Anyone with an instapot?

[Satsuma1234]

With it? Good deal on prime today but I don’t know if I should jump or not!

i LOVE my pressure cooker!

"(As an aside, Waitrose Essentials are THE best porridge oats, much nicer than the expensive ones.)"

I disagree, Aldi Organic jumbo oats are good!

Tempted to buy one now!

I use my PC (PressureKingPro) in place of a slow cooker - I pressure cook anything that might have been slow cooked before (casseroles/curries) and use the slow cook/keep warm function for keeping things warm until needed

I also use it to 'soak' dried beans and pulses in around 7 minutes, rather than leaving to soak overnight. (cook on high pressure for 3-4 minutes, drain.. then use as you would soaked beans)

Makes great pulled pork, beef casseroles etc in under and hour. Much more flavoursome than slow cooked ones.

Turkey drumsticks are good in the PC to make stews/soups - as the meat slides off the bone :)

I don't use it for thing like porridge or veg, as that only takes a few minutes in the hob anyway - so seems an utter faff. And you don't save that much time cooking broccoli (or whatever)

BUT! it is amazing!

There is no reason to avoid the Instant Pot non stick liners. They do not represent a danger to health.

I don't use it for thing like porridge ... as that only takes a few minutes in the hob anyway - so seems an utter faff.

Aaaah but it is so much better!

But then, when I used to do porridge on the hob, it used to take at least half an hour anyway - so much nicer if you cook it slowly.

Can you get liners that work in a pressure king pro? I’ve made way too many curries in mine and if I make porridge I k own it would have a curry flavour (which may be interesting).

Jumping in here to say I DON’T like the Instant Pot.

I’ve been a normal pressure cooker owner for over 10 years and love my 2 Lagostinas which also do duty as my daily saucepans for whatever. When used on an induction hob as a timer you have all the control you need. And no huge appliance on the counter.

In June I had a bit of spare cash so bought one out of curiosity to see if it really was so much better with all the pre-programmed recipes and variable pressure settings. Here, in order of importance, are my gripes.

1. IT TAKES AGES TO COME TO PRESSURE. 15/20 minutes if cooking from frozen. That often negates any time saving advantages. Remember that all recipes give their timings from button-up. A traditional hob top PC takes 5 minutes on induction.
2. PRESET RECIPES ARE TOO STRONG. I prefer a bit of bite left in my veg, grains, soup and the IP reduces them to baby food. So that feature isn’t for me.
3. SEAR ISN’T STRONG ENOUGH! Even though, going from memory, the IP is 1000 watts, the sear function is too slow to do a good job of soffritto or browning of meat for stew etc. This affects the taste of the whole recipe.
4. YOGHURT was a disappointment. With the time and energy expenditure you’re better off using a thermos flask. I do this to make full fat UHT milk Greek yoghurt without the plastic or hidden sugar. The lactose in the milk is enough. Boil your milk, cool it and add yoghurt starter. Flask overnight and into the fridge. No brainer.
5. HARD BOILED EGGS. 5 (no, see point 1) +5+5. What a faff. I only need maximum 2 at a time.
6. FACEBOOK GROUPS. Apart from Jeffrey in New York whose enthusiasm is contagious and who uses foil packages to maintain texture in his one pot meals. Those places are death by stew. I can only face so many pictures of overcooked shredded meat and flabby pasta dishes.

6.THE SIZE. It’s too big to have dedicated cupboard room and I know that if I left it in the garage I’d never use it again. So it has been sitting on the counter taking up valuable working space. We call it the anti tank bomb.

Now the good points.

1. IT DOESN’T HISS in use.
2. THE CHEESECAKE. I never made cake in my other PC, but no doubt I could.

So, having already explored the advantages of pressure cooking before the Instant Pot, I can honestly say it has not improved my life and it will probably get sold on quite soon.

I 💓 mine. I was given a huge slab of marble as a chopping board and this sits on one of the back rings on my stovetop so my pressure cooker it sitting there.

And I have a separate egg boiler/omelette maker/poacher too.

Just to balance Sgtmajormummy's post:

1. You can just walk away and leave the IP to do it's thing. It comes to pressure then it cooks at pressure with no intervention. The length of time to come to pressure depends on quantities inside, including liquids and the temp of the contents. I have never stood over it waiting for it to come to pressure. The clock tells you how long there is before cooking time is completed and there's an audible alarm. It also has a keep warm function.
2. I don't use that either, but cooking times are all adjustable anyway so just adjust to your preference. You don't have to use the defaults. Plus if you are above, at or below sea level, the time to come to pressure can vary and therefore cooking times will too.
3. There are three temperature settings for saute - you just adjust to 'more' for browning meat.
4. What energy expenditure? UHT milk in cold with a couple of tablespoons of live yoghurt mixed in. Stick a lid or a plate on top. Switch on yoghurt setting. Walk away. Do this overnight and the yoghurt is ready for breakfast.
5. I don't see the point of doing hardboiled eggs in it but they are supposedly easier to peel done in the IP. Could be worth it for a large quantity.
6. Depends entirely on the size of your kitchen. We have space in a cupboard for it, but I tend to leave it out for convenience. Stove top pressure cookers are big too compared with other pans!

I was always scared to have a conventional stove top pressure cooker. There are lots of safety features with the IP and it's easy to use. The one thing I wish it had was a flat bottom to the liners for sauteing, but it's a minor gripe. It works perfectly well. We gave my elderly dad one for Christmas as he's a keen cook and has always used stove top pressure cookers but has a tendency to forget about things or fall asleep so an IP is safer for him.

It's brilliant you will never look back!

I love being able to cook from frozen; so I don't have to decide in the morning what I want for dinner.

@Sgtmajormummy

Not just me then? I’m massively underwhelmed by mine! It’s a good rice cooker though.

& people get very affronted if you don’t like it...

I would never want a stove top pressure cooker, one of the things I like best about the IP is that you can set it up and go out to come back to your dinner waiting for you.

Oh and no problems with sautéing properly here, just adjust the setting, mine browns meat very well, also softens onions properly.

To the people saying regular pressure cookers are heavy and scary, wouldn’t you like this in your life?

Nope, happy with the electric one thanks. Can't get excited about how a pan looks tbh.

Can anyone recommend anyone any decent recipe sites? I have googled and Youtubed and theres so much information out there! Thank you

Yep, mine gets a lot of use. Great for rice pudding, stews, chillis etc. You can also make cheesecakes. Go for it!

Delta - sign up for official FB group as the recipes there are tried and tested. You'll also find out which sites and blogs members recommend as reliable.

Delta there’s a really good Facebook page for UK Instant Pot users where recipes are shared and stored.

I couldn’t be without mine, it’s used most days.
Has anyone mentioned the cheesecakes yet?

I’m really hoping that we get the mini one here before too long.

Thanks very much. Will take a look at those.

@Whitney168 Hi there - I tried to reply to your pm the other day, but couldn't and can't today either so I'm posting on the thread instead.

I do two or three litres of UHT milk in cold and stir in a tablespoon of live yoghurt per litre of milk. Switch on to yoghurt and adjust the time up to 10 hours. I figure the 8 hour setting is for already warm milk so give it longer from cold.

Let it do its thing overnight then put the liner in the fridge to chill and then strain to make it thicker if you prefer - I use kitchen roll in a sieve over a bowl for straining.

You can use any UHT milk but the higher the fat content the thicker the yoghurt generally.

Only just seen this @wowfudge - thank you! Have bought some whole milk UHT, will give it a go.