Instant Pot Cooking?

[walkinwood]

I had a stove top pressure cooker for years, but now mostly use the instant pot. I can set the timer & forget about it. Right now, it is cooking lentils for dinner tonight. I think the best use is for stews & soups. Anything that you would simmer, boil or braise on a stove top - it will do faster & more conveniently.

 

[More Cowbell]

I never dared use a pressure cooker before the instant pot so it opened up a whole new world for me. I happily got rid of my crock pot because I couldn’t brown meat in it.

DM had a couple pressure cooker mishaps on the gas stove, so I never did any conventional pressure cooking. The Instant Pot opened up new culinary vistas for me.

 

[More Cowbell]

The Instant Pot has permanent residence on our kitchen counter. DH used to slow cook rolled oats every morning, but is now an IP convert and sets up steel cut oats cooked pot-in-pot every night so it’s ready in the morning. He doesn’t use the IP otherwise. In fact, he prefers to saute mirepoix or brown meats on the stove. But I appreciate that IP can save time through batch cooking, and also keeps the kitchen cooler than stovetop cooking during heat waves.

Frequent IP favorites:

• Chicken broth made with rotisserie chicken bones and skin
• Lentil soup
• Hard boiled eggs
• Squash
• Beets
• Applesauce
• Flan (seasonal); however I want to try making it sous vide next time, supposed to come out ultra smooth

I’ve also made ribs and cheesecakes, but DH doesn’t like ribs, and cheesecake came out great but not really cheesecake fans. Used to make egg bites a lot before I retired.

Intrigued by IP greek-style yogurt, maybe someday!

 

[FLSUnFIRE]

I forgot to mention in my previous response: I've used mine for Sous Vide a few times. There is no pump circulating but it worked great and I checked the temp variation within the water and the food (at the end) and it was very consistent. One thing with IP is there are many models and not all support all modes so think about how you may use yours before choosing the model.

While most cooking functions can be accomplished in traditional cookware, the controls on the IP make it much more convenient and allow you to do other things while your meal is cooking without the need to monitor during the process.

Also note, the IP pressure cooks at a slightly lower pressure so if you do pressure canning you will still need a proper pressure cooker to ensure food safety.

 

[old medic]

I don't own an Instant Pot brand but have a couple of pressure cookers.

We have 2 old style pressure cooker/canners... One was my great grandmothers.

 

[MarieIG]

We use over instapot a lot. Currently, it is cooking the pups organic chicken breasts. She typically does not like the type of beep / squealing noise the pot makes when the food is done - but she will tolerate it coming from the instapot.

We use it for boiled eggs, steamed vegetables, sauces (adding in the saute option as well), stews, brown rice, etc. DH even uses it for pasta.

I had heard a podcast from one of the cardiologists to whom I listen, and he mentioned that cooking with wet heat causes less AGEs (advanced glycation end products) than dry heat or frying. So of course I started steaming the pup's grass fed beef in the instapot as well.

 

[Montecfo]

I made some chicken with rice recently for my wife who was craving it. Fantastic!

Favorite uses are for lentil or split pea soup.

But I like hearing others' favorites so I can expand my horizons.

 

[aja8888]

For my household of one now (excluding the young dog), I have invested in a Ninja Foodi AG-301 (5 - 1 cooker), to minimize work or eating out, which I frequently do. I'll be using this mostly for grilling. (no thread hijack intended)

 

[OldShooter]

But I like hearing others' favorites so I can expand my horizons.

Well, there is a Facebook group with 3.5M members and a "Recipes Only" group of like 1.5M.

 

[Lorenzo]

I have been following this thread and becoming increasingly curious about this gadget, as the descriptions of making chicken stock, etc., sounds like what we did with an electric pressure cooker. So I did some Googling. I get the impression that electric pressure cookers as such don't really exist anymore, as they have morphed into the "multi-cooker," such as the Instant Pot brand, by the addition of controls and programmability for added functions such as sauteeing. I still don't think I need one if I already have a pressure cooker and a rice cooker and kind of enjoy the hands-on approach of standing over a pot on the stove, but for someone in the market for a pressure cooker it seems the multi-cooker is a useful improvement.

 

[audreyh1]

FWIW over half of my instant pot favorites came from dadcooksdinner.com Pressure cooker Archives. The Pork Chile Verde was the first I tried and became a favorite of my relatives.

 

[DayDreaming]

I made some chicken with rice recently for my wife who was craving it. Fantastic!

Favorite uses are for lentil or split pea soup.

But I like hearing others' favorites so I can expand my horizons.

I did something like that recently too. I made white rice as per Instant Pot instructions, but I also put some frozen chicken tenders on top of the rice to cook at the same time. Even though the cooking times were different for rice and chicken, it came out perfect. I think I set the time that was needed for the chicken, since it was a bit longer, and I added just a bit more liquid to the rice.

 

[folivier]

I bought an IP for use at our cabin, being at 9400' elevation cooking here takes longer, much longer. Beans, meat etc. can take twice or longer to cook. The IP cuts the time down dramatically. That said I still like to cook "old style." With winter coming the wood stove will be running all day now and I'll often have a pot of something on top simmering.

 

[aimee750]

Love the IP for cooking beans, whole frozen chicken and roasts, making stock and risotto. If you love risotto but hate standing at the stove stirring for 30 mins, use the IP, it comes out wonderful!

 

[razztazz]

I might be the last person in the US to buy an Instant Pot.
Do you have one? do you enjoy using it? What is your favorite use for it?
Thank you.

If you buy one in the near future you could be the second to last person to buy one, but not the last person.

 

[GLM]

Cooking dry beans. Occasional sous vide for steaks. I never could get steak right before. Soups. Yogurt.
Mine also goes out on the back deck in the summer. As well as the crock pot and bread maker......

 

[cranberryjoe]

We use ours daily for oatmeal, and frequently for soups, stews, rice, hard-boiled eggs. It also does very well with various meats (chicken breasts and thighs, ribs that fall off the bone) although we generally cook meats on the grill.

 

[Pellice]

I probably use mine weekly. I just used it tonight for Senate Bean Soup (election day theme). Beans came out great! It is so useful for grains and beans. It's useful for pre-cooking some items that will be combined with other things for casseroles and such. I use it for rice.

I enjoy cooking, but my least favorite kitchen job is cleaning the stovetop. The IP really helps with cleanup - into the dishwasher it goes!

 

[Rambler]

I use it to cook large batches of beans (which I then measure out & freeze). It lets me control sodium and consistency, particularly with "refried" pinto beans. I also use it whenever we cook rice. It's useful, but I don't keep it on the counter because it takes up too much space and we don't use it often enough to take up counter space.

This is exactly what I use it for. I had kidney cancer, and thus a kidney removed a few weeks back. Thus, I’m trying to do everything I can to protect the remaining kidney.

 

[Agapostemon]

I use ours twice a day, to cook my oatmeal and to reheat leftovers for lunch. (We don't have a microwave.) We also use it to make hard-cooked eggs, and broth from scratch. It's very good for cooking brisket and tendon.
When we first got it, we made some stews and beans in it, but have found that the liquid required makes the results too soupy. Fortunately we have time to cook such things on the stove top.

 

[SimplySuzie]

We received ours as a Christmas gift in 2016 and we’ve used it multiple times a week since we unboxed it! I want a 2nd one!! We use it make soups & stews, frozen meats, rice, steel cut oats, homemade yogurt, etc. Making pasta in it cuts so much stove time!

I will add that I thought I’d get rid of my crockpot but I find that cooking certain meats turn out better in the slow cooker vs. instant pot.

 

[MrsHaloFIRE]

I had one in the cabinet. Decided I needed to fail with it 3 times before I could toss it. Excellent chuck roast with carrots celery and onion. Excellent cube steak I dredge then brown on saute and add a mushroom gravy. I don't think it's going anywhere. Can't get a roast that good from my crockpot or oven

 

[I am He]

Love ours. Meat is easy to shred in an hour or so. We use just a splash of water as there is so much juice in the meat you don't need any more. Also use for briskets and corned beef to render quicker.

The wife finds it very easy to cook dried beans and rice vs the stovetop (although I'd rather do the rice up top so you can drain that first water of arsenic).

 

[Wishing]

Love mine - I have the smaller one and the big one. I use for rice (brown), steel cut oats, steamed spuds, etc. Couldn’t live without it.

 

[spncity]

Only the Instant Pot "Max" model has a programmable release (natural, intermittent, or fast). Really nice! (Makes the release hands-free).

One tip - make sure the release choice is the last thing you program prior to hitting "start" -- or it reverts back to default (natural or long) release.

Used for chili, soups, stews, cooking dry beans (soaked or unsoaked). I have a couple of sizes. I've heard you can cook rice in it and I need to research settings for brown rice.