The Instant Pot Cooker

Thargor

Interesting article on the beeb this morning:

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-39058736

Seems to be a bit of a phenomenon alright judging by Facebook and Reddit. I'm tempted to get one because I'm a big fan of batch cooking and freezing individual portions of curry and pasta dishes that I can grab out of the freezer and microwave at work, I've improved my diet in a major way and saved a fortune doing this and tbh I do it pretty well with a pot and a pan one evening a week, I don't really see how this could improve things too much, but then again I said the same thing when I was considering the Airfryer and that turned out to be the best thing I ever bought for the kitchen

Anybody got one? I think Lidl have a rip off sometimes but I'll probably go with the original if I decide to buy...

CJhaughey

Aren't they just a form of pressure cooker that can be set to turn on and off at different times?
I do like pressure cookers for different things like Canning fish and cooking cuts that usually take a long slow simmer to cook like Tongue.

Thargor

CJhaughey wrote: »

Aren't they just a form of pressure cooker that can be set to turn on and off at different times?
I do like pressure cookers for different things like Canning fish and cooking cuts that usually take a long slow simmer to cook like Tongue.

It seems to be more than just a pressure cooker tbh, some of the blogs and Facebook recipe pages are very interesting. The 10 minute mashed potato on its own might justify it to me. It seems to be more than the sum of its parts the way the Airfryer is more than just a fan oven...

CJhaughey

Thargor wrote: »

It seems to be more than just a pressure cooker tbh, some of the blogs and Facebook recipe pages are very interesting. The 10 minute mashed potato on its own might justify it to me. It seems to be more than the sum of its parts the way the Airfryer is more than just a fan oven...

They do look useful, There are lots of bandwagonners as well such as the versions being advertised on TV shopping channels etc.
The Instant Pot is the original though so I guess it must still be the best.

Tree

I have an instant pot.

Electric pressure cookers like the IP aren't suitable for canning, so that's out.

It's super for beans (whether or not you remember to soak them), and the tomato sauce in it takes like it's been slow cooked all day despite only being held at pressure for ten mins. I also love that you can saute in it (you can't in my old slow cooker), so that saves on washing frying pans. It can be used for slow cooking, but I haven't tried it yet.

I don't think it saves much time on spuds or anything, but I cook my spuds in cubes normally. Bear in mind that all the pressure cooking times refer to cooking *after* it's up to pressure, which can take a while depending on what's in the pot.

For beans alone, it's totally worth it.

Graces7

Gadgets and clutter! I always go back to one pot and a frying pan.

CJhaughey

I think it depends on your needs, if its just yourself, a pot and pan could work well. If you have a family to feed on a weeknight when time is scarce then a faster cooking system may be a great investment.
I don't like clutter either but my pressure cooker has been a very handy piece of equipment for me and it does save on fuel as it only takes 30 mins to cook a tongue as opposed to several hours at atmospheric pressure.

RoYoBo

I bought an Instant Pot on Black Friday - I'd been reading the rave reviews on social media for ages beforehand and was a bit sceptical. I'd had pressure cookers back in the day when they hissed and steamed and scared the bejasus out of the kids! At £70, I thought it was a bargain worth taking a gamble on and I was proved right!

Not wanting to sound like the FB ravers, I have to say that I love it and (almost) all the things I've made since. Yogurt is a big favourite - it heats the milk to 180 and, when it cools to 115 and the starter added, another button is pressed for your chosen level of tartness. I've made yogurt loads of different ways over the years, but this is the best IMO.

I agree that the time saving element is a bit misleading for some things - you have to add getting to pressure and coming back down. However, the fact that it's automatic means you can walk away and leave it to do its thing and it keeps the results warm for up to 10 hours. I've even cooked a whole chicken right from frozen (45 minutes at pressure) and it was perfect - falling off the bone, literally.

What doesn't work well is anything meant to be baked, like cakes, although cheesecake is the exception to this rule (it's to die for!). You have to be careful with vegetables - far too easy to make mush. It's fabulous for soup and broth - we love barley soup mix in ours and that takes so little time in the IP.

I cooked a beef roast today - sauteed first, then pressure cooked for 40 minutes, with the gravy in the bottom ready to be thickened. It took about 70 minutes from start to finish, but once it was in the cooker it required no further attention from me and kept warm until we were ready to eat.

I'm stopping now before you all think I have shares in it - wish I had!