To want to spend 120 quid on an instant pot?

[etzy]

Everyone seems to be raving about it so I am terribly tempted! Mind u, I already have a traditional pressure cooker.

I am fascinated by trying different recipes and buying different cuts of meat and cooking them in the oven for hours and hours! The longer it cooks, the better it taste imo.

So should I bite the bullet? Dump my 1-yr old pressure cooker and buy the instant pot? Or shall I opt for a cheaper slow cooker instead.

There is a pressure King pro that is much cheaper?! I prefer to use slow cooker of use the hob but these look to be quite good but I can never make up my kind what to cook in time mostly!

I bought mine from Amazon in September for £98 don't know why it's gone up. You can buy Instant Pot in Costco for about £70.

And yes everything MN says about it is true. Super easy casseroles, soups, pot roasts, either slow cook or pressure cook. I've made boeuf bourguignon, beef stroganoff, chicken casserole with white wine, lemon, herbs and olives, lamb tagine, lamb pot roast in 90 mins, chicken korma etc.

I had an old conventional pressure cooker but I've thrown it out - this is quiet.

Instant Pot was the only one of its type I could find that didn't have non-stick lining. (Nothing ever sticks to it anyway).

Wish I'd bought one before!

What is so amazing about it is that it produces very tender meat in such a short time with very little faff.

I can't stand microwaved food and don't possess one, it's nice to be able to cook expedited meals without nuking food.

None of the other ones are IP's. They are different machines.

Argh, this is driving me mad!

The Instant Pot is a gadget that basically allows you to cook at a wider range of temperatures at normal pressure, AND to pressure cook. It will hold a temperature low enough to make yoghurt or to slow cook, but you can also sizzle stuff in there on a high heat to brown it. And you can cook at different pressures as well.

It is totally different to a slow cooker or a soup maker because it's so versatile.

@SelmaAndJubjub ...nope

I have tried it all...rinsing, soaking, not rinsing, not soaking, into boiling water, cold water, lots of water, rice plus one inch of water, lid on, lid off, steaming,... ALL OF IT.
My mastermind specialist subject could be VariousWays to Cook Rice

I simply cannot reliably produce decent rice.
Risotto or Rice pudding excepted. :o

I've got one but don't really get on with it that well but keep it for doing risotto. I find everything comes out a bit watery and with a similar background taste. I've tried bolognese and various casseroles. If you use wine then even after boiling off the alcohol it still seems to taste vinegary.

I do however use it for risotto. That is absolutely brilliant. Sauté leeks, add rice and sauté again then chuck in twice as much stock as rice by volume and a couple of frozen salmon steaks. Pressure cook for 7 mins. Beat in Parmesan. Delicious.

statue - have you tried this?

www.deliaonline.com/recipes/type-of-dish/entertaining/how-to-cook-perfect-rice

It is the only way I've ever produce perfect, fluffy rice which is done to perfection. The key is not to boil it.

Instant pot risotto - after much experimenting, I have found (by accident) that the thing to do is to cook this as in the recipe, but then to leave it for at least 5-10 minutes on the coolest setting. The wateriness gets absorbed and you end up with lovely thick rice.

whiskyowl ..yes...If it is out there I have tried it

I just presume that one day I WILL be able to do it, I have on rare occasion cooked decent rice, it is just the utter unpredictability of it! I would NEVER cook rice for anyone coming to dinner

I used to be iffy about yorkshire puddings too, but over the past few years I have been given the gift, and they are like enormous floofy clouds of golden battery goodness every single time

and on balance yorkshires are more important to me than rice, so I never cook plain boiled rice. :o

@StatueInTheSky

I use the old Jamie Oliver method to do rice. It’s fool proof. Boil the rice for 10 mins. Drain. Put some water back in the pot. Put the strainer with rice in it on top, cover with a tea towel and let it steam for 5 mins. Perfect fluffy rice.

I use it loads, but be aware that nothing reduces at all, so the sautee function is actually quite useful at the end if it's all a bit too liquidy. I tend to meal prep dry ingredients on shopping day and freeze in bags in recipe combos and use frozen stock, so mine needs reducing once the stock has melted. When I did this in my slow cooker all day, the sauce would thicken but not in the IP.

I gave the Heston one and it has a reduce function

OK so I knew nothing about this kitchen utensil and now I want one!!!

Question.... if making a spag bol, can I just chuck the mince in and it comes out lump free?

beast, can’t you just use less stock? (Or do you buy frozen?)

I find everything comes out a bit watery and with a similar background taste. I've tried bolognese and various casseroles. If you use wine then even after boiling off the alcohol it still seems to taste vinegary

Excuse me for stating the bleedin' obvious but if it's coming out watery then you've used too much water. In that case you just put it on sauté and cook off the water; or you whip out the meat, reduce the stock and thicken with flour (gluten free if preferred).

Don't add wine before you pressure cook as the alcohol can't evaporate. I reduce the wine and add at the end.

My tagines definitely don't taste the same as my kormas, bourguinons, tarragon chicken etc.

If my stuff is too watery I just sauté for a short while, always does the trick.

If it comes out watery you've put too much liquid in. And if it all has the same taste you need to wash it better. including the seal.

And use fresh herbs to flavour.

Wait for Black Friday or the run up to Christmas. Last year Amazon sold the recent one for £69.99 sorry can't remember the model without logging on to my account.

If you've got Amazon account, check if you're eligible for their extra credit gift card and top up offers. Have a look on Hotukdeals where you can find the link. I can recall 3 recent ones on Amazon. It's only worth it if you're planning to buy stuffs on Amazon especially in the run up to Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Christmas.

1. Gift card purchase of £30 -> £6 credit
2. Pay point in store top up of £20 -> £5 credit
3. Online top up of £25 -> £5 credit

There are used by dates for the credit and must be product stock/sold by Amazon and not FBA.

I use the IP every evening had it around 18m and find it amazing and cooking more pulses and lentils from dry than I ever would have done.

Veggie Ragu and curries- the sauté setting which browns meat before pressure cooking is brilliant. Perfect rice 1:3 rice to water manual for 7 Minutes.
Pasta is really fantastic either cook up veggies in tomato sauce and add pasta manual for 7 Minutes. Perfect mash manual for 15 Minutes. Steamed puddings etc....

As PP mentions the fact you can leave it unattended is the best bit.

When I ordered online amazon made a mistake and sent me two when I tried to return one they said the second was mine to keep. Probably a good thing as not sure I could be without mine now so glad to have a spare!

I never find anything too watery or lacking in flavour, if anything it has more flavour than cooking on the hob!

I love mine. It was the best £120 I've spent, and I use it at least twice a week, more in the winter. Much better than a slow cooker IMO, and easier to use than a hob pressure cooker. I love the fact that it has a timer option, so it's like the best of both a slow and pressure cooker.

tattiehat, you will need to saute and break the mince up first, with onions, garlic, etc. Then add sauce/tomatoes and pressure cook.