Instant Pot (Cooking) thread

[calumniate]

Hmm well since sous vide took the world by storm a year ago, seems like the latest thing is the instant pot. I just ordered one.. anyone have any experience with this? Seems like it makes cooking beans, soups and chili pretty easy.

I bought this one:
https://www.amazon.ca/Instant-Pot-Mu...ds=instant+pot

(edited thread title.. ha)

[Wormius]

That looks like our electric pressure cooker. If its anything similar, they're awesome. Do pulled pork, ribs, beans, etc. in no time at all.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by calumniate

Hmm well since sous vide took the world by storm a year ago, seems like the latest thing is the instant pot.

In terms of hours of use, my kitchen gadgets still rank as:
1) Sous Vide
2) Slow Cooker
.
.
.
.
.
3) Instant pot

It's a decent gadget, especially if you're looking to save time. Or pressure cook chicken to dehydrate it but I assume I'm the only one that does that.

I love it for root vegetables. I hate beets with a passion but I'd eat an entire, er, instapot full of them. If you discover anything fantastic post it up. Mine's just sitting there looking to be used.

[Puppet Guy]

this thread is not at all what I thought it was going to be about...

[PsYcNeT]

A bit of an overkill device for it, but my instant pot makes the best goddamn rice.

[OBCT]

Was just considering buying that same model, as $104 seems like a good price.

Might end up waiting for Cyber Monday. https://ca.camelcamelcamel.com shows it dropped to $85 for Cyber Monday last year.

[gottabekd]

I bought one last year I think on Black Friday when it was on sale for $85. Considering I've seen it in stores for $250, it felt like a decent deal. Right now on Amazon it has recently dropped in price to $104. A tip for those who don't know, the site camelcamelcamel.com tracks Amazon price history and you can set alerts.

It has got a lot more use than I expected. One of the more impressive things is when you throw some bone-in chicken into a stew, it will cook it and have the meat falling off the bone in 20 minutes. I've made a lot of bean/lentil stews too, and it is incredibly easy.

[DownhillGoat]

Costco also has another branded version of essentially the same thing. I think it went for $114.

https://www.costco.ca/Power-Pressure...100307737.html

Has the same functions as an Insta, just a different way of getting them.

[Phaneufenstein]

One of the best purchases I've made (I think Roomba vacuum robot is still #1).

As mentioned rice comes out awesome (especially Kirkland jasmine rice).
Amazing fried rice when you use a day's old batch.

Pulled beef, pork, chicken are super easy and much faster.
Soups, stews, chili etc come out awesome and very flavorful.

Clean up is easy too.

[calumniate]

Great suggestions so far. Looking forward to trying out some quick curries and whatnot in there, and just use my old rice cooker for the rice.

[gottabekd]

For recipes, one standout site is SeriousEats.com. Here are some pressure cooker recipes.

I'm not the fastest in the kitchen, and so even though part of the sell for a pressure cooker is convenience, it can still take me a while to put it all together.

Some recipes I've tried:
Mushroom Risotto and Butternut Squash Risotto and probably some of the tastiest things I've ever made. I think a lot of is is just from piling on the parmesan, but still.

The Columbian Chicken Stew With Potatoes, Tomato, and Onion is an interesting one. I was drawn to it because it can be put together in like 5 minutes with 4 ingredients. The end result wasn't actually that impressive. Nothing very interesting going on in the flavour, but I've made it a few times, so I guess I'm drawn to the simplicity.

Green Chile With Chicken was also pretty damn tasty.

One recipe I wouldn't recommend (or I just failed at it) was the Pressure Cooker French Onion Soup. I'm not sure what went wrong, but I just got a really bland mush. Maybe needed more salt (or better wine).

[pylon]

I bought this thing on sale at Walmart for $39.00.

https://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/midea-d...SABEgKP2vD_BwE

It was a game changer for me. They advertise it as a rice cooker, but its got setting for everything from stew to oatmeal. In fact I think it's the same thing as an instant pot. I originally bought it for rice, but now I'm using it for Chili, butter chicken, soups etc. It has full manual override so you can pretty much do anything you want. We never use the slow cooker anymore. This thing doers the same thing in 1/4 the time.

Even at 88 bucks I'd buy another one.

[northcrunk]

Threads like this remind me how much humanity has lost when it comes to cooking without all these devices. It's not that difficult.

[pylon]

Originally Posted by northcrunk

Threads like this remind me how much humanity has lost when it comes to cooking without all these devices. It's not that difficult.

I like to cook old school as well, but when you are making a stew or soup, I find these things make it sooooooo much cleaner and simpler. Plus they are more energy efficient than using the stove burner.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by northcrunk

Threads like this remind me how much humanity has lost when it comes to cooking without all these devices. It's not that difficult.

Pressure cookers have been around for centuries though. So while the Instapot is new, it's a new take on an old idea.

[PsYcNeT]

I'll also add that it makes a hell of a good (and properly cooked) jambalaya. Lots of recipes out there but I can't seem to find the one I like to use...

[Fuzz]

The key to a good jambalaya is going down to Rocky's Sausage House in Bridgeland and getting his andoullie sausage.

[Wormius]

You might also be able to find it cheaper locally at TNT or one of those appliance stores in Chinatown.

[northcrunk]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

The key to a good jambalaya is going down to Rocky's Sausage House in Bridgeland and getting his andoullie sausage.

Seriously. My aunt used to be a co-owner. Best pork chops too.

[Nage Waza]

My family uses an instant pot from 1 to 5 times a week. We often make ribs, stew, spaghetti, pasta and assorted other dishes. Two racks of ribs and 27 minutes, done perfectly, I love it.

We bought ours during an Amazon sale, for under $100. I would imagine the coming up Cyber Tuesday will have another sale.