Should I Buy An Instant Pot

And One Reason Not To

Im rather known for honest reviews, and I dont pull punches when it comes to sharing my opinion, whether positive or negative.

Ill tell you straight up that it drives me crazy when recipes seem to say that you could have dinner finished in 7 minutes, when it takes 15 additional minutes for the pot to heat up first.

Thats not even the reason, by the way thats just why the recipes some people write are sub-par.

I have two food techniques that people use the Instant Pot for a lot that I generally prefer using other cooking methods

You Can Saute Food In Your Instant Pot

The saute feature alone is what makes the Instant Pot superior to other pressure cookers and slow cookers. If a recipe calls browning and moving it to another appliance, you can do both in the Instant Pot, saving you time and clean up.

This means you can toast spices or caramelize onions using the saute option on the Instant Pot. Theres no need to pull out another pan. You can also use it at the end of cooking to thicken up sauces, which can be difficult to do in a slow cooker.

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.

Recommended Reading: What To Do If Your Instant Pot Says Burn

Slow Cookers Pressure Cookers And Dutch Ovens: How They Cook

A good traditional chicken stock is made by simmering chicken carcasses and aromatics in water on the stovetop for several hours. A couple of years ago, I ran a few quick tests to determine whether or not stock could successfully be made in a pressure cooker or a slow cooker. From my own experience, I was fairly certain that the pressure cooker would produce a superior stock, while the slow cooker would produce a thinner, less flavorful one, but I was surprised by the degree to which this was true. The difference between the stock made in a Dutch oven or pressure cooker and the stock made in a slow cooker was like night and day. This experiment was a good start, but I decided that to really get to the bottom of this, a lot more serious testing was in order.

Slow cookers, pressure cookers, and Dutch ovens are all used for moist-heat cooking techniquesbraising, simmering, and stewing. But there are fundamental differences in the way that they heat, which can affect the outcome. To test out exactly what these differences are and how they impact flavor, I made batches of my All-American Beef Stew, my Slow-Cooked Red Sauce, my Split Pea and Ham Soup, and Daniel’s Basic Chicken Stock, and compared the results directly, side by side.

When testing, I used five different tools: a Breville countertop electric pressure cooker; a Kuhn Rikon stovetop pressure cooker ; a Presto stovetop pressure cooker ; a Le Creuset Dutch oven; and an All-Clad slow cooker.

You Can Use The Instant Pot To Reheat Food For Real

I was kind of skeptical on how you could reheat food in the Instant Pot at first. I mean, if youre reheating stew or soup or something else thats okay to touch the cooking surface, I can see how it would work. But what if it was a casseroleor shredded chicken wouldnt that make a mess? Or ruin the leftovers?

Solution ;steamer insert pans. These pans fit in 5, 6 or 8 quart Instant Pot and allow you to put food inside while putting water or something else on the outside. The Instant Pot heats the water, and the water reheats your leftovers. Done!!

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Cook Multiple Types Of Foods

In addition to the multiple appliances the instant pot takes over, it also cooks multiple foods. You can cook meats, stews, soups, rice, and even saute vegetables in the instant pot. This means that you truly have a one pot meal that tastes like you cooked it in traditional ways. In most cases, you will not have to clean between adding ingredients either. This means you can start off with sautéing vegetables, add meat to brown, and then add the rice or pasta for final cooking. Everything has a setting so you dont even have to worry about standing over it and timing each step.

Take Advantage Of Pot

If you know someone who has an Instant Pot, you may have heard them mention pot-in-pot cooking. This is actually one of the coolest things you can do with the Instant Pot!

Pot-in-pot cooking is a technique that allows you to cook things inside an oven-safe dish placed on a steam rack inside the Instant Pot. This means you can:

• Cook multiple dishes at once, such as chili and rice
• Bake desserts such as cheesecake
• Reheat leftovers
• Cook dishes with little or no liquid, such as casseroles

Recommended Reading: How To Steam Broccoli In The Instant Pot

What Can You Cook In An Instant Pot

Hand-in-hand with functionality is the type of food you can cook with each appliance. Here are some delicious recipes you can make with an Instant Pot.

• Use the sauté function to make savory chicken alfredo
• Use the steam function to make moist banana cake
• Use the pressure cooker and sauté functions to make a hearty pot roast
• Use the pressure cooker and sauté functions to make vegetable stew
• Use the pressure cooker function to create a quick apple crisp
• Use the slow cooker function to make fudge brownies
• Use the yogurt function to make homemade yogurt
• Use the air fryer function to make crispy French fries
• Use the rice function to prepare garlic and herb rice

Bear in mind that not all Instant Pots have all the aforementioned functions. If you choose to buy an Instant Pot, make sure the model you select has the functions your favorite recipes require.

Some of our favorite Instant Pot products also act as air fryers. For example, the Instant Vortex 4-in-1 can air fry, reheat, roast and bake foods, and the price is not excessive. The Instant Vortex Pro 9-in-1 Air Fryer Oven is a more advanced machine. For a bit more money, it can also toast, broil, proof, dehydrate and act as a rotisserie.

The Best Deals On Pressure Cookers From This Guide

Instant Pot multicookers are some of our readers’ favorite products. These appliances can perform a myriad of different functions, make a wide variety of meals, and are surprisingly easy to use.;

Due to their popularity, these products go on sale frequently. The Instant Pot Duo, for instance, is usually $10 less than retail price for most of the year. The best deals and all-time lows crop up during Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Amazon Prime Day, with some of our picks seeing discounts of $40 or more.

But it can often be difficult to judge what’s a good price to pay. To make shopping a little easier, we’ve compiled all of the best deals on the Instant Pots we recommend.

Also Check: Broccoli In Instant Pot With Steamer Basket

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

Published:

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.

Pros And Cons Of An Instant Pot

Pros:

• Uses less energy than a slow cooker save on your electric bill!
• One of the awesome features is a delay start. Plus, there is one model you can control with Mobil devices Android 5.0 or later and iOS 9.0 or later.
• You can actually sauté in the pot. This is very convenient for those recipes that tell you to brown your meat before cooking.
• Saves time for a lot of foods like rice, beans and frozen chickens. No soaking beans, and you do not have to thaw a chicken before cooking it.
• No mushy overcooked food.

Cons:

• The name of the pot can be misleading. It is not instant. The major complaint I have found is that a recipe time does not include the time to come to pressure and the release pressure time. For some foods with the pressure time and release time added it is the same amount of time to cook the food if not a little longer.
• The inner seal may need to be replaced often. Complaints of it holding the taste of other foods and transferring that taste over, has been reported. People have solved the problem by replacing the seal.

Recommended Reading: How To Cook Frozen Ground Turkey In Instant Pot

Instant Pot Nova Plus

Sizes: 6 quart

Functions: These are basically the same as the Duo model.

• The Nova Plus was designed exclusively for Costco.
• The Nova Plus has an LCD display and four status indicators: Heat, Pressure Cook, Keep Warm On/Off, Sound On/Off. The Heat icon shows that the Instant Pot is heating up and The Pressure Cook icon shows that pressure cooking has been selected, for example.
• The Nova Plus has the same LCD display as the Duo Plus but the same body and buttons as the Duo model. Basically, its the Duo but with a nicer display.

The Instant Pot: Heres Why Cooks Love It

People have fallen in love with their Instant Pots.

They may like their blenders, cherish their slow cookers and need their food processors.

But the Instant Pot a device that combines an electric pressure cooker, slow cooker, rice cooker and yogurt maker in one handy unit sends even mild-mannered cooks into fits of passion.

You find the L word over and over in the 15,000 or so product reviews on Amazon. And if you click over to Instant Pots , youll find more than 360,000 members sharing their undying affection alongside their recipes for chili.

If youre a cook and got through last year without bumping into people who couldnt stop talking about their Instant Pots or any of the other multifunctional electric pressure cookers on the market then you wont have to wait much longer.

Electric pressure cookers is one of the fastest growing kitchen appliance sectors on the market, with sales doubling and tripling over the last four years, according to Robert Wang, the C.E.O. of Instant Pot Company.

When the Instant Pot debuted in 2009, it was one of the first brands to hit North America; electric pressure cookers were already gaining popularity in China. In 2010, approximately 300,000 electric pressure cookers were sold in the United States and Canada, said Dr. Wang. By 2015, that number rose to over three million.

So why do electric pressure cookers inspire such a devoted following?

I bought one to find out.

It was that pork shoulder that turned me into a believer.

Read Also: How To Cook Frozen Tamales In Instant Pot

How To Decide Which Instant Pot Should You Buy

As with any kitchen appliance, my recommendations are always about buying based on your needs. While deciding which instant pot you should get, here are some questions you could ask yourself:

Overall, I would say the Instant Pot Duo would fit pretty much all the cooking needs for majority home cooks. It;does both most commonly used cooking duties pressure cooking and sauteeing beautifully. Youd get a pretty value for the price you pay . If youre all about practicality, you would be very happy with your Duo.

If you have a higher budget and do all the fancy cooking like sous vide, Instant Pot Ultra would be an attractive one to get. The Ultra mode has the custom temperature and pressure control features, which are truly amazing. If these are important to you, then go ahead with Instant Pot Ultra.

Instant Pot Duo Plus has more programs than Duo, including egg, cake, and sterilize modes , and the price is $99.95, a sweet spot between Duo and Ultra.

Convert Psi Recipes To Your Instant Pot

One of the questions many pressure cooker users have about the instant pots is if you can truly convert psi recipes to your instant pot. The answer is yes. You can convert those recipes easily and create an ideal alternative to larger pressure cookers. This is ideal if you have children in the house and are concerned about having a pressure cooker. PSI conversion is fairly easy. The typical pressure cooker works at 15 psi while the instant pot works at 11. The only thing you need to know about converting the recipes is to cook them for just a few extra minutes, usually 5 to 10 depending on if the recipe is meatless.

Read Also: How To Make Sushi Rice Instant Pot

Why Buy An Instant Pot: Advantages And Disadvantages

If you are sitting in your kitchen looking at a slow cooker, pressure cooker, rice cooker, steamer, and sautee pan then you may have too much going on in your kitchen. Instant Pot electric pressure cookers with a stainless steel cooking pot handle the tasks of all those appliances and give you the ideal all-in-one cooking option for you and your family. If you have heard about people making the switch to an instant pot, but arent sure if it is right for you, then consider the points in this beginners guide.

Why Not To Buy An Instant Pot

Think about appliances that have been around proven themselves useful over time. Things like blenders, hand mixers, stand mixers and toaster ovens. Will the Instant Pot be one? Im not so sure. I remember a friend telling me Oh but its so easy to cook rice in it! Look, Im not trying to be a condescending jerk, but is it really that hard to boil water in a pot on your stove?

Recommended Reading: How Long Do You Pressure Cook Artichokes

Is An Instant Pot A Slow Cooker Is An Instant Pot A Crockpot

Like many of you, perhaps, I had always thought that these two are the same, but it turns out that they are not. A crockpot is a type of slow cooker but not all slow cookers are crockpots.

A crockpot is a type of slow cooker with stoneware or ceramic pot sitting inside a surrounding heating element and it usually has two cook settings: high and low.

Meanwhile, a slow cooker refers to that kitchen appliance designed for slow cooking but it has an inner pot made of metal. That said, an instant pot is not a crockpot but is also a slow cooker.

Should You Buy An Instant Pot

Maybe. Depends.

If youre someone who might forget to prep something for dinner and realize it when its too late to catch up on that particular plan

If youre trying to cook healthy food but feel a little overwhelmed at all the prep and planning that can be involved

If you need to save time and money by batching things

Or if you get so many balls in the air around the house that you sometimes forget you started dinner and bad things happen

Youll want to hear me out on the hype over an electric pressure cooker with a bunch of buttons.

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