We’ve ordered an Instant Pot

[CruCru]

Do you have one? What do you like to make in it?

I used to have a slow cooker, which was great for making stock and mulling wine.

I made savoury oats this morning in my pot, and topped them with garlic mushrooms and a fried egg.

Thank you grannycake

I tried that butter chicken from upthread last night.

It was absolutely gorgeous.

Made Shakshuka today, it's an egg dish for breakfast and it's in the official IP cookbook. It was really nice I'd have it again

I've just made tomato soup with the last glut of tomatoes from my allotment.

It took ten minutes to cook and tasted like a bowlful of summer. Delicious.

I used tomatoes, onions, olive oil, fresh basil, a splash of red wine, salt and pepper.

Quick question - has anyone ever cooked a frozen beef joint in their IP?

If so, how many minutes per gram do you cook it for?

TIA

Question - if a normal recipe says to simmer/reduce down a glass of wine, can you chuck it in without reducing it? And if a recipe (like a lasagne recipe) calls for 500ml of stock, also to be reduced, how much would you put in?

Wine - I'd put in in and then use the saute setting to reduce it a bit before setting it to pressure. For mince based dishes, I don't measure the liquid (either in the IP or on the hob) but would probably put a bit less than usual in the IP and reduce it at the end, again using saute.

Made green tomato chutney in mine today (just using it as a large pan on saute) then cooked a joint of beef for dinner while we were out for the afternoon.

The beef wasn't frozen Mawkish - so not sure about your question, but I would have thought an hour would be plenty, it just takes longer to get up to temperature/pressure when the meat is frozen I guess. I've only ever done small lumps of frozen meat in mine, not a whole joint.

I did it for 90 minutes and it was perfect!

i did a gammon joint in mine, had some flat cola too, so tipped that in, joint on trivet, topped it up with another cup of water and set it for 25 minutes, and then promptly forgot all about it until I went out to make a cup of tea and it was on Keep Warm 1:19 mins!

Then thought I'd do the cauliflower in it too, so that had 7 minutes and about ten on keep warm...borderline over done, so would only give it 5 next time, I just cut off the leaves and set the whole head on the trivet.

Made cauliflower cheese in the oven, and am stuffed to the gunnels now!

Does the IP come with a trivet?

Yes mine came with a trivet

I made the Honey Sesame Chicken tonight

Dear God it's amazing it's chip shop quality Chinese - thanks whoever posted it

Sorry - the macaroni cheese recipe I used is here. Lush, I used veg bouillon, semi skimmed milk & cheddar & Parmesan. I had leftovers with chopped bacon in it the other day & cant stop thinking about it!

https://thesaltymarshmallow.com/instant-pot-mac-and-cheese/

I cooked a chicken; I was a bit concerned it wouldn’t fit but it did, and was really good.

I've lots of things on my to cook list now-the app is pretty good.

I'm after some accessories now-thinking about steaming spuds & rice-any recommendations for accessories? Also, I've not taken the sealing thing off to wash yet 😳-is there a how to remove & put back on?

buckeejit Pull it off, then push it back on. It's that simple! The only thing you have to watch out for us that when you push it back on, it sits snugly around the wire frame. But tbh, if you don't have it snugly around the frame, you'll soon realise, because steam will pour out of the IP when you next use it and it won't seal, so you'll just need to give it a gentle push inwards all around the side of the seal.

Some people keep 2 different seals, one for savoury recipes and one for sweet recipes, as the odour of savoury recipes can taint sweet dishes, so it's good to practice swapping them out.

I really like my UFO steamer for potatoes, you know the ones that open out and fold up and look like a UFO...the legs are just the right height to keep the tatties out of the water, and it's really easy to lift them out with the centre handle to get rid of the water and reuse the IP pan for mashing.

I bought some other trivetty things from the chinese supermarket, ne is a bit smaller but no handles on so works better for some dishes, and the other one is taller, and great for PIP rice over a casserole.

Just made risotto for the first time - lovely. DH was very sceptical about the Instant Pot (& the price) but has now been converted.

Thank you! @MsMightyTitanAndHerTroubadours I was thinking about a basket steamer but not sure whether to get one like that or this combo. Decisions, decisions

oooh an egg steamer rack....you enabler!

My poor eggs just have to balance shamefully on the IP trivet. :o

I have the combo shown above and it's been great

The ekovana inserts are beautifully made. (They're not perforated). I've cooked rice and porridge in them today. Not together! For a bigger PIP, look at Pyrex Cook and Go "rectangular" dish 20x9 cm 1.6l. The description is wrong, it's round and a perfect size for the IP. And versatile, since it is Pyrex. Good plastic lid for it, too.

I once read on mumsnet that slow cookers were for people who didn't like cooking. I love the whole stirring tasting experimenting side of cooking. Of course the reality is I'm just churning out spag bol n fish fingers most days!! Is the IP for me or is it a gadget for people who hate cooking?