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How the Instant Pot cooker developed a cult following

bbc.co.uk

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Re: How the Instant Pot cooker developed a cult following

#261

Post by Osiris »

chrissnell wrote: post #234
shostack wrote: post #115

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…

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…

Chicken and ribs are awesome in the pressure cooker. It only takes about 15 minutes to make really good BBQ ribs.

Re: How the Instant Pot cooker developed a cult following

#262

Post by abledon »

alexose wrote: post #126

There's a "smart" version of the Instant Pot that has its own scripting language! http://instantpot.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/How-to-writ...

What a great tool to get my non-techie instant-pot-using-relatives to understand what I do at my day job... but on a larger scale.

Re: How the Instant Pot cooker developed a cult following

#263

Post by shostack »

Osiris wrote: post #261
chrissnell wrote: post #234

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…

Chicken and ribs are awesome in the pressure cooker. It only takes about 15 minutes to make really good BBQ ribs.

Care to share your ribs recipe? The issue with things like that which I noted in my original comment is that they seem to require steps like finishing under the broiler. At that point I'm not sure the IP adds much to the dish and I'm inclined to just grill or broil them to begin with and save myself some cleanup with the IP.

Re: How the Instant Pot cooker developed a cult following

#265

Post by shostack »

huphtur wrote: post #216
shostack wrote: post #115

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…

You can't just mention how it makes great oatmeal without providing us the recipe! Please?

It's the "3 Minute Oatmeal" recipe straight out of the recipe book that comes with the IP.

  Add the following to the IP:
  - 1 cup almond milk (they warn regular milk with curdle but not sure about that)
  - 2 cups water
  - 1 cup steel cut oats
  - 1 cinnamon stick
  - pinch of salt
  - 1/4 cup of raisins
  - They call for vanilla extract but I use vanilla flavored almond milk
Stir and cook for 3 min. on Manual in the IP. Let it naturally release for 10 minutes and then quick release the rest. You might see what looks like a ton of liquid still on the top--just stir it all up.

Then I portion out what I want for myself, add a Tbsp give or take of light brown sugar, and any other toppings. My favorites now are chopped walnuts, chopped dates, banana, berries, diced granny smith apple, etc.

That recipe makes several servings and is great for brunch with an oatmeal bar. You can also refrigerate leftovers for several days and if you let it chill a bit, you can then wrap it in plastic wrap and shape it into bricks which freeze nicely.

Re: How the Instant Pot cooker developed a cult following

#266

Post by shostack »

spathi_fwiffo wrote: post #146
shostack wrote: post #115

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…

I've never heard of the instant pot before now. Seems like your complaints are normal issues people have with pressure cookers. I'd love to know how this fares vs. a normal pressure cooker, as far a learning curves go.

Very likely. This is the first time I've used a Pressure Cooker, and TBH, I never did that much with slow cookers before either besides a few dishes.

I'm sure once I get more experience with it that eyeballing things will become easier.

Re: How the Instant Pot cooker developed a cult following

#267

Post by shostack »

Zancarius wrote: post #240
chrissnell wrote: post #234

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…

> Oatmeal is great but I can make it faster and better on the stovetop. Just curious: The OP mentioned steel cut oats rather than traditional oatmeal. Did you mean the same as well? The reason I ask is because, while I love steel cut oats, cooking a nice sized batch on the stove can be time consuming, and I don't like the 3-5 minute oats (precooked and/or steamed; lacks the same texture IMO, same reason I don't like…

I posted the 3 Minute Oatmeal recipe straight from the recipe book that comes with the IP below if you're interested [1].

I too am wondering if the parent was talking about precooked/steamed. The recipe that comes with the IP is definitely steel cut and has that great springy bite to it--almost al dente in a way (or QQ as my Chinese friends might say).

And my version is 3 minutes of cook time, but there's several minutes of getting up to pressure time, and then 10 minutes of natural release when it finishes. Still largely "set it and forget it" though.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13816579

Re: How the Instant Pot cooker developed a cult following

#268

Post by Osiris »

shostack wrote: post #263
Osiris wrote: post #261

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Chicken and ribs are awesome in the pressure cooker. It only takes about 15 minutes to make really good BBQ ribs.

Care to share your ribs recipe? The issue with things like that which I noted in my original comment is that they seem to require steps like finishing under the broiler. At that point I'm not sure the IP adds much to the dish and I'm inclined to just grill or broil them to begin with and save myself some cleanup with the IP.

I'll have to ask my wife. As far as I know it's basically fatty beef ribs covered in BBQ sauce. We don't broil them afterwards. I suppose it just depends on if you want that caramelized flavor or not.

Re: How the Instant Pot cooker developed a cult following

#269

Post by cheald »

shostack wrote: post #115

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…

You do have to experiment, but I love mine. Some of my go-to recipes:

* 4-5 chicken breast, frozen. Add a half can of green enchilada sauce, or a cup of BBQ sauce, or a half cup of taco seasoning, plus 1/4 cup water. Cook on the "poultry" setting for 24 minutes. Quick release, remove chicken, set pot to saute, shred chicken and return to broth, boil off some of the excess liquid. Can serve by itself, or on hamburger buns (for the BBQ variant) or in tortillas/taco shells (for the enchilada and taco variants), or over rice. This has become a go-to because it's so quick and easy and we don't have to defrost anything ahead of time.

* 4-5lb chuck roast. Sear all sides (I do this on the stove for convenience), then coat in a seasoning of brown gravy mix, powdered ranch dressing, and italian seasoning. Add a half cup of water, and pressure cook on high for 38 (4lb) to 45 (5lb) minutes. While it's cooking, dice some carrots, onions, celery, and garlic. Once it's done, quick release, add veggies, cook for another 11 minutes. Remove meat and veggies from pot, sautee, boil down the remaining liquid for a few minutes until it reaches a thick gravy-like consistency. Slice the roast, serve with veggies and gravy. Making a roast like this takes 8+ hours in the slow-cooker, and it's done in * Brown 1lb of beef or ground sausage on "sautee" with half an onion, diced. Throw in several tablespoons of italian seasoning. Once browned, add 2 cans of diced tomatoes, 1 can of tomato paste, 1 can of chicken broth, 1 can of water, some garlic powder, salt, pepper, and a box of smallish pasta (macaroni and garden rotini are our favorites), pressure cook on high for 8 minutes.

* Throw a cup of dried mixed beans, 1 beef boullion cube, and any other seasonings you'd like (garlic, pepper, the usual suspects) and enough water to cover the beans by a couple of inches to the instant pot on the "warm" setting to soak for ~45 minutes, then pressure cook for 45 minutes. Makes a fantastic mixed bean soup. Probably even better if you have a hambone to throw in there, though I haven't tried this yet.

Re: How the Instant Pot cooker developed a cult following

#270

Post by Zancarius »

shostack wrote: post #267
Zancarius wrote: post #240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Oatmeal is great but I can make it faster and better on the stovetop. Just curious: The OP mentioned steel cut oats rather than traditional oatmeal. Did you mean the same as well? The reason I ask is because, while I love steel cut oats, cooking a nice sized batch on the stove can be time consuming, and I don't like the 3-5 minute oats (precooked and/or steamed; lacks the same texture IMO, same reason I don't like…

I posted the 3 Minute Oatmeal recipe straight from the recipe book that comes with the IP below if you're interested [1]. I too am wondering if the parent was talking about precooked/steamed. The recipe that comes with the IP is definitely steel cut and has that great springy bite to it--almost al dente in a way (or QQ as my Chinese friends might say). And my version is 3 minutes of cook time, but there's several min…

That sounds perfect, actually. I love steel cut for the simple reason that their texture is fantastic and the earthier flavor versus regular oats has more complexity and depth. But stove top usually requires persistent attentiveness to avoid boiling over (first 5 minutes) or burning (remaining 15-20). Your post makes me want to buy an IP to try it out, because a mostly hands off cooking process for something like that would be great!

Thanks a bunch!

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