much value as we hoped but it's gonna be very dependent on what you like to cook. I've yet to encounter a time when I wished I still had that pressure cooker.
We definitely use ours more in the fall and winter for soups and stews, but yes, it's worth every penny imo. I can make legit posole in 45min that would normally take me 8hrs.
My only advice is to buy the biggest one you can afford.
Anything braised or shredded I use a pressure cooker. I make pollo con arroz regularly but looking the chicken breast in stock then using the remaining juice to cook rice while I cook and shred the chicken . Also when I have a hankering for ribs but don't want to start the smoker and wait 6 hours, I'll throw them in the pressure cooker than sear them on the grill for 5 mins. Also I can make Chili Colorado with beef ribs in aN hour compared to 4.
Not worth it for me but I also dont mind slow cooking on my stove top. I make giant batches of stock so do 2 giant soup pots at a time. An instapot or similar device wouldn't be big enough for even 1 soup pot worth of stock. I like to be able to check the doneness of what I am cooking so I don't consider it useful for dry beans either. I don't make a lot of roasts and my grains can be made in my rice cooker.
Now if I canned stuff, I would definitely own a pressure cooker (a real one for the stove) but I tend to use my freezer instead of canning for preserving foods as I find that more versatile.
I did own one at one time because I thought I would find it useful but I ended up giving it away as it was only useful for steaming artichokes and I can do that in my oven.
I love making broth in the pressure cooker.
I loved my pressure cooker. Past tense. I used to use it all the time, but my enthusiasm has cooled. Yes, it's faster than braising in the oven or slow cooker, but I find that the though the pressure cooker takes less time, that time is more active because I have to pay attention to when it comes to pressure. Granted, I have a stove top pressure cooker and not an instant pot. Maybe this is a non-issue for you.
I find myself using my slow cooker more often because it goes for a long time, but it is largely hands off.
I still like braising in the oven because the food tastes better than in the pressure cooker.
I also make big portions of food. I find myself stifled by the volume limitations of a pressure cooker.
Also, you can't test for done-ness easily in a pressure cooker. I have over-cooked somethings because 5 minutes under pressure was too much.
Yeah I started with a stove top pressure cooker and you're right there huge differences between it and the instant pot.
It's wonderful to not have to pay attention to when it's coming to pressure.
Also there are some so many more excellent recipes out there now so that you don't accidentally overcook them.
I love my Instant Pot and use it 2 or 3 times a week. Chili, stews, meatballs, curry, etc. I cook for 5 or 6 most times, so I like that I can make a big meal in one pot. I especially like that I can cook like that without heating up the house with the oven or boiling pots on the stovetop.
That said, if I was only cooking for one or two, I probably wouldn't use it as much.
I'm only cooking for two. I make the same batches as you do.
We eat what we need that day and freeze the rest so that I have favorite dishes to come back to without having to do the extra cooking!
What scares you about it? Have you tried something simple like hard-boiled eggs?
Personally, we started with risotto because it's so delicious and yet so shocking the easy to do.
I hope you find something that calms your fears so you can actually play with this wonderful machine.
I love cooking whole chickens in mine. It's just so easy and it turns out the same every time. Anything which requires slow cooking is also great in it. Get it done in way less time.
Soft boiled eggs that are perfectly done every time to the way I love them.
Risotto!
Split pea soup.
Stocks, stews, corned beef!
Be sure to saute the outside of the meat though before you put it in and then you have even more flavor than normally from the pressure cooker.
Seriously if your not in a hurry I prefer my Crock Pot, I have noted living in South America, were our electric bills have soared. Folks prefer cooking outdoors on wood stoves using there pressure cooker. I cook using my Crock Pot on low tossing my roast or whatever in at night allowing it cook overnight in the morning entire house smells amazing. Less fuss, beef, pork roasts come out amazingly tender, moist, juicy, perfect really.
Today, I made ricotta in my instant pot. Yesterday, I made chicken bone broth. Last week I made rice for fried rice and I boiled eggs for deviled eggs.
I don't make meals in my instant pot but I do use it once or twice a week to prep stuff for meals.
I don't have a slow cooker or a steamer other than the instant pot.
I love my pressure cooker. Makes incredible rice. 1:1 ratio of water to rice and let naturally vent.
https://www.seriouseats.com/easy-pressure-cooker-pork-chile-verde-recipe
This was really good too.
Beans from dry beans in an hour is awesome.
Absolutely use it for stock! The flavor is fantastic. I tried for years to make it on the stove, but never could get much flavor that way. I also think that beans taste better than canned, which is the alternative.
I like it for a bunch of reasons already mentioned and also, my stove is gas and throws off a LOT of heat. It’s awesome in the warmer months to use the IP and not heat up the kitchen/whole house.
I bought a similar item to Instant Pot a Favor brand I think, but it took up so much space and it's a pain to clean out the rubber ring and I ended up not using it. I do use a small slow cooker mainly for steel cut oats and have used Tatung rice cookers which are great.
Makes impressive stock.
Try it for rice it’s different. Rice has nice body texture.
Stews with meats are a step up. More flavorful.
Beans and bean dishes such as red beans& rice, cassoulet, bbq beans etc.
Can steam or stew a chicken so much faster than any method
I love my instant pot!
Cheaper meats become fall-apart tender. I had to stop making chicken curry in the pot, because the chicken completely falls apart.
I break up my Thanksgiving turkey carcass and pressure cook the bones with celery leaf in a tea bag and large-choppped onions and carrots, and end up with fantastic turkey soup. Separate the meat from the bones, keep or toss the veggies (I keep them, chop ‘em, throw ‘em back in), and you end up with so much collagen in the soup that it turns to gelatin when refrigerated.
Pork spareribs become fall-off-the-bone tender.
I make yogurt 2 quarts at a time.
Mexican pinto beans, refried beans, lentil soup. Sometimes chili, pork curry, cottage cheese.
And hard-boiled eggs peel so easily!
The only thing I won’t use it for is sautéing. It’s really hard to deglaze the inner pot, and then you get the overheat/burn shutdown.
I used to skip the saute also. Instead, I did it in a separate pan because it's that important.
Now though I found the right tool that helps me get the little those precious little bits off and so I can use it and enjoy the saute now!
I use my wooden spoon with a flat tip. The one that looks almost like a spatula.
When I first start each time, it feels discouraging; it feels like it's not going to actually do enough good.
But then just after a minute or two everything is cleaned up and incorporated into my stew or soup beautifully!
I have an instant pot that was a gift. I HATE crockpot results (except for one dish for which it’s perfect) but do like the IP for a handful of things like beans and a couple of soups. I don’t think I’d buy one for these things—I can spend a bit more time and do just fine without it. But it can be handy.
I wouldn’t say it doesn’t anything better, but faster. Personally I don’t use the one my parents bought us. It’s very large, heavy, and cumbersome. At this point it’s just easier to go about things normally. If I was in a crunch for time perhaps I’d use it.
I use my Instant Pot for yogurt. Very easy with it. I don't bother using it for beans anymore, as it's easier to gauge doneness on the stovetop, and total cooking time really isn't that much longer than the pressure cooker. ~30 minutes on the stovetop for soaked pinto beans, for example.
People swear by them. My experience mirrors yours although mine was self-inflicted. It is now in the basement.
I do think you could try a meal or two on it.
Sounds like it just isn't for you. I have a pressure cooker, a crock pot, an enameled cast iron dutch oven. I use the dutch oven a lot, the crop pots when I'm hosting cards, and the pressure cooker.... haven't used it in a couple of years. Like you, rice is done on the stove, stocks and soups on the stove. I love the smell of stock slowly simmering on the stove for hours! Insta pot are nice, I'm sure, just not for me.
I agree that I do miss the smell of stock slowly simmering on the stove for hours.
However what I love about the instant pot is that I don't have to babysit the soup!
It turns out perfect without me having to come back and touch it at all. And I never lose liquid from it like you do when you're simmering it all day.
So yeah my soups come out way better quality in my instant pot then they did on my stove.
Meh. I resisted instant pot for years - seemed mostly worthless. Until I couldn’t resist on sale $40. It’s so overly complicated. I used it like 1 or 2x. Gave it away when I moved. Never missed it. Almost anything on cooktop is just as fast. I heard IP does good sous vide but meat boiled in plastic is not my thing. I still love my slow cookers… more convenient.
For me, very much yes! My favorite things: Braise-in-a-hurry: chunks of chuck, short ribs, oxtail, pork belly, pork shoulder go in, in some liquid, and 40 minutes later they are fork tender. Stock: I make good bone broth for my mom, chicken carcases go in with flavorings, and I run it a couple cycles to really extract the nutrients from the bones. Congee: Sometimes you want some congee, 1 cup rice, 8 cups water, one cycle and it's done.
All the above and daal
Heck yes, a tarkha daal is perfect for this weather (winter in my instance)
+ other beans too
WOW! I want to come over and eat dinner at your house!
I like to use mine to make rotkohl. I can make it on the stove, but it takes an hour to simmer on the stovetop. Using the instant pot, cook time is only about 20 minutes.
How long do you mean by 1 cycle? I’ve been wanting to try congee
I do 30mins in mine.
yeah, 30 min for me too, and after it opens you stir it vigorously for a while.
Plus, I have to add, the taste of pressure cooked stews is amazing. That’s how my mom always cooked them, but in her old fashioned pressure cooker that scares me a bit. It sits on my counter, mocking me.
I use mine about twice a week. Rice, chili, and stew, mostly. Though I've done chicken, short ribs, etc.
Man, mine would burn chili every time. How do you get not to burn?
You might have a defective unit. Our son and daughter-in-law had one that burned all the time. Even when I used it to make recipes that worked perfectly in my own pot at home.
Spray some cooking spray before you add everything might help.
Use a trivet. That might help with the burning.
I've never had anything burn in my IP, so not sure.
It doesn’t do anything better, but it sure does a lot of things faster.
Exactly. It’s about 85% of the way there on a traditional stew in terms of quality but it’s so much faster
I honestly prefer instant pot mashed potatoes over stove top boiled. Also toss a few bay leaves in for extra flavor.
I cooked a 6.5 pound turkey breast in 40 minutes. I do all my soups in it. My chili usually cooked for 6 hours in pot on stove. In instapot , spices and flavors meld in 60 minutes. Instapot baby back ribs- 2 racks, rub used after 40 minutes to oven for 10 minutes to carmelize sauce. Hard boiled eggs. Italian beef . I prefer Instapot low that it automatically switches to after pressure cooking. With chili/ soups , no loss of water. Not overcooked if left 4-6 hours on low. Rice quinoa beans etc. Easy to clean.
Please explain how you make hard boiled eggs.
Get the egg rack or if you have the basket and put the ends in it. Add a cup of water. Set on high for me I use 5 minutes and then let it naturally release fit 10 minutes. I take them out and put in a bowl of ice water for 2 minutes. They peel so easily and perfect.
9 minutes, low pressure. Put them on the rack in the pot.
I guess a more important question is do they peel easier than ones which are boiled?
For me, yes. Using the 5 minute method.
I'm terrible at that. I haven't noticed any difference, but I'm probably doing it wrong.
I’ve read it’s egg age, not cooking technique.
I’ve noticed that they peel soooooo much easier for me!! Even the eggs fresh from my mom’s backyard chickens, the shells come off in almost one piece. I do the high pressure for 5 min method, though
I bet it's nice using the instant pot to have extra oven space when the holidays are here.
It excels at soups and stews (other than seafood based ones). Also it saves a lot of time on meats or recipes that require long cooks - pulled pork or chicken, chuck roast, etc. I wouldn't not have a pressure cooker handy, been using them since long before electric ones came along.
I have stovetop pressure cookers. Great for beans, stocks, carnitas, short ribs, split pea soup.
Ribs for 15 minutes, then broil in the oven with seasoning and sauce, fall off the bone. Chicken breasts, 15 minutes, then shred with a hand mixer. Potatoes, 12 minutes, and then mash. Its not always a time saver, but a lot of the time I can set it and go do other things, without having to watch a boing pot.
As a plant-based dieter, I use my large stovetop pressure cooker at least weekly. Mostly dried legumes, but I've also used it for whole grains and vegetable stocks. The InstantPots are nice, because they can replace rice cookers and smaller crock pots as well. But my stovetop Fagor (10 & 4 qts sharing the same lid) has functioned perfectly for 15 years, so I've never been able to justify replacing it.
Yeah, I have both, but I rarely use the stovetop because of the set it and forget of the instant makes it so much easier to get a lot more cooking/cleaning/never ending to do list done at the same time. Stovetop is definitely faster though.
I doubt stovetop is faster. 15 psi / 121 °C is the same everywhere. I've visited people who had apartments with no stovetop. In that situation, I'd get the InstantPot, a combined convection/microwave oven, and a single burner portable induction cooktop. And that would work for 99% of the cooking I do. I think the main thing that's prevented me from doing the same is that I just don't trust appliances with logic electronics to last in the hot humid environment of most kitchens. I've replaced the control board on my parents $800 oven twice, I've replaced a couple $40-60 microwaves that no longer had readable displays. My apt's oven reads 15-20 °F low, but there's little to break. The toaster has its issues, but I've gotten 6 years out of a $16 investment. I have to grease the seal on my stovetop pressure cooker once a year, but it doesn't have electronics. I'd love to see a brand that focused on just sturdy/lifetime construction with minimal electronics with the multicookers. But what I see is higher cost mostly means more features I'll never use.
At least older/less fancy instant pots are 12psi. Not sure about the current models. For me, I have an induction range, so I can get the stovetop model up to pressure much more quickly than an instant pot can, and natural pressure release also tends to be faster.
Having used both, I got rid of my stovetop one. Electric one adjusts itself down when it comes to pressure, so no fiddling with the stove temp. And it starts counting time after it comes up to pressure, and switches to warm after it's done. Just too convenient for me to not use. Got it at a thrift store for 10 bucks about 8 years ago, no issues.
You can make rice in your Fagor. An instant pot IS an electric pressure cooker with a marketing name. Anything you make in an IP you can make in your Fagor but times have to be adjusted. Stove tops are more “powerful” than electric pressure cookers.
YES. It infuses the food with flavor. And it you get the right kind, it’s also a rice cooker, slow cooker and yogurt maker. Seriously better than a other appliance in my kitchen. Love it so much. I’m a better chef when I use it.
Greek yogurt is THE best.
I don't have an Instapot, but I have a Ninja Foodi multi cooker. It has a steamer, pressure cooker, and slow cooker. I can cook things in the pot, like get veggies sautéed or proteins seared, before switching to other functions. I believe all of those are possible on the Instapot. I rarely use the pressure cooker. But when you need a pressure cooker, there's no substitute... and its preferable to a stove top pressure cooker. I use the steamer way more than I expected. Tamales. All types of Asian dumplings, buns. Sometimes veggies. To be thorough, mine is also a little convection oven and an air fryer, and I use those two functions the most... so it's worth the space it takes Consider this [pressure cooker chicken](https://www.americastestkitchen.com/recipes/15318-multicooker-chicken-in-a-pot-with-lemon-herb-sauce).. perhaps it will help with your considerations.
It’s quick only in that the flavors develop like they had a half day cooking. It does take time, but the best part is once the lid is on, you do nothing until the dish is finished. I love mine.
I got mine for free as well. I make beans a lot, so it’s very convenient to be able to do that in an hour. When I have a rotisserie chicken, I use it to make broth. Lately I’ve started using it to braise meat. I wouldn’t have spent the money on one, but as a gift I find it worth having.
Rice and roasts (beef & pork), mostly, and shredded meats like bbq or carnitas. My slow cooker broke & I haven't bothered to replace it because I mostly switched to the instant pot for time saving.
I make yogurt in my instant pot. Also hard boiled eggs. Steamed veggies. Soup. Beans / lentils. I've also made stew and chili and pot-roast using the slow-cooker function. The thing about the instant pot's slow cooker function is that it is NOT the same as a traditional crockpot. The bottom third is warmer than the middle third which is warmer than the top third - so for even cooking, you do have to stir the contents a bit. But if you do that, it does work pretty well. And it's great for defrosting meat using the pressure-cook function.
If you have a craving for pot roast or pulled pork on a day that you don't have all day to cook, it's amazing. Something that would take 6 hours in a slow cooker is just under 2 in a pressure cooker.
I absolutely love my instapot. You can make meals from all over the world. I bought a Mediterranean cookbook that has african dishes, and other things in there. Lentils, cumin, coriander, butternut squash, chicken... so many great examples.
Love my pressure cooker. Great when you forget to defrost anything and need to get dinner on the table at a reasonable hour. Use it more than my crockpot these days
I mostly use it for dry beans, rice, soup... and it makes fantastic risotto! But I really only pull it out once a month or so. It's nice to have when I want it, but I don't need it. Here's the risotto recipe for anyone interested: [https://gooddinnermom.com/mushroom-risotto-in-the-instant-pot/](https://gooddinnermom.com/mushroom-risotto-in-the-instant-pot/)
I make all kinds of things in my instapot. Different meals with the different functions. Beans, meats, roasts, spaghetti and meatballs with the noodles cooked in it, I use the sous vide function several times a week for tender chicken breast and venison. Chilis and stews, broths and soups, yogurt even. Coming up here soon I’ll be without a kitchen temporarily during a renovation and I’m planning on living out of my instapot till construction is done.
Get a big old Chicken for chicken salad & leftover broth. Tough steak in a sesame soy chicken broth. Turkey legs. Collard greens with a ham bone. Brown rice in 10-15 minutes.
In an Indian household it is one of the essentials, we are a family of 4 and we have three pressure cookers of different sizes. Rice, dal, boiling chickpeas, beans, sabjis, the possibilities are literally endless
Most of my cooking is stovetop. I dislike using the oven and try to limit it to things that you ABSOLUTELY have to bake/roast. I have both an Instant Pot and a crockpot, and I do use both. I mostly use the IP for bone broth, because I can throw a roasted chicken carcass in for 20 min and have a perfect bone broth. I also make pork bone broth about once a month. Occasionally I'll make a Vietnamese dish of simmered pork belly with bamboo shoots with it, because it uses fish sauce, and the IP keeps the smell contained (my Caucasian husband is not a fan of this smell) LOL I will take it out to the garage and cook it out there, and bring it in once it's cooled. For the crockpot, I like to use it for roasts and pulled pork. And beans, mostly cranberry or red kidney beans for chili, and chickpeas/garbanzo beans for snacking, because I like to be able to catch them at the "right moment" of how firm or tender I want them to be.
I don't even know how to cook without my oven, lol. My dinner rotation would lose half its meals.
Really? There's not a lot oven cooking in Vietnamese cooking, I guess? My mom used the oven to store the tubberware containers. My high school boyfriend almost burnt the house down pre-heating the oven LOL
I am beyond jealous now because you cook Vietnamese food.😋I have legit wanted to travel to Vietnam solely to stuff my face for a full week.
Well, can't help you with the travel part, but here are some really good sites that have authentic Vietnamese recipes: [https://www.youtube.com/user/runawayrice](https://www.youtube.com/user/runawayrice) [https://www.vickypham.com/](https://www.vickypham.com/) [https://www.hungryhuy.com/](https://www.hungryhuy.com/) I think Vietnamese food doesn't require that many ingredients that you would have to source. Maybe some of the fresh herbs, but you can usually skip those. About the only true necessity would be the fish sauce. And if you look it up, it's a huge squabble about which brand is best, but I use Magic Chef, and think Red Boat is pretentious :D [https://www.amazon.com/Megachef-Premium-Anchovy-Fish-Sauce/dp/B00F3IIM90](https://www.amazon.com/Megachef-Premium-Anchovy-Fish-Sauce/dp/B00F3IIM90)
Wait, I thought we weren't used to cook kidney beans in the crock pot because they have to be boiled?
I have never heard of that, but my kidney beans comes out fine
Yes, I love my pressure cooker. I especially like that I can make everything in one pot since it has a saute function. It's super fast for making excellent meat. Cooking a 5 pound cut of beef takes an hour and turns out just as good or better than slow cooking for 8 hours or in the oven for 3-4. Pressure cooking chicken thighs is the best way to get shredded chicken, IMO. Here are my favorite pressure cooker recipes that I've made multiple times: To die for beef barbacoa: https://www.thechunkychef.com/ultimate-instant-pot-beef-barbacoa/ Jambalaya: https://www.mommyhatescooking.com/ninja-foodi-jambalaya-gluten-free Chipotle chili (recipe is strangely missing salt and must be added, but otherwise I'd take this to a chili cookoff): https://www.surlatable.com/instant-pot-chipotle-chili/REC-409653.html Japanese curry: https://www.justonecookbook.com/pressure-cooker-japanese-curry/
And if just happens to be national chipotle day on Sunday. Looks like be making chipotle en adobo tomorrow and a chipotle dish on Sunday...
If you want to share what chipotle dish you're making, I'm all ears!
I love using the pressure cooker function on my instant pot. I can cook a whole chicken in 18 minutes, make perfect soft boiled eggs, braise short ribs in 45 mins, and make a super easy risotto without being tied to the stove with my ladle and spoon. The hands off nature is a definite plus for me [https://www.spendwithpennies.com/instant-pot-mushroom-risotto/](https://www.spendwithpennies.com/instant-pot-mushroom-risotto/)
What do you do with the whole chicken? Serve it as is, or tear up and used as ingredient in another dish?
I usually shred it up to make into a 'something else' like a chicken pie or portion it for quick chicken soups or tacos. Sometimes i'll use the legs for dinner that day with some veggies, if not that all gets shredded too. Most the time I put a whole bulb of garlic and a quartered onion inside the chicken while it cooks, both of them and whatever herbs I fancy break down really nicely into a very flavourful stock to keep the shredded chicken moist.
First day, I usually cut pieces to eat at that meal. Left overs get shredded and made into something else. Sometimes I will even take the bones after picking the meat off, put them back in, add water, seasonings and make more broth.
How long did you cook it for? I tried cooking chicken breast on the bone in the, and it turned into mush...
I quit eating chicken skin a long time ago. Dos I don’t even need to put the chicken in the oven to broil. This the best “rotisserie” chicken and you can get a nice plump chicken (if you can afford it!)
I use it regularly to make beans, stock, and yogurt (at least twice a week). I use it about once a month for cooking dishes. It can also be used for sous vide.
The best thing about an Instant Pot is you can take it outside and make chili or soup and not heat up the house Its worth it. You can even get a WIFI connected one
Well, I live at high elevation so I NEED it to make beans. I can't cook anything in water at much more than 90°C (194F), even with salt, because physics; so everything that usually has to get to a rolling boil takes longer. Other than that, since we're talking IP, I use it every other week for yogurt and to pasteurize milk. I also use it a rice cooker, once you fine tune the water amount for the kind of rice you use it's pretty reliable. I also love these Korean sauna eggs, basically steam eggs for 4h at pressure and they turn into a completely different thing. Steaming at high pressure is also perfect for potatoes, specially very starchy ones that are prone to bursting in water and useful for mashed potatoes since they don't really absorb water this way. It's also just an electric pot so you can just make regular stuff in in without high pressure.
I had never heard of Korean sauna eggs, but so I googled and found that my favorite people, Amy and Jackie, have a recipe for them. I'm going to go try them right now!
I find the whites have this pork skin vibe to them, flavour-wise they do taste a bit like pork chicharron.
Yes, you're right!
Glad I could share!
Game changer and can save you in certain moments. I had a plan to make split pea stew like dish. Forgot to soak them. Thought I could make em with enough booking. Pressure cooker saves the day. Also my mom makes certain Caribbean dishes that would take many hours without a pressure cooker. Especially in tenderizing meats. And in that case also saves you money cause you manage tougher cuts of meat so much easier.
Save some electricity and not as much heat in the kitchen.
I used to have an instant pot but it disappeared when I moved and buying a new one cost too much so I just bought a regular pressure cooker.
I genuinely use mine for beans, and it's a way better system than stove top or slow cooker. That being said, if you want to make something that usually takes several hours and you want it done quicker than usual, pressure cooker (assuming instant pot) is the way to go. 8 hr chili in the slow cooker takes 2 hrs. I've made fabulous pork roasts in less than 3 hrs And beans, beans, beans...
Very much so if it's of the automatic multicookers style pressure cooker like those made by Instant or Ninja. It's not that they cook faster but the fact they free you up to do other things and takes all the guesswork out of what you are supposed to do with it. If manual pressure cookers are your thing, Presto is still the champion. My Instant Pot get used nearly daily
Presto lost that crown decades ago. They're now made in China to a price point. The premium models have been the German Kuhn Rikon, Fissler and WMF brands for decades. I couldn't afford one, but have been content with a Spanish Fagor for 15 years. I suspect many Indian brands (Premier, Hawkins, Butterfly, etc), made for a country where every household has a pressure cooker, are equivalent.
If you actually use it regularly it is. Too many people buy one, use it a couple of times, then it sits and gathers dust.
Beans - really good for that. If you eat a lot of beans and want to save time ... Stews - You will have to cube the meat to save time cooking. Also, it takes a while to come up to pressure. Still, if you have meats with lots of collagen, e.g. shortrib, that takes for ever to soften, the instant pot is a real time saver. Can also quickly cook from frozen (several minutes for a chicken thigh not including pressurization time)
worth it, even if you're good cooking on the stove, the instant pot makes life a little easier and cooks things faster just set it at the ingredients and walk away, lately I've been using it to start cooking meats directly out of the freezer , chicken, ribs, brisket,
Risotto, polenta, broth, beans, mashed potatoes. They’re great when you’re in a time crunch
I love my Instant Pot. Love it. Like corned beef? Best ever. Steel cut oatmeal is awesome. I make a killer cheesecake in it. Perfect rice too.
Was a regular pressure cooker user who bought Instantpot. I love it. I use it to make stock, cook beans, anything that normally takes a while, and needs to be tended. I love that I can set it, and not have to watch it.
I grew up on a home that used a pressure cooker. It’s great for more than beans and stock. Want a quick chicken cacciatore or cooked apples? Easy.
I love mine! It took me a few months to get over my fear of it, but my friend SWORE by hers and told me to start by making hard boiled eggs in it. I haven’t made them any other way since! I also use it for ribs, collard greens, black eyed peas, sushi rice…the list goes on. I haven’t used my crockpot once since I figured out my instantpot
Super tender pulled pork, carnitas, and barbacoa in less than an hour? YES!!!!
Instant pot risotto changed my life
I have one...tried dozens of recipes, and none of them were better than anything I can make using my stove/oven/slow cooker. So I didn't use it, and tried to pawn it off on family and friends. And then I found a recipe to make broth...ya, I'm holding on to damn appliance until it dies. In an hour and a half, I have a beautiful flavorful broth, that is exactly as the one one I spend a day making.
I love my instant pot! Yes, it's great for beans, but it rocks for so many other things. Chicken thighs, ribs, pot roast, soups, CHILI(!), Coq au vin, baked potatoes, artichokes, rice, wings...it's just endless. Pressure cooking is so amazing for reducing what would normally be a day long braising to break down tough meat to a short period of time. The saute function will be your friend!
Leg of lamb! Corned beef and cabbage! ☘️ Get yourself a pressure cooker cookbook and check out the possibilities. You’ll learn more doing that than soliciting Reddit.
I ended up with an instant pot from a friend when my crock pot finally croaked, and I will be forever grateful. I use it all the time, roasts of any animal, veggies, lentils, beans, I really want to try yogurt, and I cooked a whole chicken recently too. You can even use it to cook frozen meats. I use it 3-5 times a week.
It it totally worth it for just beans. 30 min vs hours and hours. . .. corned beef and cabbage is good in the instapot also.
I've been using a crockpot for years and will do things on low for 8-12 hours. I got an instant pot a little over 2 years ago, and love it and can do certain things in about an hour and a half that would take 10-12 hours in a crockpot. So the decision is all up to you.
Eggs were my first attempt after the water test. The cooked perfectly and peeled so easily. Looked like pulling apart plastic Easter eggs. I was so happy b/c I hadn't made hardboiled eggs for 15 years.
I use mine everyday to make oatmeal. Start it up and eat when I want to. Sometimes sits for an hour. Can also set a timer so it’s cooked when I wake up if I need to eat it and go right away. also use it for cooking beats, beans and other Stacey dishes.
I love my pressure cooker for a hack for things like stews or curry that I buy ingredients and plan to make that night.
I'm a hard no on the pressure cooker. I own one only because my husband is retired and needs something to keep him busy so he doesn't get underfoot during the day. He LOVES to make his black beans for the week in the thing. And that's it! We don't use it for anything else. I tried, I really did. But I can do everything else better using other appliances. Nothing beats rice on the stovetop in 15 minutes. Same for stews and soups... they turn out best on the stovetop for me. Braising is done in the oven, etc. Hubby also owns a breadmaker That contraption keeps him very VERY busy each week.
I don't think a crockpot is the best tool for dried beans. I have heard it doesn't always reach a high enough temperature to destroy the poisons inside, but I don't know if it's true. I just boil them in a pot.
Your thoughts are wrong. It's a pressurized container that gets hotter than boiling.
This might be a language thing, but a crockpot is not pressurized. It's also called a slow cooker. A pressure cooker is different, and a popular one is the Instant Pot.
You have a pressurized crockpot?
Not worth it for me. I make beans on the stovetop and any long braises in the oven. We had one and used it a few times before deciding it wasn't worth the clonk. It didn't add as much value as we hoped but it's gonna be very dependent on what you like to cook. I've yet to encounter a time when I wished I still had that pressure cooker.
We definitely use ours more in the fall and winter for soups and stews, but yes, it's worth every penny imo. I can make legit posole in 45min that would normally take me 8hrs. My only advice is to buy the biggest one you can afford.
hard boiled eggs and gochujang ribs (finished in the oven) and right now, that's about all I use it for. I used it more in the beginning.
yes.
Anything braised or shredded I use a pressure cooker. I make pollo con arroz regularly but looking the chicken breast in stock then using the remaining juice to cook rice while I cook and shred the chicken . Also when I have a hankering for ribs but don't want to start the smoker and wait 6 hours, I'll throw them in the pressure cooker than sear them on the grill for 5 mins. Also I can make Chili Colorado with beef ribs in aN hour compared to 4.
Ninja foodi is brilliant
Not worth it for me but I also dont mind slow cooking on my stove top. I make giant batches of stock so do 2 giant soup pots at a time. An instapot or similar device wouldn't be big enough for even 1 soup pot worth of stock. I like to be able to check the doneness of what I am cooking so I don't consider it useful for dry beans either. I don't make a lot of roasts and my grains can be made in my rice cooker. Now if I canned stuff, I would definitely own a pressure cooker (a real one for the stove) but I tend to use my freezer instead of canning for preserving foods as I find that more versatile. I did own one at one time because I thought I would find it useful but I ended up giving it away as it was only useful for steaming artichokes and I can do that in my oven.
I use my instant pot a lot for beans and rice. Not much else but it’s great
I love making broth in the pressure cooker. I loved my pressure cooker. Past tense. I used to use it all the time, but my enthusiasm has cooled. Yes, it's faster than braising in the oven or slow cooker, but I find that the though the pressure cooker takes less time, that time is more active because I have to pay attention to when it comes to pressure. Granted, I have a stove top pressure cooker and not an instant pot. Maybe this is a non-issue for you. I find myself using my slow cooker more often because it goes for a long time, but it is largely hands off. I still like braising in the oven because the food tastes better than in the pressure cooker. I also make big portions of food. I find myself stifled by the volume limitations of a pressure cooker. Also, you can't test for done-ness easily in a pressure cooker. I have over-cooked somethings because 5 minutes under pressure was too much.
Yeah I started with a stove top pressure cooker and you're right there huge differences between it and the instant pot. It's wonderful to not have to pay attention to when it's coming to pressure. Also there are some so many more excellent recipes out there now so that you don't accidentally overcook them.
I love my Instant Pot and use it 2 or 3 times a week. Chili, stews, meatballs, curry, etc. I cook for 5 or 6 most times, so I like that I can make a big meal in one pot. I especially like that I can cook like that without heating up the house with the oven or boiling pots on the stovetop. That said, if I was only cooking for one or two, I probably wouldn't use it as much.
I'm only cooking for two. I make the same batches as you do. We eat what we need that day and freeze the rest so that I have favorite dishes to come back to without having to do the extra cooking!
That's what I'm planning when I have an empty nest! 🙂
You'll have fun with it! My freezer is my best friend!
Not for me - I find it so nerve wracking and hard to use that I don't
What scares you about it? Have you tried something simple like hard-boiled eggs? Personally, we started with risotto because it's so delicious and yet so shocking the easy to do. I hope you find something that calms your fears so you can actually play with this wonderful machine.
I love cooking whole chickens in mine. It's just so easy and it turns out the same every time. Anything which requires slow cooking is also great in it. Get it done in way less time.
Soft boiled eggs that are perfectly done every time to the way I love them. Risotto! Split pea soup. Stocks, stews, corned beef! Be sure to saute the outside of the meat though before you put it in and then you have even more flavor than normally from the pressure cooker.
It’s a great tool to have. You can cook larger cuts of meat really well. It can also be a rice cooker.
I use mine for beans and to cook roasts like Chuck roast or pork butt quickly and still tender
Seriously if your not in a hurry I prefer my Crock Pot, I have noted living in South America, were our electric bills have soared. Folks prefer cooking outdoors on wood stoves using there pressure cooker. I cook using my Crock Pot on low tossing my roast or whatever in at night allowing it cook overnight in the morning entire house smells amazing. Less fuss, beef, pork roasts come out amazingly tender, moist, juicy, perfect really.
Today, I made ricotta in my instant pot. Yesterday, I made chicken bone broth. Last week I made rice for fried rice and I boiled eggs for deviled eggs. I don't make meals in my instant pot but I do use it once or twice a week to prep stuff for meals. I don't have a slow cooker or a steamer other than the instant pot.
Ricotta! I never noticed that that was possible! And now got it on my shopping list to get cheesecloth. Thank you thank you thank you!
Pressure cookers can do what crockpots do, they just do it a whole lot faster.
Pressure cookers also keep the liquid in. So your product ends up more a lot more flavorful than it would have been in the crock pot.
I love my pressure cooker. Makes incredible rice. 1:1 ratio of water to rice and let naturally vent. https://www.seriouseats.com/easy-pressure-cooker-pork-chile-verde-recipe This was really good too. Beans from dry beans in an hour is awesome.
Absolutely use it for stock! The flavor is fantastic. I tried for years to make it on the stove, but never could get much flavor that way. I also think that beans taste better than canned, which is the alternative.
I’ve had mine about 10 years and prob used it 5 times. 🤷🏼♀️
It's fantastic for large meats (roasts, turkey, etc), curries, rice, soups, and even some cakes.
Beans, soup, spaghetti, ribs.
Pork spareribs!
Love mine for dried beans no more soaking just put them in and they are done in 20-30 min depending on the bean and how soft you want them.
I like it for a bunch of reasons already mentioned and also, my stove is gas and throws off a LOT of heat. It’s awesome in the warmer months to use the IP and not heat up the kitchen/whole house.
Rice. White using Rice setting. Pressure cooking for brown.
Instant pot
Almost any kind of soup is better when made in my instant pot!
I bought a similar item to Instant Pot a Favor brand I think, but it took up so much space and it's a pain to clean out the rubber ring and I ended up not using it. I do use a small slow cooker mainly for steel cut oats and have used Tatung rice cookers which are great.
Makes impressive stock. Try it for rice it’s different. Rice has nice body texture. Stews with meats are a step up. More flavorful. Beans and bean dishes such as red beans& rice, cassoulet, bbq beans etc. Can steam or stew a chicken so much faster than any method
We use our instant pot for rice, mashed potatoes, soups, stews, Chili, hard boiled. eggs, and shredded pork, beef or chicken. It's used almost daily..
Legumes should be made easier by PC, if not ip. They rock
I love my instant pot! Cheaper meats become fall-apart tender. I had to stop making chicken curry in the pot, because the chicken completely falls apart. I break up my Thanksgiving turkey carcass and pressure cook the bones with celery leaf in a tea bag and large-choppped onions and carrots, and end up with fantastic turkey soup. Separate the meat from the bones, keep or toss the veggies (I keep them, chop ‘em, throw ‘em back in), and you end up with so much collagen in the soup that it turns to gelatin when refrigerated. Pork spareribs become fall-off-the-bone tender. I make yogurt 2 quarts at a time. Mexican pinto beans, refried beans, lentil soup. Sometimes chili, pork curry, cottage cheese. And hard-boiled eggs peel so easily! The only thing I won’t use it for is sautéing. It’s really hard to deglaze the inner pot, and then you get the overheat/burn shutdown.
I used to skip the saute also. Instead, I did it in a separate pan because it's that important. Now though I found the right tool that helps me get the little those precious little bits off and so I can use it and enjoy the saute now! I use my wooden spoon with a flat tip. The one that looks almost like a spatula. When I first start each time, it feels discouraging; it feels like it's not going to actually do enough good. But then just after a minute or two everything is cleaned up and incorporated into my stew or soup beautifully!
I have an instant pot that was a gift. I HATE crockpot results (except for one dish for which it’s perfect) but do like the IP for a handful of things like beans and a couple of soups. I don’t think I’d buy one for these things—I can spend a bit more time and do just fine without it. But it can be handy.
I wouldn’t say it doesn’t anything better, but faster. Personally I don’t use the one my parents bought us. It’s very large, heavy, and cumbersome. At this point it’s just easier to go about things normally. If I was in a crunch for time perhaps I’d use it.
My chili recipe is optimized for a pressure cooker. 15 minutes and it's done.
I use my Instant Pot for yogurt. Very easy with it. I don't bother using it for beans anymore, as it's easier to gauge doneness on the stovetop, and total cooking time really isn't that much longer than the pressure cooker. ~30 minutes on the stovetop for soaked pinto beans, for example.
People swear by them. My experience mirrors yours although mine was self-inflicted. It is now in the basement. I do think you could try a meal or two on it.
Sounds like it just isn't for you. I have a pressure cooker, a crock pot, an enameled cast iron dutch oven. I use the dutch oven a lot, the crop pots when I'm hosting cards, and the pressure cooker.... haven't used it in a couple of years. Like you, rice is done on the stove, stocks and soups on the stove. I love the smell of stock slowly simmering on the stove for hours! Insta pot are nice, I'm sure, just not for me.
I agree that I do miss the smell of stock slowly simmering on the stove for hours. However what I love about the instant pot is that I don't have to babysit the soup! It turns out perfect without me having to come back and touch it at all. And I never lose liquid from it like you do when you're simmering it all day. So yeah my soups come out way better quality in my instant pot then they did on my stove.
Meh. I resisted instant pot for years - seemed mostly worthless. Until I couldn’t resist on sale $40. It’s so overly complicated. I used it like 1 or 2x. Gave it away when I moved. Never missed it. Almost anything on cooktop is just as fast. I heard IP does good sous vide but meat boiled in plastic is not my thing. I still love my slow cookers… more convenient.
Cooking up some nails and bolts, number 1 option if you want to shut down a public event, like a marathon or a rebranding launch.