Instant Pot

[cmzaha]

I am trying out my new Instant Pot today, does anyone here have one? I have used Pressure Canners and Pressure Cookers for all of my married life and this one seems very interesting. Of course I purchased it during Amazon Prime but I wish they had put the 8 qt on sale the one I got is only 6 qt. Even with cooking for only Tony and I, I still tend to cook a lot and share it. Since my house is over 100º F today I am not in the mood of cooking much. I am in my one room that has a window air conditioner. As much as I love my open house I hate summer.

I put small potatoes, carrots, onions, sauerkraut and kielbasa in the pot, hopefully it will be good.

 

[Alzie]

I am trying out my new Instant Pot today, does anyone here have one? I have used Pressure Canners and Pressure Cookers for all of my married life and this one seems very interesting. Of course I purchased it during Amazon Prime but I wish they had put the 8 qt on sale the one I got is only 6 qt. Even with cooking for only Tony and I, I still tend to cook a lot and share it. Since my house is over 100º F today I am not in the mood of cooking much. I am in my one room that has a window air conditioner. As much as I love my open house I hate summer.

I put small potatoes, carrots, onions, sauerkraut and kielbasa in the pot, hopefully it will be good.

I got one for Christmas from my mom and absolutely love it! I've made soups, beans, potatoes, roast and rice in it so far, all came out great minus the rice...after research and failed attempts, I stick to my rice cooker for that. The only thing that's taking me time to adjust to is that I like to adjust seasoning as I go and tinker with the food while it cooks, but so far so good let me know how the meal turns out, it sounds amazing!

 

[msunnerstood]

I am trying out my new Instant Pot today, does anyone here have one? I have used Pressure Canners and Pressure Cookers for all of my married life and this one seems very interesting. Of course I purchased it during Amazon Prime but I wish they had put the 8 qt on sale the one I got is only 6 qt. Even with cooking for only Tony and I, I still tend to cook a lot and share it. Since my house is over 100º F today I am not in the mood of cooking much. I am in my one room that has a window air conditioner. As much as I love my open house I hate summer.

I put small potatoes, carrots, onions, sauerkraut and kielbasa in the pot, hopefully it will be good.

Love mine. Chicken noodle soup in 10 minutes

 

[IrishLass]

My sister-in-law has one and absolutely loves it. I don't have one myself, but I'm seriously considering it.


IrishLass

 

[cerelife]

I bought my 6 qt Instant Pot 3 years ago and I LOVE it!! I use it all the time and can't imagine NOT having it now
My favorite uses:
Cooking (frozen) boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs: I put the entire 3 lb bag from Kroger or Walmart into the pot right out of the freezer with 1 cup of water and our choice of seasonings. High pressure for 15 minutes with a natural release of pressure and the chicken is ridiculously fall apart tender. Our favorite recipe is my version of Mississippi Chicken - 3 lbs frozen boneless, skinless thighs, 1 pack of ranch dressing mix, 1 pack au jus gravy mix, 1/2 stick of butter, and a jar of pepperoncini with the juice in lieu of water. Just put the frozen chicken in the pot and dump the mixes on top. Add the butter in slices and pour the jar of pepperoncini over it all to disperse the mix powders a little. Cook on high pressure for 15 minutes and let the pressure release naturally. Holy Moly, this is the best stuff EVER!!
Dry Beans: Forget cooking your Red Beans for red bean and rice all day! Just dump your sorted beans into the Instant Pot with the trinity, seasonings, and some tasso and cook on high pressure for 45 minutes with a natural release...perfection! Works like a dream for all the beans I've tried so far - lima beans, pinto beans, black beans.
Bone Broth: 3 lbs of chicken feet, your choice of seasonings (I make 'Voodoo Broth' - lots of cayenne and garlic, and 'Pho Broth' with star anise, coriander, ginger, fish sauce, and cloves), 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, salt to taste, and enough water to fill your pot up to the 'max line'. Cook on high pressure for 3 hours and let it naturally release. Remove the chicken feet with tongs, and strain the broth with a fine mesh strainer. I pour the broth into quart jars and keep in the fridge or freeze for later use. The broth will be a 'jello-like' consistency when cool due to all the good stuff like the collagen from the bones. It's amazingly good for you and VERY tasty! Kind of like an amped-up chicken soup...but SOOO much better
It used to take me 3 DAYS to make this in a crockpot, but the Instant Pot does it better in just 3 HOURS!!!

 

[shunt2011]

Best purchase ever. I make a lot in my pot. I have the 6 qt. I’ve done turkey breasts, pork shoulders, pea soup, Swiss steak, Mexican chicken is a favorite, yogurt, eggs, pot roast, corned beef and cabbage, chili. Once you get the technique down you can drop almost anything in it. I just google recipes and follow the cooking time and technique but make it my way.

Oh, and tamales, stuffed cabbage.

 

[Lin19687]

I have a Rice cooker that does a bunch of stuff, but not pressure. Have done a few things in it but because it is just DD and I and she is a picky eater ... well, we don't cook much.

BUT that whole Beef Broth thing is making me laugh.
years ago I tried to make chicken soup and it became gelatinous. I thought I did it wrong and tossed it. NOW I know that it would have been GREAT for the Collagen in it !!!

Guess what I will be making today ! my joints SO need it !

 

[lsg]

I have a Fagor 3-in-1 6 quart multi-use pressure cooker and I love it. I use it for rice as well as an electric pressure cooker. The slow cooker feature is not the best.

 

[Primrose]

Nope but I've got a traditional stove top pressure cooker and I love it

 

[Steve85569]

Oh. I thought this might be a 4:20 thread from the title......
My bad.

 

[zanzalawi]

i'm regretting not getting a 2nd one on prime day, we use it ALOT!
we also use it a bunch for freezer meals- that ones you make and then drop in a crock pot? i throw them in the instant pot cuz i never remember to pull them out the night before to thaw
i hope you love it!

these are my two favorite cookbooks for it.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1624143547/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1623156122/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[cerelife]

BUT that whole Beef Broth thing is making me laugh.
years ago I tried to make chicken soup and it became gelatinous. I thought I did it wrong and tossed it. NOW I know that it would have been GREAT for the Collagen in it !!!
Guess what I will be making today ! my joints SO need it !

Lin, if I didn't already have an Instant Pot, I would buy one JUST to make bone broth!!! I occasionally make beef bone broth, but chicken bone broth is our favorite. Chicken feet look crazy, but they make the best bone broth EVER!!! The apple cider vinegar helps pull all the good stuff out of the bones and cartilage, but there's no vinegar taste to the broth. When the broth cools down it has the consistency of jello with a little scrim of fat on top. My 'Voodoo Broth' is reminiscent of the flavor of hot and sour soup from a Chinese restaurant. After I heat up a bowl of it I add chopped green onions, cilantro, shredded chicken, somen noodles, and some fish sauce for a meal. But more often I just heat up a cup of it and drink it like tea at work! Best stuff ever if you have a cold or a sore throat, and it's sooooo good for you!

 

[cerelife]

Best purchase ever. I make a lot in my pot. I have the 6 qt. I’ve done turkey breasts, pork shoulders, pea soup, Swiss steak, Mexican chicken is a favorite, yogurt, eggs, pot roast, corned beef and cabbage, chili. Once you get the technique down you can drop almost anything in it. I just google recipes and follow the cooking time and technique but make it my way.

Oh, and tamales, stuffed cabbage.

OMG, YES!! Best corned beef and cabbage I've ever had anywhere came from our Instant Pot! I'm not a huge fan of the regular yogurt from the Instant Pot, but the cold start method makes amazing greek yogurt. And I never boil eggs anymore - so much easier with this thing! I also really like that it has a timer and a 'keep warm' feature....we love steel-cut oatmeal (and never use 'instant' anything - other than this pot!), so the Instant Pot is great for having perfectly cooked steel-cut oatmeal hot and ready when you wake up in the morning!

 

[BrewerGeorge]

I bought mine a year ago on Prime day and I use it a lot.

My very favorite thing is pressure cooked eggs. They peel SO much easier than any other method - no matter how fresh the eggs are. Stack them up in the steamer basket and add a cup of hot tap water. Lid up, manual high pressure for 3 minutes. Then 3 minutes wait before releasing pressure, removing and plunging into cold water, running or changing water until they cool. Those times produce eggs with a slightly more translucent yolk for eating out of hand. If you want chalkier yolks for egg salad or deviled eggs, use 4 minutes in both spots. Five minutes starts getting a little green around the edges.

The Insta is the king of throw-together meals. Last week I made chicken corn chowder with a bag of potatoes o'brien, a can of creamed corn, and chicken thighs - all frozen. Just covered with chicken broth. Cooked with Soup button, manually released and added a bit of milk before serving. It'll make split pea soup or dal in fifteen minutes.

One thing about pressure cooking in general is that it tends to flatten flavor a bit. Aromatics and volatile compounds get driven off more, and that's worse if you do a manual release. You can combat that by adding a bit of acid at the end to brighten things up, and by reserving some of the spices and herbs to add after the pressure cook.

It is definitely so-so with rice, though, and the one thing I have completely given up on is the sautee function. I'd much rather clean another pan than mess with that 800 Watt sautee. The only thing I use it for now is to start things heating while I still have the lid open before closing and switching to a pressure setting.

 

[BrewerGeorge]

One more thing...

If you have the 8-quart model, you can stand four, quart Ball/Mason jars in the middle and just close the lid. Add water around them and you can pressure-can in this thing! Manual, of course, following all Ball Blue Book recommendations. It works great for that broth everybody is talking about, or left-over soups/chili.

 

[Lin19687]

I have Bone broth cooking now since yesterday afternoon. I went to the Asian market and got chicken feet (because I love my own chickens and they need their feet to find bugs haha) and beef knee bones. WAY cheaper then regular grocery store chicken wings and bones.

I have the Rice cooker because we use that for rice and steaming a lot. I read some not so great things about rice int he instant pot and could only get one appliance.

Am I suppose to take the chicken feet out early ?

 

[cmzaha]

Oh. I thought this might be a 4:20 thread from the title......
My bad.

It would work for that too when I used to make the butter I used my pressure cooker

i'm regretting not getting a 2nd one on prime day, we use it ALOT!
we also use it a bunch for freezer meals- that ones you make and then drop in a crock pot? i throw them in the instant pot cuz i never remember to pull them out the night before to thaw
i hope you love it!
these are my two favorite cookbooks for it.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1624143547/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1623156122/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

I am kinda sorry I did not buy 2 also, but thinking I will spring for an eight qt one. Thankyou for the cookbook links. I did download several of the Weight Watchers cookbooks for $0.00-$0.99

One more thing...
If you have the 8-quart model, you can stand four, quart Ball/Mason jars in the middle and just close the lid. Add water around them and you can pressure-can in this thing! Manual, of course, following all Ball Blue Book recommendations. It works great for that broth everybody is talking about, or left-over soups/chili.

Now I am sure I will go for an 8 qt since that is easier than getting down my big All American Pressure Canner

I have Bone broth cooking now since yesterday afternoon. I went to the Asian market and got chicken feet (because I love my own chickens and they need their feet to find bugs haha) and beef knee bones. WAY cheaper then regular grocery store chicken wings and bones.

I have the Rice cooker because we use that for rice and steaming a lot. I read some not so great things about rice int he instant pot and could only get one appliance.

Am I suppose to take the chicken feet out early ?

I make perfect rice on the stove with an antique Guardian Service Pan, so will not worry about the rice setting. From reading it seems to be an issue with many people.
my Granddaughter (Autumn) has chickies too and they all have their feet! I am going to mention to my daughter about the chicken feet for bone broth since she makes it very often.

Thankyou all, I am going to play with it again today since it is so hot here
ETA: I just made hard boiled eggs. Woohoo 8 min ice bath and they peel perfect

 

[Lin19687]

I have a little egg cooker for hard (and soft) boiled eggs, 7 eggs, poke top, add a tiny bit water, plug, push button and walk away. Turns off at like 8-15 min depending on what you are doing.

FYI, Eggs peal better when they are NOT over done. That is what I LOVE about this little egg cooker.
Also, the chicken feet is for Collagen 2

 

[cmzaha]

Thanks Lin. My Instant Pot did a great job on the eggs so I am happy with that. After 35 yrs in one house you can trust me when I say storage is getting slim. In fact I have finally started cleaning out all my computer stuff to free up a large cabinet downstairs.

I do know the Collagen aspect to Chicken footsies

 

[BrewerGeorge]

I ascribe to the Alton Brown "only one unitasker" (fire extinguisher) philosophy. I do have a dedicated yogurt maker, but I got that as a gift and it mostly lives in the garage. I don't even have a fryer, preferring a dutch oven on the stove top.

I eat two hard boiled eggs for breakfast almost every day and one of those little cookers might tempt me to violate my rule above except for having to puncture the eggs. For me, part of the appeal is that they come in their own packaging - like a banana - and I can just toss a couple into my pocket on the way to work.