Instant pot recommendations please

[Chaotic45]

I'm very tempted to buy an instant pot. I've done some research and can as far as Mumsnet goes there does seem to be a wide range of opinions on them.

I'd love to hear from people who either love or hate theirs along with the type that they have so I can hopefully choose a good one.

I promise to pop back with a review once I've got one....

[jay55]

I love mine. Use it every week. I have an instant pot duo.
Use the sauté, slow cook and pressure cook but not the other options so wouldn't be swayed by a machine that offers 23 modes over one that offers 5.

[SantaMonicaPier]

I bought a Ninja Foodi instead which is both pressure cooker and air fryer. It's amazing! I can use either function or, e.g, cook pasta then grill cheese on top all in one pot. It will also pressure cooker then crisp up a whole chicken in 45 minutes.

[Knittedfairies]

I think it's worth buying for making risotto easily. I don't use many of the buttons either - just those jay55 mentioned, plus the yoghurt setting for cold-start yoghurt making and proving dough. Makes a cracking rice pudding too...

[StillSmallVoice]

It's great for things like chilli beans, or other pulses. DH is keener on it than me. I find that stews come out with a bit much liquid which needs to be reduced at the end.

At one point during lockdown I found myself with a litre of whole milk so used it to make yoghurt. It was good enough that I did it a couple more times before deciding that life's too short.

[Chaotic45]

Thank you I'll check these two out.

[lifestooshort123]

Thought you meant an instant pot as in... noodle. Shows how much I know.

[Chaotic45]

@lifestooshort123 ah no, not pot noodle! It's a magic pot that potentially could make life easier- given your user name maybe you should check them out .

[McQuilliam]

Instant Pot Duo, absolutely love it. Haven't had it for long but I have used the saute, slow cook and pressure cook settings. Much prefer it to my old slow cooker that it replaced. Makes casseroles/stews/soup beautifully, easy to clean, doesnt steam the kitchen to fog and cooked the Christmas puddings to perfection in 1/4 of the time.

[CovidNightmare]

Bought one when on sale on Amazon late last year, used it once in spring, got an extremely watery stew (Pinch of Nom, Cuban Beef), which everyone grudgingly ate, even though I hardly used any liquid. It was a major faff after turning on saute to try to reduce it (took so long I took the beef and veg out and discarded lots of liquid while doing it) and adding something to try to thicken it a bit.

Disappointing, I haven't used since and it is gathering dust. Need to look at trying it again, but hate the idea of wasting more food when I can just as easily do a stew in the oven/on the hob. It will take longer but I can do in bulk and freeze.

[wowfudge]

I've got the Instant Pot Duo and I'm really happy with it. I've had it three years. I use it for cooking rice, potatoes, quinoa, etc and also stews, pulses, etc steamed puddings, 0 minute chicken. I've also used the yoghurt setting a fair bit.

I'm not going to get the Crisp, which is also an airfryer, as we don't really have a use for an airfryer and it's very expensive.

If you are thinking about buying one soon, I suggest waiting until Black Friday as they usually discount them on Amazon then. No guarantee that will be the case this year, but they done this for the past few years.

I've also got a non stick liner, the glass lid (you can use any that fit for non pressure settings though), a couple of extra seals and a steamer basket and I have a metal pudding basin.

[Chaotic45]

@CovidNightmare ah oh no! I had a feeling it was too good to be true!

[zigzagbetty]

Is the crisp an attachment for the existing instant pot or a completely separate pot? We use ours mainly for mash, risotto, cooking gammon joints and saucy recipes. I have never been able to manage rice in it though!

[GingerAndTheBiscuits]

Use it two or three times a week, Instant Pot duo. There is a very busy Facebook group for recipe ideas and troubleshooting which is worth joining. Lots of talk about vortex/crisp on there which may help you decide.

[wowfudge]

As I understand it the Crisp is a different version - you can't just buy the airfryer lid to convert a standard IP in the UK. There is another brand that sells an airfryer lid which can be used with an IP. However, Instant Pot tell their users that if they get and use this other branded airfryer lid it invalidates their Instant Pot warranty.

If you read the manual and look for tried and tested recipes on the Facebook group you shouldn't have a problem with anything you cook. I've never managed to make anything watery in mine. What you do need to remember are the Golden Rules. Follow those and remember vegetables exude water when cooked and you can't go wrong. It's very straightforward.

[SlipperyLizard]

I have two instant pots, use them every week. Risotto, mac & cheese, chilli, curry, cooking pulses without soaking them.

[wowfudge]

@zigzagbetty - I do white easy cook or basmati rice for 6 minutes with controlled QPR. Two times volume water or stock to rice. For brown rice I do 12 minutes and 22 minutes NPR. I find varieties of rice which need longer cooking are better with a shorter cooking time than some of the methods you see being advocated and a longer NPR. This stops them going mushy.

[Bellesavage]

We have an instant pot duo. It was a replacement for a slow cooker and it is fabulous, far better results than any slow cooker I've had - I use the pressure function mainly. It is great for risotto and makes any meat so so so juicy and tender. In the slow cooker I found everything always dried out but in the IP it's succulent.

It also suits our family better as we alwsy were busy over lunch or not around to put the slow cooker on in time but the IP can do a risotto in 4 mins.

[Chaotic45]

Wow the crisp looks amazing, so expensive though and I'm still not sure!

[Chaotic45]

Bumping to see if anyone else has any suggestions

[sueelleker]

It's brilliant if you forget to take meat out of the freezer; you just programme it in the usual way; and it takes longer to come up to pressure. (This is for stew meat and chicken breasts/thighs; I don't think whole joints/birds do so well)

[FairFridaythe13th]

I have a pressure king pro and it’s pretty good.