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How the Instant Pot cooker developed a cult following

bbc.co.uk

251–260 of 311 posts

Re: How the Instant Pot cooker developed a cult following

#251
post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hard boiled eggs are a lot easier - you barely even have to think about it.

What? How hard is it to boil an egg?

Using the pressure cooker for eggs, aside from making the shells easier to peel, skips the "wait for water to boil" step and gives you several minutes of flexibility at the end of cooking since the heat shuts off when the timer runs out. You can also do large batches of eggs while only heating 1 cup of water.

Re: How the Instant Pot cooker developed a cult following

#253
post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My tip for the UX is to ignore all the special buttons, and just use high and low pressure for a specific amount of time. The cheaper pots don't even bother with all the magic setting buttons.

That sounds like you're suggesting I just use a normal pressure cooker :p

Except you don't have to watch the fire.

Re: How the Instant Pot cooker developed a cult following

#254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The secret to the Instant Pot, I've found, is using it for things it does well. Beans and bean-based dishes are a home run every time. Chicken broth and beef bone broth are great, too. Slow cooker favorites like pot roast and pulled pork? Not so much, in my opinion. These dishes need more time to break down the collagen slowly without destroying the meat and veggies. I much prefer them in the slow cooker. Oatmeal is…

According to seriouseats, the only thing a slow cooker is best at is keeping food warm, carmelized onions and bread pudding. http://www.seriouseats.com/2016/10/why-pressure-cookers-are-... I certainly getter results doing pot roast & pulled pork in a pressure cooker than a slow cooker.

The instant pot is a pressure cooker and a slow cooker. And other than a fucking electronic panel similar to a rice cooker I don't see what the big deal is. Indians have been using them for years, electric or stove top pressure cookers, that is. I bought an Instant Pot years ago and we love it, but god these fucking hipsters turn everything into a self congratulatory bunch of crap.

No electric pressure cooker on the market can get up to a stove top, but the instant pot is pretty good.

Re: How the Instant Pot cooker developed a cult following

#255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you already have a pressure cooker which you are happy to use, and are content with making soups in a soup pot, are there any advantages to buying an Instant Pot?

Compared to stovetop ones: 1. No need to fiddle with getting the heat right to get to pressure, and then lower the heat. Just seal the lid and tell it to get to pressure. It will control the heating. 2. Timer. It will drop the heat once the timer runs out. A lot of people set something to cook for, say, 30 minutes. Then they go out of the house for an errand that takes over an hour. They don't need to worry about ove…

Thanks. I guess that's a no for me then. Point 1 is never an issue for me: turn the heat up to medium (or full, if you're in a hurry) until the pressure release "whistle" blows a couple of times, then turn it off. And while I never ever leave the house with the stove or oven left turned on, I guess I could see the convenience factor of point 2.

Re: How the Instant Pot cooker developed a cult following

#256
post #211

Have had one since Black Friday. I feel generally competent in the kitchen to the point where assembling a nice meal (dare I say gourmet?) from scratch without a recipe is relatively easy for me. That said, I've found the Instant Pot to have a steep learning curve. For starters, you can't easily check on the food while it cooks, so if you are experimenting with large batch sizes and timing you are kind of gambling an…

Japanese curry (beef or pork) comes out fantastic, it's a simple recipe to start and even easier in the Instant Pot. Freezes and reheats very well.

Do you have a favorite Japanese curry pressure cooker recipe that you'd like to share?

Re: How the Instant Pot cooker developed a cult following

#257
post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Courtesy of my dad. This is good stuff, and makes 4 servings. 1 cup steel cut oats 4 cups water 1/2 teaspoon salt Cook in Instapot, 5 min at 'Manual' pressure Let cool in Instapot for 20 minutes or until pressure relief button pops (if you don't let it depressurize slowly it will foam up inside and mess the lid) Add the following: 2 Tablespoons of chunky peanut butter (heaping) 2-3 heaping tablespoons of sugar (brown…

Or place ingredients in bowl, microwave for 3 minutes.

Wow, seriously? I know this sort of thing is the fashion these days on the internet, but dude. I'm standing right here.

Anyway. To take the comment seriously -- if only it were that easy! Perhaps one of the biggest selling points of the Instant Pot, at least around my house, is its ability to cook steel cut oats quickly, efficiently, and without needing to be watched.

On a further note -- what I've written here is what I received from my dad, but I've always just thrown everything in the pot at the start.

Re: How the Instant Pot cooker developed a cult following

#258
post #82

I must be the only person unconvinced by the Instant Pot! I don't like having to braise/sear meat and caramelise onions directing in the IP on "Saute" mode - it's always either too hot or too cool. This process is much easier on the hob with a frying pan.. Which is fine, but then I have two things to clean. If I want the benefits of a pressure cooker, I'll just buy one of those. Oh and the UX on the IP is horrific! I…

Could you just put the pot directly on your stove to sear stuff? I haven't tried this, but I don't see why it wouldn't work.

Re: How the Instant Pot cooker developed a cult following

#259
post #227

I find meat cooked by pressure cookers and especially slow cookers sort of disgusting. Mainly it boils down (pun intended) to the texture and the meat is lacking in caramelization (maillard reaction). But I haven't tried the Instant Pot so maybe it has a solution for that. If I could grill all the time I would. I almost can as I have a kamado style grill which has its own cult following as well (see Kamado Guru [1]).…

I usually try to sear the outside of the meat before I throw it into a slow cooker. I use cheap, tougher meats that wouldn't really be desirable cooked any other way.

Definitely this. Sear your meat, then slow-cook it, then, if you want, broil it to crisp it up. I do this when making carnitas and they turn out amazing.

Re: How the Instant Pot cooker developed a cult following

#260
post #15

I am part of the cult. We bought after the recommendation of a friend. What I liked: nice set of presets, comes with a cookbook with quite a few recipes, very easy to operate. Some time ago, when Apple bailed out of self-driving car business, my friend and I discussed what would be the good category for Apple to try next and I suggested advanced kitchen devices. Seriously though: instant pot with Nespresso machine ar…

I find some basic knife skills to be a huge labor saver. I've had the same decent (ie, not serrated) $25 chef's knife for decades and can plow through basic veg prep in a few minutes. I don't like all the extra gadgets except a peeler. When I factor in setting up and washing some chopping or slicing machine, I'm way faster with just a knife and board. Two things to wash. And the board is also used to hold stuff on it…

New York Times has a really good set of cooking videos: https://cooking.nytimes.com/guides/23-basic-knife-skills
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