Do I need an Instant Pot?

[CrazyOldBagLady]

I've heard a little bit about instant pots and on the blurb they sound quite good. I'm a mum to a very clingy one year old and I look after him more or less single handedly through the week. A big challenge at the moment is making sure we both get three nutritious meals a day. My DS gets upset if I'm ignoring him for too long whilst making food and I sometimes find it hard to make sure he has his evening meal early enough to get to bed on time.

Could an instant pot help in this way or even end up being a hindrance? I'd love to hear from people in a similar position who have one, and any favourite recipes would be great fully received.

Shamelessly bumping for the evening crowd

About as useful as a slow cooker to be honest. Not a life changer but okay for things Like stews, chicken etc that you don’t want to fuss with.

I hate cleaning my glass hob so it’s a winner for me with curry’s and stews. Makes a good biryani type dish and the Christmas ham was lovely.

When my dad told me about his I thought it would only produce meals like in the slow cooker but it really isn’t.
With the veg steaming basket you can make a whole roast dinner pretty much in it, I cook whole chickens, loads of one pot meals, soup. There are loads of recipes out there and it has ended up being something I use loads. I am time poor at the moment so being able to cook good meals quickly and just walk away and leave it to do it’s thing and keep it warm until I get back to it has been great.
It really is a one pot cooker as well because you can brown the meat and fry off the veg in it.

I didn't get on well with mine to begin with, had loads of fails. But it's amazing for risotto. And also for cooking frozen chicken!

www.happyfoodstube.com/instant-pot-chicken-risotto/ This is the recipe I use for the chicken risotto. There's a couple of instant pot groups on FB, and there's loads of recipes on there.

It's not necessarily a massive time-saver as you have to allow the time for it to come up to pressure before it starts cooking, but it's great for bung it in and walk away, using frozen stuff and still a lot quicker than a slower cooker. Unless it overheats!

Following

I have just got one. I made a jambalaya on day 1 and today made steamed egg muffins - kids loved them but they were a bit gloopy for me - probably fine within bread. Tomorrow I am making a bolog for a big party so I hope it goes well.

Next up will be Thai soup

Then curry, stew and a roast chicken are on the list.

Should have said I am pretty pleased with it. I bought it for big party's we go to out of the house and to try to jazz up cooking with new ideas - I am too knackered by the end of the day so prep in advance is good. Ithink it will be good for us.

Along with the stews and casseroles I have made several cheesecakes (A family favourite!) And today I did creme brulee

I love mine. The timer is invaluable for you as you get distracted by your baby.

You need to wait until it's a good price though. It's about £80 on Black Friday. A lot more the rest of the time.

I like it because you can set it to sauté for 5mins, so if the baby needs you the pan won't burn.

You can set it to slow cook or steam or pressure cook for a specific time, then to stay warm. Brilliant for days that don't go to plan. I love getting it set up, walking away and then it's all ready whenever I need it later.

You'll need a freezer, so that the amount you make does several meals.

I have the pressure king pro. Has all the same functions as the instantpot, and quite a bit cheaper. It’s great if you forget to put things on the slow cook in the morning, and the searing function means you don’t have to use two pans.

I love mine. It develops better flavour than a slow cooker does (IMO), and it cooks things like beef stew to perfection.

We eat a lot of pulses and I love that it cooks them in about 35 mins from dried as I always used to forget to soak beans and put them on to cook at the right time.

I'll put leftovers from a roast into it as I clear up after dinner and in 20 mins I have soup for the week. I also use it to make stock from bones.

If you put stuff on earlier in the day most have an automatic keep warm setting too.

Watching with interest. I hated my slow cooker as everything was watery and lacked flavour. Does that mean that i will hate the instapot too?

I bought mine 2 years ago for the same reason you mention OP. I was invariably on my own with my clingy baby (who turned into a clingy 1 year old etc) and I found it really hard to cook.

I use my IP three times a day sometimes! It's been the most useful purchase.

Regular dinners for me & my toddler are
Risotto
Mild curry
Sausage and potato casserole
Mild chili (and rice at same time)
Chicken and random veg stew
Bolognaise
Any pasta & sauce (can cook pasta at same time in sauce)

I also do things like rice/potato/porridge/stewed fruits which isn't necessarily quicker than on the hob but is more consistent and also I can just spend a couple minutes prepping then press a button and leave it all unattended.

I don't really know of the food is necessarily better than if I cooked it "normally" but tbh the fact it takes me usually about 5 minutes to prep and then i can return in 10/15/20 minutes makes it absolutely worthwhile.

Also, I can safely reheat frozen meals (from batch cooking). Usually just pop it in with a bit of water, st it to 15 mins and return when ready. That's good as (a) no faffing with microwave and (b) feel confident it's been reheated well.

My tips are to buy frozen diced onion etc and frozen ready prepped veg to use, as well as a microwave steamer for whatever veg you'll serve on the side. Just means everything is easy!

I got mine in the black Friday sale. I'd been waiting for the price to drop!
I'm pleased I bought it, it does cook things quickly but you need to add 10 mins at the start to bring things to pressure and if cooking meat allow a natural release in pressure.

For me it's not the speed but convenience of putting it on and not having to watch. The keep warm feature is really useful too.

As an aside doing boiled eggs is great as they are so easy to peel!!

I like being able to poach 6 eggs at a time! I use silicon muffin cases.

I love mine, it's way, way more useful than a slowcooker. Speed, lack of cooking smells and splatters, not needing to stir, it's great.

I still use my slow cooker but only for huge shoulders of lamb that don't fit in the IP!

I love it! I used mine tonight to quickly double proof some dough on the yogurt setting. Also used it for brisket (somehow never pulled this off when slow cooking - always ended up tough), pulled pork, bolognese, lentil soup, curry etc etc. I got it on sale, even then was pricey for a kitchen gadget, but it’s more than justified the cost.

Yes, the yogurt setting is perfect for proving dough, makes great yogurt too.

I hated my slow cooker. It made everything watery and the same
I love the instant pot. It makes curries and stews taste like they have been cooking for hours, a real depth of flavour

Thanks everyone for the opinions on the IP, I think I will order one. Are there any useful accessories that I should look at like steamer type thingies?

I've got a taller trivet/egg stand with a steamer basket and veg divider on its way. The FB group reckon it's good value!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07F8J9F68/ref=ohauiidetailpageo022s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

You also want something stainless steel that can sit in it to do pot in pot cooking (eg rice above a curry). It needs to be no more than 18cm wide.