Considering an Instant Pot...

[Thorilicious]

Are they worth it? What kind of recipes can you do in them please?

I love my IP and use it several times a week. To the pp who mentioned that everything comes out watery, when I cook diced meat (usually beef) for a curry using a shop brought sauce, I cook the meat in water only then drain and add the jars of sauce.

I love ours. It is absolutely brilliant. The mashed potato is unbelievably potatoes and delicious.

*potatoey

I researched it for over a year before buying. It's been fantastic. My DH (who does most of the cooking) uses it all the time. I reckon it gets used about 8 times a week and sometimes 2 or 3 times a day!

It uses less electricity than an oven so that's handy.

You do have to adapt oven recipes by reducing the liquid if you don't want them to come out watery. Or reduce them afterwards. But I find that whatever I want to make someone has adapted it for the IP already and posted the recipe online.

Oh yes - you need one! I have the pressure king pro (there are loads of others on the market) and mine stays out on the worktop because I use it so much. You just need to remember that the liquid isn’t ‘steamed off’ so add less that you normally would.

You have to add a certain amount of liquid though or it overheats. I can’t just chuck a tin of tomatoes in. Then it draws water from any veg you include. And of course it doesn’t reduce at all. I haven’t really enjoyed anything like bolognese or curry that I’ve tried in it.

Any good vegetarian recipes please? Just got one!

I bought one a year ago, thought I would love it and have used it twice.

Makes brilliant Dahl! Also good for soups and rice actually comes out ok!

When I make bolognese I use the trivet in the bottom with 2 cups water or stock then the meat and veg and seasonings but no tomatoes. I add Tom paste and a tin of tomatoes at the end when it's finished otherwise I found it wasn't coming up to pressure. It was some thing to do with the thickness of the sauce.

I love mine. I hate slow cookers because everything ends up watery and mushy
The instant pot makes food taste like its been cooking for hours. A real depth of flavour

I love mine and use it all the time. It is a bit of a knack getting things less watery and thickened but we have some lovely stuff

Does it have a reduce setting?

I'm thinking of getting one to replace my slow cooker which makes things too watery.

I would love to be able to do no effort risotto as well. Do you put it on in the morning on a timer? Or let it cook and keep warm?

It’s marvellous at gathering dust. And making badly cooked rice.

Im going against the grain here but I sent mine back after a fortnight. I bought it after recommendations on here, but just couldnt get on with it.

Id make a bolognese or curry, that i would make easily in my slow cooker, but it would either overcook and burn or not cook enough. Final straw was a chilli that was in the slow cooker mode for around 8 hours, but was no more than luke warm and nowhere near as good as it had been in the slow cooker.

I bought one for my dsis and bil one Christmas. They both work full time outside the home. I work from home so it feels like it would be too much of a luxury???

I got one after reading all the hype about it and although I'm impressed with the pressure cooker side for cooking meat like a whole chicken, I'm yet to do anything else I'm impressed with. Like others have said, I've just had very watery casseroles. Maybe I need to get a decent recipe book (as one that came with it was dreadful)

I’ve got one in the cupboard but I’m scared to use it!

Best kitchen gadget I've ever had. I use it 4/5 times a week. I make yoghurt in it a couple of times a week too.

I dont really understand the people who say the food was always horrible.

I've had people rave about stuff I've cooked in it

The only thing I can't seem to get right is Pulled Pork.

Another Ninja Foodi fan here!! I've stopped using my oven now, the Foodi does everything. It's so fast, too.

The recipe book it comes with is terrible. Your best bet is the Internet. I only use consistently recorded recipes on sites where some recipes have terrible reviews so that I can be confident they are mostly genuine.

You do have to be careful about liquid as you need some to stop your meal burning but not as much as you would have in the oven or on the hob. It takes a bit of time to get used to cooking with it. Tomatoes may burn if they are on the bottom and then you get an error message and it stops working so I tend to add them last and put them on top of the rest of the food. But it is the same with a slow cooker.

I haven't used the slow cooker function yet and probably won't. I did have a slow cooker and did try it but I don't want to prep and start a meal in the morning and then spend ages reducing it when I get home. What I want is to come home at 7ish, chop stuff up, put it in the IP, and sit down an hour and a half later to a stew that tastes as if it has cooked deliciously slowly in the oven for 4 hours.

The other thing about the IP is that the saute function is comparable to the hob and means that I can actually brown and cook down ingredients before pressure cooking.

It is well worth getting to grips with, seriously.

I love my instant pot and use it A LOT. Risottos are amazing and so easy, it's also amazing for brisket, ham and soups. Our electricity bill dropped after we got it as we had the oven on less.

A few friends have got them on my recommendation- one friend's oven broke on Christmas Eve and she managed Christmas dinner with her instant pot and a borrowed air fryer!

For the slow cooker function, you need to get it up to temperature first or it just doesn't seem to work. If you use sauté to fry things off first and then switch to slow cooker then it works a charm.

I also make yogurt in it a few times a week.