Why Is An Instant Pot So Great

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Easy Beef Egg Roll In A Bowl

9 Reasons Why You NEED An Instant Pot! Is the Instant Pot Worth It?

This dish is basically a deconstructed egg roll, but egg roll in a bowl sounds much better it just rolls right off the tongue.

It has all the ingredients that make up a delicious egg roll coleslaw mix, beef, garlic, ginger, red pepper, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and more.

The only thing its missing is the crispy egg roll wrapper, but hey, that means fewer carbs, so its a win-win.

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.

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 programsâ¯with 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 productsâa pressure cooker and an air fryer, as the name alludes toâin one. They’re not cheap , but the reviews are wonderful.

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Will Your Instant Pot Blow Up Why It Wont

The reason you can rest assured your Instant Pot will not blow up is because it has at least 10 different safety features to help prevent any type of explosion. It has pressure regulators that prevent the pressure from reaching dangerously high levels that could cause an explosion. Here are just a few of these features:

Why Is Instant Pot So Popular Its Easy To Use

5 Reasons Why Your Instant Pot is Not Sealing

Not everyone can cook well in fact, some people cant cook at all. For home-cooked meals, these people would have gone to a loved ones home for a nice dinner or lunch. Before the word coronavirus came into existence, that is.

However, during the pandemic, experts advise to only leave the house for essential purposes to help contain the spread of the virus. So, going out for meals in other peoples houses may no longer be an option.

This change is especially difficult for those who dont cook. As a result, many people search for an easier way to make delicious home-cooked meals, all while only having basic skills in the kitchen.

When using an Instant Pot, simply add whatever ingredients you want into the Instant Pot, turn on the timer, and walk away. Theres no need to watch over a boiling pot, stirring it constantly, or flipping something in the oven.

When the timer goes off , you know the meal is complete. It couldnt be any easier to cook meals at home.

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Other Benefits Of An Instant Pot

Instant Pots really have so many benefits, aside from taking up less space in your kitchen.

Instant Pots are excellent for one pot cooking, so you can pretty much put all your ingredients in one pot, and just let it cook, this not only saves time, but it also saves on using lots of different pots and pans, and saves on washing up.

Instant Pots are very energy efficient and use little electricity to run, similar to a slow cooker. However, the main difference to a slow cooker is that an Instant Pot is also a pressure cooker, and so it cooks food much quicker than a slow cooker. This therefore means an Instant Pot uses even less energy.

It certainly uses less energy than a traditional oven, microwave or stovetop, so you will save money on your utility bills over time.

Cooking in an Instant Pot is often healthier, as the nutrients are retained in the food, and not lost to the water like when you boil vegetables. In fact, using an Instant Pot trivet when cooking vegetables will allow them to be steamed, and retain even more of their important vitamins and minerals they contain.

An Instant Pot also cooks most food faster than other methods, often with a 70% reduction in cooking time, and its easier because everything can just be put in one pot and left to cook.

You can also cook many things straight from frozen in an Instant Pot, which is another great time saver.

But what else can you cook?

That Tricky Magic Seal

The genius of the Instant Pot achieving that seal of pressure is also the cause of many headaches. The Instant Pot doesnt always seal properly, so you cant really ‘set it and forget it.’ I always find myself double-checking to make sure Im not wasting time by somehow falling victim to an improper seal, says Schmidt of Kali Eats Keto. Sealing issues could be anything from the lid not being locked properly, insufficient liquid, overfilling the pot to the float valve being stuck. When youve got your heart set on some chili to watch the game with and the pot isnt coming to pressure because steam is leaking out, cycling through this laundry list of troubleshoots may take longer than just cooking it from scratch on the stove.

Insider Tip: If you want to delve into the technicals of the sealing function, this blog entry elaborates on why pushing down the Instant Pot lid is one of the top reasons your food comes out undercooked. Or it could also be the rubber gasket has a crack in it, so make sure you check this regularly.

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The Steamed Veggie Experiment

Match-up: Instant Pot vs. vegetable steamer

Test Recipe: Steamed fresh broccoli florets, from the Instant pot recipe manual

Instant potTotal time: 12 min

Assessment: The directions for steaming are simple and the broccoli had a bright green colour and was perfectly tender-crisp.

Verdict: Honestly, we could go either way.

The Float Valve Is Stuck

GimmeSomeOven Barbacoa Recipe Review | Why Instant Pots Are So Popular

That little float valve on the top of the lid is meant to loosely move between venting and natural pressure release. If this valve gets jammed, theres a problem. It usually means that the valve has become clogged with food. Unclog the valve, and then wash the lid all around the valve and make sure all bits of food are removed.

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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

There Are So Many Recipes

The internet has gone wild for the Instant Pot, with countless personal blogs, cooking websites and Facebook groups devoted to it. Together they also generate a copious and steady supply of recipes. From tacos to Italian beef sandwiches to Korean-style ribs and popcorn, chances are someone has tried it. There’s even a recipe for making wine in your Instant Pot.

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What Is An Instant Pot

While our mothers and grandmothers were comfortable using a stovetop pressure cooker, most women of this generation are intimidated by the hissing and potential safety issues. Because of this, pressure cooking fell out of favor for a while. All that has changed with the arrival of the Instant Pot.

The Instant Pot is a self-contained, electrical pressure cooker thats controlled through a digital interface and built-in safety features. It sits on your counter top and plugs into an outlet. It takes up about as much space as a rice cooker or slow cooker.

You tell it how long you want to cook your meal under pressure, set the timer and youre good to go. It automatically brings up and holds the pressure at a safe level and will not allow you to open the pot while its pressurized. This makes it as easy to operate as a microwave.

As an added bonus, there are dozens of things you can do with the Instant Pot. Its not limited to soups and stews. All you need is a few extra accessories and your Instant Pot can cook just about anything.

Instant Pot Lentil Soup

The Instant Pot is all the rage these days, but what ...

There are so many good reasons to add this Instant Pot Lentil Soup to your rotation.

  • Hearty. This is your not ordinary lentil soup! Its almost meaty in texture and thick and rich. Adding potatoes not only provides textural interest but also naturally thickens the soup.
  • Healthy and Allergen-Friendly. Despite being hearty, its 100% wholesome and features protein-rich, fiber-rich, iron-rich lentils. Its also vegan, gluten-free, nut-free, and soy-free.
  • Deep Flavor: Thanks to a bouquet garni of fresh herbs , this soup has a woodsy depth of flavor you wont find in most soups, along with great sweet-tangy flavor from whole peeled tomatoes and aged balsamic vinegar.
  • Quick and Simple. Theres just 10 minutes of hands on cooking, and then the Instant Pot takes over and does its magic . Plus, all the ingredients are simple and straightforward.
  • Meal Prep- and Freezer-Friendly. This soup is a great option for meal prep and freezes really well!
  • Instant Pot Friendly. This soup is even easier in the instant pot .

P.S.: Looking for more vegan Instant Pot recipes? Ive got over 90 in my cookbook, The Vegan Instant Pot Cookbook! P.P.S.: Looking for another super easy, comforting yet healthy Instant Pot soup? Try this Creamy Cauliflower Soup!

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I Cant Seal My Instant Pot Lid

The pot lid can be tricky to lock and unlock without a little practice. If you are new to your Instant Pot, try moving the lid back and forth from the locked position until you get the hang of it. If you know for sure that your lid isnt locking properly, look for food blockages or a sign of a slipped sealing ring. The lid may also be damaged, but this is relatively rare Instant Pot lids are very tough.

So Many Recipes So Little Time

12. There are a million, billion, trillion, gajillion Instant Pot recipes on the Internet. Not kidding here.

Social media is driving the Instant Pots popularity. Its has nearly half a million members. The various models have nearly 18,000 reviews on Amazon.

Fans love to share their recipes for chicken or chili or risotto or weirder uses like popcorn or cheesecake. Some good places to start are here, here or here.

13. Some recipes take longer than their titles indicate. Sure, the recipe might be called 1-minute quinoa or 7-minute rice or 20-minute beef stew, but its going to take longer than that. It can take 10-15 minutes for the device to build up pressure before cooking, plus more time to release the pressure after the cooking.

14. Use a cup of liquid to cook meat. When youre starting out, a good rule of thumb is to use one cup of liquid when youre pressure-cooking meat. That could include broth, water, soy sauce, etc. Too much liquid will dilute the flavor.

15. It has a cool lid. One food blogger, Dad Cooks Dinner, says his favorite feature is the built-in lid holders on top of the Instant Pot. When you remove the hot lid, you dont have to set it down on the counter. You can fit a tab on the side of the lid into either of the Instant Pots handles, and the lid still stand up on its side.

For safety reasons, open the lid away from you. And never force the Instant Pot open.

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Magical Ways To Use Your Instant Pot

20 Magical Ways to Use Your Instant Pot! From soups, to yogurt, to snacks, to drinks: it does it all! One of our favorite all-purpose kitchen gadgets.

This post was originally published a few years back, but guess what!? We added four more ways to use our favorite kitchen appliance texture-perfect applesauce, a big pot of spaghetti, comforting risotto, and our favorite pot roast. Let us know in the comments how else you like to use this magical machine.

THE INSTANT POT.

Lets talk about the Instant Pot. Hands up if youre part of the club?

For a first-timer, it can feel like some sort of mysterious potential-to-explode gadget that ends up sitting in the back of your kitchen cabinet for years out of fear. Or, its only lugged out to make that pot of brown rice or mysterious batch of dry beans .

But weve been around the Instant Pot block a few times. And were here to tell you that this little beauty basically lives on our countertop at this point. Its our rice cooker, soup maker, freezer meal magician, last-minute dinner miracle all in one. And we just cant stop.

Why Make Rice Pudding In The Instant Pot

10 reasons why the Instant Pot is the vegan’s best friend

There are a few great reasons to do it this way!

First, its a virtually hands off method, so no need to stand at the stove babysitting your pudding to make sure it doesnt scorch or boil over.

In addition, the Instant Pot cooks the rice pudding perfectly evenly so the pudding is creamy and the rice still has a nice chewy bite to it, never mushy!

It does all this in a fraction of the time it takes to make stove top rice pudding. It makes this classic homey dessert doable for any day of the week.

Lastly, you can keep your pudding warm in the IP with the KEEP WARM feature, which is especially nice with rice pudding. I like to pop on my tempered glass lidwhile keeping warm.

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The Lid Wont Come Off

First, make sure enough steam has been released after pressure cooking. Whether you choose a natural pressure release or quick release, give the Pot time to get rid of the steam and cool down. Remember, Instant Pots are designed to be extra-safe, so the pot wont let you open the lid with too much pressure still inside the pot. A little bit of patience can often fix this issue.

Otherwise, the lid probably wont come off because the steam release button is stuck. If youre sure all of the pressure has been released from the pot, use a spoon handle and tap the button beside the release valve.

Keto Low Carb Beef Chili Instant Pot Or Crock Pot Recipe

This is your standard Crockpot chili, only its low-carb and keto-friendly, so just about anyone can enjoy it, no matter their dietary restrictions.

It has a bit of heat to it, thanks to the green chiles, chili powder, and fire-roasted tomatoes, and the beef, tomato paste, onions, and garlic give it tons of flavor.

There are no beans in this chili, which is part of the reason its so keto-friendly, but feel free to add them if you want.

I like anything with the word lazy in the recipe title, and this lazy lasagna certainly lives up to its name.

It takes only 34 minutes to make, and very little of that time is hands-on.

It has a massive amount of garlic flavor and features all your favorite Italian ingredients. Its like heading to your favorite Italian restaurant, only cheaper.

Thats right! You can even make stuffed peppers in your Instant Pot! How crazy is that?!

They have all the same ingredients beef, rice, cheese, tomatoes, etc. but are much easier to make.

From start to finish, you shouldnt have to spend more than 35 minutes on them.

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