To be scared of an instant pot?

[ferriswheel]

I really, really, really want one. But im intimidated by how many instructions ill have to follow so that i actually make good use of it. And, i dont understand why its better than a crock pot. Also, is it not just a displacement of food prep time, rather than helpful?

No Beef and Tomato, Scarlottie?!

I love mine. I haven't used my oven in two years now.

this seems to be the best value. You could have had 88 at this price Golden.

Never had a Pot Noodle!

Maggi for me.

But Golden, I just love the idea of being all efficient in the kitchen, pressing the buttons and out pops a risotto. But its expensive if that's all I'd actually cook in it.

I haven't bought anything else. Maybe I am doing it wrong.

I love cooking, sometimes!
I love my IP. I bought it in July and it has been used most days since.

Mostly for 'poached' eggs, bolognaise sauces, sausage casserole, risottos (worth it for these alone) and chicken. Have also tried creme caramels (worked fine, just don't like them, thought the children would but no!) Sponge puddings, good but naughty.
It does take time to get to pressure and release pressure, but it's still significantly quicker for somethings and much easier for things like risotto. It's a different style of cooking that takes some getting used to but it's not nearly as intimidating as pressure cookers from years ago.

Ha! Golden, that's funny!

I just bought it and use it. I've never made cheesecake in it. I didn't get the cult joining memo.

I can cook a whole ham in 3o mins and a casserole in an hour that tastes like its been in an oven all day. And it makes perfect rice. Thats all I need to know!

I'm scared it'll blow up. Having said that, this afternoon I may well try a chilli!

Why would it blow up? It's not an old style stove top pressure cooker, if anything goes wrong there are safety cut-outs.

I use mine everyday almost it is the simplest item I have just whack it in and press one button.
The food doesn't go to mush and you can genuinely cook a slow cooked meal (often from frozen as i forget to take stuff out) in 30 minutes

i use mine so much.

it's not scary like old fashioned pressure cookers, it barely makes any noise or steam ....unless you have to do a quick pressure release, but then

for risotto it's probably not any quicker, but you can leave it to get on with itself and have a sit down instead of gently steaming yourself over a pot of boiling rice.

it's fab for everything else. And it plays a little cheery helpful tune when the lid goes on.

There's a bit of a learning curve particularly if you've not used a pressure cooker before but it's dead easy once you've used it a few times. It's not at all scary like a traditional stove top pressure cooker.

Is it worth it? Speed for doing things like stews is great - making them things you can easily put together when you get home from work rather than something that needs hours in the oven. I also find the "set it and forget it" aspect massively helpful - I often throw something in for dinner when I get home from work, put the DCs to bed and when I come down, whenever that is, it's done!

I've alleviated my fear of an instant pot by looking up a thermomix. Holy crap, they do look complicated.

Are there any tips on not creating mush?

I love my instant pot - we eat a lot of pulses and it cooks all kind of beany dishes in 35-40 minutes, no pre-soaking required.

I made Asian pork with belly pork which I usually slow cook for 2 hours - it was ready in 40 minutes and delicious.

We've made beef curries, Bolognese, beef in red wine, lots of soup, cooked a whole chicken, brilliant rice pudding.

It doesn't rattle and shake, and you can get away with most stuff just using generic meat/stew, soup, poultry etc buttons on the front.

The only thing I had to adjust to was using less liquid in a recipe than I normally would because it doesn't evaporate.

Mumsnetters really REALLY love the Instant Pot - which is why we made a page about why they rate it plus another page on the recipes they make with it. Hope it's helpful!

I love mine and use it loads. Really easy and not scary at all.

I love that I can just chuck everything in frozen and can have, for instance, a lovely curry that seems like it's been slow cooked in half an hour.

There is a steep learning curve - I made a few mistakes at first. I I though you did exactly the same as a slow cooker - you use less liquids than slow cookers. I still haven't realised it's full potential.
I love that you can fry your onions off/ brown you meat in the same pot so there is less mess. I still use the slow cooker option for certain things.

I still haven't got to grips with making porridge for a whole family in it!

I really like the Instant Pot.

1. It's very safe. It has many safety features which work together so that the worst thing that can happen, even if a toddler has at it, is that it will shut off. it will not explode.
2. Most recipes come out nicer than they would if they were cooked in the slow cooker:

www.seriouseats.com/2016/10/why-pressure-cookers-are-better-than-slow-cookers.html

1. The speed of cooking isn't what made me a fan. It's the fact that I can throw something in the Instant Pot in the morning, set the timer and come home to a good cooked meal without that funny slow cooker metallic taste.

A whole chicken, from frozen, cooked in about an hour (including the time it takes for the pot to come to pressure)...total game changer for the perpetually unorganized, (a.k.a. me).