Is An Instant Pot Worth It

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The Instant Pot Doesnt Do It All

Is the Instant Pot Worth It? The Kitchen Gadget Test Show

Sure, the Instant Pot can cook your foodup to a point. For many dishes, the Instant Pot only gets you mostly done, meaning youll have to warm up the oven anyway to finish the job.

Depending on the size of your oven, that may also require dirtying extra dishes, as the Instant Pot liner will be too tall to slip under the broiler, and youll have to move the food to another oven-safe container for the final step of cooking.

Things You Need To Know About Instant Pot And Why You Might Not Want To Buy It

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Are you considering buying an Instant Pot but not sure if you need another appliance and if pressure cooking is for you? Here are 7 Things You Need To Know About Instant Pot and why you might even not want to buy it. Also a few points on why I love my Instant Pot.

This post contains amazon affiliate links which means that you if you buy something after following one of the amazon links in this post, I will receive a small commission.

I am part of about 300 hundred Instant Pot Facebook group and I see posts a few times a day asking about how to use Instant Pot or talking about the actual time of cooking in an electric pressure cooker or complaining about the steam that they didnt expect. I was the same. I expected a miracle product and at first was disappointed by what I got.

It took time for me to like my Instant Pot and even more time to love using it. I hope this article will help people considering buying an Instant Pot. Here you will find 7 Things You Need To Know About Instant Pot and why you might even not want to buy it.

Can An Instant Pot Replace My Crock

Funny story. I have both the Instant Pot and a Crock-Pot. I just cant seem to get rid of my Crock-Pot.

However, Instant Pot does have a slow cooker function.

And according to Consumer Reports, the Instant Pot does a fine job of slow cooking. The same article says that it may take a little longer in the Instant Pot, but that is the nature of slow cooking. Its slow.

One of the best things about slow cooking is walking into a house that smells delicious in the afternoon. If you dont care about this, youd probably prefer to use the Instant Pot to slow cook. The locking lid prevents any smells from permeating your house.

If you want to use your Instant Pot for slow cooking, and really like that food smell, you can purchase the glass lid. Just use it instead of the locking lid.

Additionally, shape matters.

If you have an oval Crock-Pot, you may not want to use the Instant Pot as a slow cooker. It doesnt come in an oval shape, so you wont have as much room for cooking large pieces of meat.

The bottom line is that it comes down to personal preference. If you are running out of storage space, you can certainly replace your Crock-Pot with your Instant Pot.

I prefer to keep mine.

This Instant Pot Turkey Breast recipe is perfect for smaller gatherings and takes the pressure off of having to spend an entire day in the kitchen.

Erin

Read Also: Can You Use Oven Bags In A Crock Pot

It Cuts Down On Dirty Dishes

Im lazy, which means I loathe creating extra work for myself. One of the things I love best about my Instant Pot is that I can use the saute function to braise my meat in the same pot I use to pressure cook or slow cook my food. When I made a roast in my old Crock Pot I had to dirty up a pan to brown it on the stovetop first. Now, I can braise it in the Instant Pot before I turn on the pressure cooker. That means less mess in the kitchen and less dishes to wash when Im through cooking.

And best yet, I can throw the pot in the dishwasher after I use it. With my old slow cooker, the pot was built into the unit, which made cleaning more difficult.

The Instant Pot Is Easy To Use

Is A Instant Pot Worth It?

I know people who get an Instant Pot and then they just leave it sitting in the box. Theyre intimidated by all the buttons. But really, its so easy to use!

Of course, you have some complicated recipes out there where you have to saute things, then pressure cook, then natural release for a bit, then manual release, then add more ingredients, pressure cook

Well, you get the picture.

Im not really into doing all of that. If Im doing all of that, its getting cooked on the damn stove!

For the most part, you add your ingredients , dump your ingredients in and then set your timer for how long you want your stuff to cook. You can walk away and do other stuff while your Instant Pot does the hard work.

Also Check: How To Steam Brussel Sprouts In Instant Pot

Five Recipes That Will Make You Love Your Instant Pot

  • Hard Boiled Eggs I have to put this here because I am forever looking up how to make the perfect hard boiled egg. This is it. You will never fix a hard boiled egg any other way.
  • Instant Pot Turkey Breast plus cream-less cream gravy. I love that you can take frozen turkey breasts and put them straight into the IP. This is the recipe I started with because I didnt believe you can put anything frozen in anything other than a crockpot.
  • Turkey Meatball Stroganoff is a huge hit around here, especially with the kids. I love this one because it ends up being a full meal in about 40 minutes. Its comfort food and I can make it on those busy weeknights.
  • Chicken and Rice Soup is a big hit around here. I make this one when were just not feeling 100% or when its cold outside. I can also make this in less than 30 minutes with a handful of ingredients that are usually in the fridge so its really no fuss.
  • Pork Carnitas is one that we make often for taco nights. The pressure cooker does amazing things to big chunks of meat in a short period of time and SkinnyTaste has created the perfect recipe for this one.
  • Something to consider If youre getting an Instant Pot for someone as a gift, you should get them a cookbook to go along with it. There are so many affordable . I know if I would have had one with my IP, I might have used it a lot sooner. I also like Becca Ludlum on Pinterest. She has some fabulous recipes to get you started too.

    How To Choose The Right Instant Pot For You

    If youre on a budget, go for the Lux model. If you want to be able to make yogurt, but dont need the fancy settings, consider the Duo.

    When choosing one of the higher-end models, you should base your decision on what feature you most want to be able to use. The smart app is a great reason to choose the Smart. The center dial is a great reason to buy a model with that feature.

    If you want to use it as a sous vide machine, buy the Max. If you want to use it as a canning system, also buy the Max. To be perfectly honest, its hard to go wrong no matter what model of instant pot you choose.

    Ive had a Duo Plus for a long time and I love it. There could be additional features, but they arent necessary and dont stop me from cooking whatever I want.

    Read Also: Food Burn Instapot

    Whats Good In An Instant Pot

    Its more a case of what is not good in the instant pot, just because the instant pot rocks a lot of different foods.

    My favourite food types for the instant pot include:

    Best of all, you will find yourself do lots of new things, that you never occurred to do, until you get into the instant pot.

    And a big THANK YOU to the instant pot brand for creating the best electric pressure cooker I have ever tried.

    Sage The Fast Slow Pro 6l 125

    Is The Instant Pot Worth It? | Gear Heads

    This Sage pressure cooker is one of the priciest options around, but you do get more features for your money. It has more pressure levels, including options for cooking delicate foods, and the pre-set functions have more variety, including programmes for cooking stock and meat on the bone.

    It also releases the pressure automatically when cooking is complete, something that many others dont do, so if you want a truly hands-off experience it could be a good option.

    Don’t Miss: Slow Cook Feature On Instant Pot

    Why I Waited So Long To Buy The Instant Pot

    I gave it quite a good thought before I bought kitchen equipment. The very first reason is that I already have so many appliances in my kitchen and the Instant Pot is not very small. My kitchen is packed as it is, so I wanted to know whether it was worth its place in the kitchen.

    My second doubt was about how useful an Instant Pot is for a plant-based foodie like me. I read that the Instant Pot is a huge time saver if you are cooking up meat, but I never cook meat so whats in it for us plant-based foodies?

    My last doubt was that it would take away all the fun and experimenting in the kitchen. Close the lid, lock it and forget it. How can I even consider that to be cooking? Where is the tasting in between? What about the occasional stir or the adjusting of the taste?

    Using The Instant Pot As A Pressure Cooker

    This is the primary function of the Instant Pot and definitely the main thing that Ive used mine for so far. Ive perfected my recipe for Instant Pot Shredded Chicken which is genuinely worth buying the Instant Pot for on its own.

    I batch cook this on a regular basis and freeze it in portions which I then use for just about everything pasta dishes, pizza toppings, quesadillas, nachos, quiche, fajitas, pie fillings, salads, soups, egg fried rice and so so much more. I also do a similar thing with shredded gammon which is lovely too but the chicken is definitely more popular.

    It takes so little time to do that if I pop to the supermarket on a night and see some reduced chicken or a cheap gammon joint then I know I can use it to make these and have something ready to pop in the freezer in no time at all the batch of shredded chicken that I made here was made with some ridiculously reduced price chicken that I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time for.

    Ive also used the pressure cook function to make amazing super easy risotto which tastes even nicer than the risotto you literally slave over a hot stove to make.

    Ive used it to make a version of my sausage, bean and chorizo stew and things like beef stew and chicken casserole have all worked out fab too. It makes the tenderest beef stew Ive ever had so Im a huge fan of stews and casseroles made in it.

    Recommended Reading: Pressure Cooker Ground Turkey Recipes

    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!

    Is Instant Pot Good For Things Other Than Pressure Cooking

    Instant Pot

    Probably the thing that makes people more likely to find Instant Pot worth buying than anything else though is that it really is very good at cooking things in a variety of ways without sacrificing the build quality. It really does brown food nicely for an electric cooker. It can make yogurt well. I can serve as a very well made slow cooker or rice cooker.

    Regardless what type of cooking job you throw at it it really does great at replacing the dedicated single cooking type device in the kitchen. For this alone I think it’s worth buying. Unless you really think you’ll need to cook lots of things at the same time you can easily choose to buy one Instant Pot and skip over all the other devices it is supposed to replace.

    Yes, it costs more than many of the electric alternatives but it is built to last and it costs way less than some of the premium brands like Breville.

    Read Also: Accidentally Poured Water Into Instant Pot

    The Instant Pot Is Quiet

    The Instant Pot is very, very quiet. Theres just a gentle hissing when its coming to pressure. It makes no noise while its cooking. It beeps when its done. But its not even an annoying beep like the microwave I just got.

    Its super duper quiet.

    Except

    When you manually release the pressure, itll hiss like crazy.

    My cats absolutely hate it!

    Are Pressure Cookers Safe

    Yes, electric pressure cookers like the Instant Pot are generally safe and easy to use. The Instant Pot has so many safety mechanisms built in that its hard to make a catastrophic mistake. As we found in our research and reporting in 2019, the lid has two safety catches: a float valve with a pin mechanism and a lock . If for some reason the steam-release valve doesnt do its job, the appliance has another sensor, which shuts off the heating element if excess pressure builds inside the pot. As an added safety measure, starting in 2021 all Instant Pot lids have an easy-to-use steam-release switch, so you can release pressure after cooking without getting too close to the valve.

    In general, if you follow the safety instructions, you should be good. But, as with any method of cooking, using an Instant Pot isnt entirely risk free, and accidents can happen. In 2021, a woman filed a lawsuit against Instant Pot and Target because she opened the cooker, thinking it was depressurized, and the hot contents spewed out and burned her toddler. Instant Pot told us: While we are unable to comment on ongoing litigation, please understand that the Company takes consumer complaints and products claims seriously.

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    Its Helpful When Sharing A Kitchen With Roommates

    It’s easy to cook a soup in another room while my roommates are in the kitchen thanks to the Instant Pot.

    As a single person who cannot afford to live alone, I live with two other lovely ladieswhich also means I have to share a cramped kitchen. This can cause some chaos when multiple people want to use several burners or the oven. More often than not, someone is left waiting to cook their dinner and ends up very hangry.

    The Size Of The Instant Pot Matters

    Is It Worth It: Instant Pot | Yummy PH

    For safety reasons , the Instant Pot should be filled no more than 2/3 full. That means if you buy the6 quart Instant Pot , you can only safely put 3 1/2 quarts of food inside. If you buy the8 quart Instant Pot, you can put 6 quarts of food inside.

    This may not be a big deal, but I know that one batch of chicken stock in my 6-quart slow cooker gives me a full gallon worth of stock. I would have to make multiple batches of stock in a 6-quart size Instant Pot to get the same yield.

    Recommended Reading: Can You Use Aluminum Foil In Instant Pot

    So What Are Some Things That I Like About My Instant Pot

    • I feel like I have to start this list with humble eggs. Eggs boiled in Instant Pot are some of the easiest to peel. Heres one of the ways to make Hard-Boiled Eggs in Instant Pot.
    • Also, I think that this totally deserves a sub-point. If you like quail eggs then you know that they are notoriously difficult to peel. Making them in my Instant Pot helped a lot with peeling. It wasnt as easy as with regular chicken eggs but so much better than if they were conventionally boiled.
  • What made me a convert? I started proofing my dough in the Instant Pot! I use a Yogurt function of the Instant Pot to let the dough rise and make my Instant Pot No Knead Dinner Rolls!
  • If it seems like some recipes cooked in Instant Pot arent actually faster than if they were cooked on the stove or in the oven, then why use Instant Pot? It actually is very convenient. For example, my Instant Pot Meatballs and Mashed Potatoes are cooked in one pot at the same time. No need to bake the meatballs or pan-fry the meatballs. So easy, so convenient, and even healthier than a conventional method of cooking. And this is why Instant Pot has a big and loyal following its easy, its convenient, even if its not instant. Just put all the ingredients in and forget about them no need to babysit the food!
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