To tell you all about my Instant Pot electric pressure cooker?

[lougle]

In ridiculously sad excited. I got given an Instant Pot Duo 60 for Christmas and it is utterly fantastic!

I cooked a cheesecake in 25 minutes. It's delicious. Then I pot roasted a 2kg joint of beef in 45 minutes -beautifully tender and still just ever so slightly rare in the middle.

Disaaaaaassterrrr.

Mine arrived today and spent yonks making the cheesecake. Damn thing kept saying it was overheating. I was demented and my swirls are ruined from hauling the bloody cheesecake out of the pot constantly whilst fending off a 1 year old and boobing a newborn.

After googling, I realised I had to add 2 cups of water to the bottom of the pot

My big plans for beef stew maybe out the window as have to getvDS from nursery now but might be able to get it in whilst yet have their tea

Oh no Gobbolino! Easy mistake to make. Fingers crossed the beef is a bit more successful. At least you know your IP safety mechanisms are working!

Come home from nursery to a water logged cheesecake!!!!

A aargh - this is turning me from a good cook into a shit one!

Could I cook chicken basque in it?

Which is chicken things/legs.. brown rice, red peppers and onions, stock and a bit of wine.

So from reading this I can just throw everything in, but wouldn't the chicken and rice need different pressure or time or whatever?

Don't think I'm really getting this, but I'm close to buying one anyway.

I'm also not sure the 7 in 1 amazon one would hold enough food for 7 of us.

Apparently mine has left the warehouse!

U2, I have the 7 in 1 and there is plenty of room for a family of 4 (2 adults, 2DC) with lots left over. You can definitely cook chicken risotto in it, so chicken basque should be ok if you get the timings right. Brown rice even better as it takes longer than white, so more close to the time that the chicken will take to cook. I use high pressure for everything.

Right - the beef is in. Delicious magazine recipe says 40 mins for 1.5kgs. I remain to be convinced.

The pot and I are staring balefully at each other. 20 minutes to go. Could be beans on tOadt for DH and me. I will report back .

Is it on high pressure? Unless the recipe is for a pressure cooker you need to at least halve the time. It is no issue with stopping it earlier and checking on it.

On high pressure.

Just caved and put some emergency frozen pizzas in the oven.

It's stopped cooking (on manual) bit I'm
Really struggling with working out when you can open the lid after a "natural release". Tried opening the vent to see what is what but had liquid spraying out so quickly shut it

The manual doesnt make it clear (to me) how exactly you can tell once it has "naturally released" and is safe to open.

I really want to love this but by the time you've had the heating up time and then the faffing around waiting for a "natural release", I think it would be quicker and less stressful to stick whatever it is in the oven

Anyway, we have some waterlogged cheesecake to look forward to for after . No idea what went wrong there as it was in the trivet and everything. I had only added 2 USA cups of water as instructed on another instant pot site.

Mine arrived today and is in bits in the kitchen. I've had a little nap and I'm going to pop to the shop and then I'm ready to try steaming some frozen salmon fillets.

Heady days!

OK

After my previous rather negative posts, we have managed to get the lid off and the meat is brill. So tender. The sauce is pretty watery (although I added flour) but I've thickened it up by boiling for a bit in sauté with some extra cornflour. I think I may have filled the pot too full. So will remember for next time

Cheesecake is delicious but has a soggy bottom

lougle - how much water do you put in with yours?

Ps - any tips for working out when "natural release" has been effected gratefully received!

Gobbolino, with natural release you will notice the metal valve on top has gone down and you can open the lid easily. You will get used to it I promise! The first couple of times are a little fraught and trial and error, it is a different way of cooking to grasp.

I quick release most things and to do this I turn the plastic valve with a tea towel on top. You are only meant to natural release with meats like lamb and possibly beef that might get tough with quick release otherwise, but I havent found that yet.

Gobbolino did you put the tin on the trivet? Did you put foil around the base? (Not essential) and did you use a folded strip of foil as a sling? (That makes lifting it out easier).

I put 1.5-2 cups of water in the bottom, trivet, then I sit the tin on a bit of foil and fold it up the side, then a folded foil strip (long enough to come above the tin on both sides) underneath the tin -lower in onto the trivet.

The water on top of the cheesecake is very normal -just blot it gently with kitchen towel and trust it to be OK.

My first dish, celeriac soup, was a massive success, WHOOP!

Very easy to saute then set to 5 minutes while I took the cat to the vet. And it even kept it warm for me. That is REALLY useful.

Now I've got a bolognese sauce in it. I'd usually cook it for about 2 hours, but decided on 35 mins. I'm a bit concerned about how the texture of the mince will turn out - I hate slow cooked mince as it just goes soft and disintegrates. I'm hoping pressure cooked mince will retain some texture?

Also, slow cooked bolly IME comes out sweeter than stove top with the same ingredients and I prefer a more savoury flavour, so I'm interested to see compare the difference between normal/slow/pressure cooking.

Lougle I wish I'd read your tip about liquid before I switched it on, not sure I've judged it right, but top tip, thanks!

Thanks Lougle

I did everything bar foil around the base.

I wonder if it's the tin? My mum thinks it might not have a good seal between the base and the sides perhaps?

snoot - I wonder about the bolognaise too. I find slow cooker ones awful. I usually make mine in the oven though - Delia recipe.

Gobbolino the texture on the meat is good! I think not as complex flavours as I usually manage, but that could be a number of factors.

That is what is making me hesitate about buying one. I cook lots of my food for a long time in the oven and it really brings out the flavour and makes a lovely reduced sauce. I don't need to save time either because I have plenty of that. On the other hand it could replace my slow cooker which I do use for a few dishes, but is a bit on the small size. I also cook a lot of rice, so that feature would get used. Ahhhhh.

I can see your dilemma fire.

My still says processing , how long did everyone's take to arrive? I ordered it from the instant pot website directly.

I just wonder what it is about pressure cookers that doesn't require you to defrost a chicken. They sound absolutely wonderful and I definitely want one, but can you just reassure me about frozen stuff?

Purplehazed food cooks quicker under pressure. To get to pressure water has to turn to steam and remain in the steam state.

So the process goes something like:

Water is cold, chicken is frozen: no pressure.
Water is warm, chicken is frozen: no pressure.
Water boils, steam is made but then condenses when it touches the frozen chicken, chicken starts to thaw: no pressure.
Water boils, steam is made, chicken is thawed but cold: no pressure
Water boils, steam is made, chicken is not cold enough to condense the steam into water, steam builds: pressure!
Chicken cooks.

That's a bit long winded, but basically, the colder the starting temperature of the food to be cooked, the longer it takes to get to pressure. By the time it's up to pressure, it is thawed and ready to be cooked.

Thanks for explaining it se well Lougle, this sounds brilliant for me because I'm always forgetting to take meat out of the freezer the night before.