To send back a gift because I’m a rubbish cook?

[Imustbemad00]

Somebody brought me a electric pressure cooker as I’d been talking about wanting one.
I have no idea what to do with it. Tried to use it and failed miserably. Instructions are rubbish. Google is not helping.
Is it rude to send it back so it doesn’t end up gathering dust? Does anybody have one and know how on Earth you suss our cooking times for things?
Everyone says they’re brilliant 😩 must just be me

Tried to use it and failed miserably.

Tell us a bit more about what went wrong.

Did you not put the lid on or did it explode or what else could be wrong? Worst case, it becomes another saucepan. We might be able to help you make delicious meals pretty quickly.

It would be really rude to return. Just learn how to use it!

I'm with @AudacityOfHope, just learn how to use it! Why say you wanted one in the first place?

1. Send s note saying how thrilled with it you are

1. Learn some maners.

1. Learn to use the item.

I've heard it all now. But perhaps not. Christmas 1997 got a mg from mil to say sil would have preferred the photo of her parents to have been in a lighter frame if I ever sent another one.
Christmas 98 got a msg to say if I bought sil's baby vests or babygros again they had to be pure cotton as it was hot in Adelaide. They were the v fine cotton M&S ones with embroidered appliques.

Guess what OP? I decided sil was so ill mannered I never sent anything ever again.

If it's an instant pot, learn to use it. It's fabulous. Seriously, once you've got to grips with it (and it's really not difficult, just Google the cooking times) it's life changing. Putting food in to cook and then being completely hands off until it's done. There's a FB group as well that's very helpful with lots of recipes and general support.

Which one is it? Maybe posters on here can help.

You've used it now!

You can't return a used gift, what are they supposed to do with it?

Presumably as well youve tried multiple times?

It wouldn’t be rude if you knew the context and who gave it to me. They would use it themselves.
I’ve tried looking it up online but it’s really not clear how long things should be cooked for and how to adjust depending on amounts. I’m generally only cooking for two and the recipes are for 4. The amount of liquid seems important and affects cooking time.
It’s a crock pot.

For example. The default rice setting is 12 mins, it says jist press rice button to do rice. Somewhere else it says for 2 cups of rice cook for 6 mins.
I tried one cup and 3 mins and it was awful.
The instructions are crap, cooking times are for amounts that wouldn’t apply to me. A lot of the online stuff is for a different brand.
I get there’s probably some trial and error involved but I can’t afford to throw food away.

But you’re so lucky, there’s loads you can do with it!

You said you wanted one...of course it’s rude

I use my slow cooker (pressure cookers give me an unreasonable fear of exploding lids!) with recipes for 4 or 6 and I'm only cooking for 2 adults and a toddler. I Tupperware and freeze portions. Is that an option for you? So you don't have to adjust recipes and cooking times?

It would always be rude to return it.

Ask people on a Facebook group for pressure cookers how long you need.

I think rice is a difficult thing to start with. People I know who cook a lot of rice seem to use specific rice cookers. Try something hard to ruin like curry or stew.

You can't do an AIBU. Then when everyone says you are unreasonable say "actually if you knew this specific set of circumstances that im not going to say it wouldn't be unreasonable "

Waste of everyone's time really, you clearly don't know if it's okay to give it back or you wouldn't start a thread on it.

If you were so keen at the beginning just spend some time giving it a go, like the above poster start with curries and things

It wouldn’t be rude if you knew the context and who gave it to me

So why are you asking if you know it's not rude due to some mysterious circumstances that can't be revealed?

@BlueCornsihPixie knew someone would say that

Start a thread about 'basic pressure cooker/instant pot recipes'. Loads of us will jump on to help.

Rice: equal volume rice and water. Pressure cook 0 mins. Wait for the pressure to leak away on its own (natural pressure release NPR) then stir and serve.

You need to get an idea how it works, then it's easy.

The time is based on how long it is held at pressure. So 0mins will still take about 15 mins, depending how much rice you are cooking.

All times start after the pot has got up to pressure. If you are cooking a big piece of meat, it will take longer to get up to pressure but the same length of time at pressure. So you don't need to programme it differently.

I love to cook but I hate my instant pot. I'm going to give it away. There are tons of websites and recipe books but it doesn't feel like cooking - more like following some engineering process. (release steam, press button etc). Not for me. The rice function is rubbish. After trying to make rice last night and it yet again going wrong, I ordered a cheap rice cooker like I used to have and am going to give the instant pot to a friend.

@picklemepopcorn Thank you