How Is Instant Pot Different From Crock Pot

But First What Is An Instant Pot

Instant Pot is actually the brand name for an electric multicooker, but its most well-known for being an electric pressure cooker. It produces steam, which is trapped inside the pot to build pressure and cook your food extremely quickly. While manual pressure cookers are old hat, the Instant Pot has only been around since 2010. The most basic model has six functions: pressure cooker, slow cooker, rice cooker, sauté pan, steamer and food warmer . Instant Pots are good for saving time on foods that would otherwise take ages to cook, like grains or tough cuts of meat.

Instant Pot Vs Crock Pot Roast

Either way you cook it, Roast is an easy, comforting dinner that can be made with very little hands-on cook time.

Traditionally, I make roast in the slow cooker so it can cook low and slow for hours and hours and its suuuper soft.

This experiment was born after seeing thousands of posts over the years, touting the wonders of using the Instant Pot to make a superior pot roast. Ive done roast in the Instant Pot no less than 6 times, all with mediocre results.

I had to get to the bottom of this.

Is Pressure Cooking Energy

Pressure cooking has long been an energy-efficient choice. Todays modern pressure cookers, like the Instant Pot, take energy-saving cooking to the next level. When comparing appliances the Instant Pot vs. the Crock-Pot slow cooker youll find that the pressure cooker beats even the best energy-efficient slow cooker in terms of using less power, less water and less heat radiating out into your home.

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Tips For Making This Instant Pot Roast :

• Purchase a chuck roast with lots of good marbling. That means to get something that has a lot of thin, white, fat striations running throughout the meat. This is the part that cooks down and melts away, creating a tender roast.
• Searing the meat adds exponential flavor and depth. If you dont have time to sear, omit the flour from the recipe and season just with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
• Use these slow cooker liners to make cleanup a breeze- YOU HAVE TO!
• If you have your own favorite recipe that includes a packet of italian seasoning, ranch seasoning, or dried onion soup mix, youre more than welcome to add those directly to this recipe. In that case, omit the soy sauce to control the sodium.
• If you like an extra herby roast, add 1/2-1 teaspoon basil, 1/2-1 teaspoon oregano, and 1/2-1 teaspoon parsley to your roast before cooking. As you can tell, this recipe is very flexible!
• If youre short on time, you can cut the meat into 2-3 inch pieces and cook for 40-50 minutes.
• Vegetables can be added to the beginning or middle of this recipe for both Crock Pot and Instant Pot versions. Depending on how much you like your vegetables to fall apart, add them either at the beginning of the cook time or halfway through in the Crock Pot.
• In the Instant Pot, do a quick release at the end of the cook time and add your vegetables. Cook the entire pot for an additional 10 minutes with a natural pressure release.

What’s The Difference Between An Instant Pot A Pressure Cooker And A Slow Cooker

Even though an Instant Pot can function as a pressure cooker, they’re different. To help clear the confusion, our Kitchen Appliance Lab experts at the Good Housekeeping Institute broke down the differences between these terms:

• Pressure cookers offer an easy way to get food on the table fast. Whether it’s an electric pressure cookers or stovetop pressure cooker, a pressure cooker drastically reduces cook time by raising the boiling point of water and trapping the steam. Once your food is done cooking, you can either release the pressure manually with the knob or wait for the steam to naturally release.
• Slow cookers are great for people who want to come home from work to a hot dinner waiting for them. They’re called “set it and forget it” appliances for a reason: Just throw ingredients in the slow cooker in the morning, and it’ll cook on low heat throughout the day. You can often set them to cook for a certain number of hours and then have it switch to a keep warm setting.
• Crock-Pot is a popular slow cooker brand. People often use its name interchangeably with “slow-cooker,” but the brand also makes multi-cookers.
• Instant Pot is themost popular multi-cooker brand, and basically all of the above!

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Why You Shouldn’t Buy A Slow Cooker

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People love their slow cookers. I mean, they love them. Month after month, they continue to be one of the top-selling kitchen appliances, and the number of websites and books dedicated to recipes for them is staggering. And with good reason. At least on the surface, slow cookers offer a level of convenience that no other cooking method can match: Just dump in your ingredients in the morning, switch it on, and come home to a hot meal ready and waiting for you.

But at what cost? What exactly are you sacrificing by committing to that path of least resistance, and is it actually that much more convenient than the alternatives?

I’m going to argue that in almost all situations in which you’d use a slow cooker, you are better off choosing one of two other options: a Dutch oven placed on a rack in a 225°F oven, or a pressure cooker. I know it’s a bold statement, but hear me out before you dismiss the idea.

To start, let’s talk about food quality.

They Cook Food Differently

The Instant Pot, on the other hand, is an electric pressure cooker, which means it cooks foods faster by controlling the pressure within the pot. In fact, according to their website, it can speed up cooking by two to six times, while using 70 percent less energy.

If you’re cooking a meat or soup recipe in the Crock-Pot and it calls for an 8-hour cook time on low, then the same recipe will only cook for 25 to 30 minutes in the Instant Pot, according to The Spruce Eats.

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The Quantity Of Liquid

We all know that IP needs some type of liquid to get to pressure. This is how it works and there is no way around this. The liquid is used to power up the pot and delivers amazingly with regular and steamed recipes.;

However, when you want something with a thick texture cooked slowly you need a traditional slow cooker. With a Crock Pot, even if the dish starts with more liquid, it will evaporate during cooking.

With an;electric pressure cooker like the Instant Pot , this isnt possible because the lid is tightly sealed. Sure, the steam release valve is open, so some steam is released, but the result just isnt the same.

I made a few recipes using the slow cooker function in my Instant Pot. Some were great and some were tasty but a little watery.

Your first try

If you are cooking a recipe for the first time, use the same amount of water \ liquid as in the original slow cooker recipe. It may work and it would be tasty anyway.

Your second try

If the final dish on the first try was;too watery,;you have 2 options:

1. Use less liquid than in the original recipe.2. Use another lid that isnt as tight.

Things To Keep In Mind

I think food tastes better when its slow cooked in an actual slow cooker rather than an Instant Pot. There are a few other factors that play into why:

• Slow cooker pots are usually made of ceramic or porcelain. Instant Pot pots are stainless steel.
• Slow cookers cook from all sides and the bottom. Instant Pot heats from the bottom only.

Instant Pot

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Is An Instant Pot A Pressure Cooker

Instant Pots are a modern-day version of the old pressure cooker.

Are all instant pots pressure cookers? When is an instant pot not a pressure cooker? An instant pot is a slow cooker, a rice cooker, a soup maker, a yoghurt maker, and more but its still a pressure cooker. When deciding between an Instant Pot and a pressure cooker, consider whether you want an all-in-one cooking appliance or a simple go-to for fast tender and juicy meals.

Does Instant Pot Make Any Other Products

Well, funny you ask: The brand launched an air fryer , and just like the company’s original product, this one’s got multiple functions: air fry, roast, broil, bake, reheat, and dehydrate preset smart programswith an option to rotate for rotisserie-style cooking. All that to say, you can basically cook your food any way you want, using less oil, therefore resulting in a healthier dish.

But for folks who don’t want to massive machines taking up their pantry or counter top space, Instant Pot also launched the Instant Pot 8-quart Duo Crisp Combo Pressure Cooker Air Fryer. It’s both productsa pressure cooker and an air fryer, as the name alludes toin one. They’re not cheap , but the reviews are wonderful.

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What Are The Best Things To Cook In An Instant Pot

The options are endless! You can use an Instant Pot to make rice, cook hard-boiled eggs, and more. Plus, they’re great for large families or anyone who meal preps. I’m not even a good cook, but I love making a huge batch of rice in it, then using the same pot to sauté veggies and simmer with my favorite tikka masala sauce. Whenever I make that meal, my coworkers often say that my lunch smells great and I always tell them how easy it was to make in my Instant Pot!

Pro tip: Your Instant Pot takes time to come to pressure first before the actual cooking process begins. Expect meals with less liquid to come to pressure and start cooking much quicker than recipes that are mostly liquid , which can take a while to come to pressure first.

You may have thought making pasta was already easy, but wait until you realize how simple it is to make in an Instant Pot. There’s no need to wait around for the water to boil, and you don’t even have to drain it after cooking the little bit of starchy water that’s left over helps the sauce stick to the pasta.

Our Kitchen Appliance experts love cooking soup, stock, and chili in their Instant Pots. If you’re a fan of steel-cut oats, then you know how long they take to make on the stove but in an Instant Pot, they only take eight minutes! If you’re cooking meat, be sure to cut large chunks into smaller pieces so it cooks faster.

Instant Pot Vs Pressure Cooker Functions

The Instant Pot has a more advanced and modern design that includes additional functionality and features than your traditional stovetop or electric version of the pressure cooker.

The Instant Pot is a multi-cooker. It does the work of several different kitchen appliances, such as an electric pressure cooker and a slow cooker.

Instant Pots are great for slow-cooking and even browning meat before adding it to stews and soups.

Pressure Cooker vs slow cooker: Pressure cookers dont incorporate digital controls. The adjustable features offered by Instant Pots allow you to cook your food just the way you like it. A pressure cooker is simple in design and operation, with one function only. I wrote how easy it is to know whether theyre working right or not.

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Is The Instant Pot Worth It

Besides the just-mentioned lead bit, people generally do consider their Instant Pots to be game-changers. If it doesn’t seem like your kind of thing, though, you’ve got options: though crock pots and pressure cookers might seem the same, they can yield entirely different results and might be more up your alley. Find some recipes utilizing those here.

Is An Instant Pot The Same As A Slow Cooker

What is the difference between a crockpot and Instant Pot? is the most popular question I get asked all the time. Mostly by people who already have a slow cooker and are wondering if they need to buy an Instant Pot. Dont worry, until late 2017 I was convinced I do not need an Instant Pot because I had 3 slow cookers. So, you are not alone.

Instant Pot and slow cooker are not the same appliances.

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Are Instant Pots And Pressure Cookers The Same Or Different

You might be wondering about the difference between an Instant Pot and a pressure cooker? Or what is an Instant Pot? Or, are these appliances the same thing? What you need to know is, yes, they are in a way the samebut, yes, theyre also heaps different. Here I cover what defines them and what sets them apart.

Why is this important? Its worth knowing this stuff to know whether to invest in an Instant Pot or not. Instant Pots are popping up everywhere. Theyre a relatively new cooking device compared to the good old pressure cooker, which also offers the convenience of fast home-cooked meals in a pot.

What this covers:

• How are Instant Pot and pressure cookers the same?
• How are they different?
• What is an Instant Pot?
• 5 essential differences between instant pots and pressure cookers
• How to use Instant Pot?
• FAQs

Should I Buy A Pressure Cooker

These appliances can help you smash out dinner in under an hour. Lamb shanks that would take seven hours in a slow cooker or 2.5 hours on a cooktop will be melting off the bone in just 45 minutes. They use a small amount of liquid to fill the pressure cooker with steam.

Time-strapped parent Jason swears by his pressure cooker.;

“I find pressure cookers give a slow-cooker result in a fraction of time,” he says. “Risotto in 20 minutes, beautiful soft beef brisket in an hour, instead of 4 or 8 in a slow cooker. It’s slow cooking, fast!

“I’m never organised enough to put something on in the morning and don’t like to run appliances all day, but with a pressure cooker you can cheat and fast-track dinner.”

The rundown

• Popular brands include: Philips, Breville, Kambrook, Tefal and Sunbeam.
• Price ranges from around $59 to more than $500.
• Good for: Last-minute dinners; time-poor cooks; impatient foodies; wannabe MasterChefs.
• Not suitable for: People who like to come home to dinner that’s already cooked; cooks who can’t stay in the kitchen while the pressure cooker does its thing; inexperienced home cooks.

The pros of pressure cookers

• You can cook a delicious meal in a fraction of the time of a slow cooker or using your cooktop.;
• You can turn out a slow cooker-style meal in under an hour.
• A pressure cooker won’t heat up the kitchen like using the oven.;
• They work well with inexpensive cuts of meat like stewing beef, shank and blade.;

The cons of pressure cookers

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How To Use The Instant Pot Slow Cook Setting

Instant Pot

Ready to whip up a delicious slow-cooked meal in your Instant Pot? The process is similar to using a traditional slow cooker, with a few minor adjustments.

1. Load the ingredients into the inner pot, then place it inside the Instant Pot housing.

2. Close the lid and put the steam release handle in the venting position.

3. Plug in your Instant Pot, and press the Slow Cook button.

4. Use the + and keys to set your desired cook time, anywhere from 30 minutes to 20 hours.

5. Choose your desired cooking mode using the Adjust button. The Instant Pot offers three slow cook settingsLess, Normal, and Morethat roughly correspond to Low, Medium, and High settings on a standard slow cooker.

6. The Instant Pot will begin cooking 10 seconds after you press the final button, and it will automatically switch to its Keep Warm setting when the timer runs out. It will stay on Keep Warm for up to 10 hours.

Thats all it takes! Just like with a regular slow cooker, your Instant Pot will maintain a low, steady temperature to cook your food over the course of several hours, so you can go about your daily business while your meal cooks itself.

Slow Cooker Vs Crock Pot

A Crock Pot is a type of slow cooker. If you want, its an improved version of a slow cooker.

Regular slow cooker have only one heating source in the bottom, while the Crock Pot have several heating elements around the pot.

Please note that in this article, when Im mentioning Crock Pot or slow cooker, Im talking about the classic slow cooker, and not the Crock Pot Programmable Pressure Cooker.

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Instant Pot Vs Slow Cooker

The Instant Pot also has one heat source at the bottom. However, the inner pot is too thin to retain heat in its walls for long. Also, the heat is generated by the steam thats trapped in the pot, which is fantastic for quick cooking, but not so great for slow cooking.;

The uneven heat distribution will have an effect on the final texture of the food and a slight impact on its taste. So professional chefs and foodies may know you cheated and used an Instant Pot instead of a traditional slow cooker.

But you and me, probably wont be able to understand the difference. So for us, Instant Pot is a great option for slow cooker recipes :]