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.

Just got mine, have done mince - boring I know but browning putting on while I popped out was very hand no boiling dry. Have just cooked lamb leg on high pressure 40 mins added red lentil Cooke for another 20 mins pulled lamb of bone added tikka masala pot put on slow for 3 hours. One things I’m worried about will the curry smell permeate the pot ? Don’t want my next dish with a hint of tikka? Sounds mad but does the pot just wash up?

The smell might go into the seal but
You can but different ones and swap them out or have a red one for strong smells and then another one for other

Thank you yes that’s a good idea. Got away with it I think but long term that would be a solution.

Has to be live yoghurt - lots of people use Yeo Valley. I've had success with Aldi Greek yoghurt (not the greek style) but now just save some from the previous batch. If the milk is cold it also has to be either UHT or Cravendale filtered (or similar)

If you use "normal" milk the cold start method won't work. I usually put in 3 very heaped teaspoons of yoghurt per litre of milk - sometimes a little more if I'm at the end of a batch.

I'd try again with either UHT or Cravendale

It does work using the cold start method with normal milk. I've had two instant pots for years and always just pour 4 pints of whole milk in the pot, stir in 2 teaspoons of yoghurt, hit the yoghurt button and walk away.

Am I the only person to disppointed by the IP? Nothing I've cooked has been that amazing and casseroles/bolognese etc just seems to stick or be really watery. Admittedly I don't follow you tube videos easily - think I need written idiots guide with fail proof recipes.

Currently relegated to back of cupboard gathering dust

Just put it on to sauté for a few minutes, if it's watery, to concentrate the liquid.

I love mine. Apart from making risotto, which has been claggy and lacking in flavour every time, and nowhere near as good as making it the traditional way. Could well be user error on my part, though, as everyone else seems to like doing risotto in theirs.

It's fab for everything else though. Complete game-changer for stuff that usually takes forever, like bone broth.

@newcat sometimes you have to consider the order of your ingredients. I made a chicken casserole tonight. I quartered an onion and put that in the bottom. Two peppers, deseeded. Several carrots, topped, tailed and halved. Then chicken drumsticks. About 10 large salad potatoes, whole.

Then I poured in chicken stock (just under half a pint) and once all of that was in, I poured a tin of tomatoes on top.

It's really important that you don't mix tomatoes or any sugar-containing ingredients through your other ingredients. It will just catch on the bottom and overheat. You don't need to stir with the instant pot - the flavours will mingle just fine even though they're layered.

I use a potato starch based thickener, but the principle goes for any thickening agent - hit 'saute' and add your thickener, stirring.

Generally, also, you can adjust the water content according to what you are cooking. If the food has lots of water (veg, etc.) You can get away with ½ a cup of water or even less, because more water will be released from the food as it cooks.

Yes, like Lougle says, you need a lot less liquid than you might think.

There's even a magic Colombian chicken stew recipe that doesn't require any added liquid at all. Enough liquid comes out of the ingredients, especially the chicken and tomatoes (placed on top, as Lougle says), that you don't need it.

@Lougle thank you. What setting would I then use and for how long?

When I put it on yesterday, I used manual and 45 mins. But it's all very forgiving. Once it finished, I was busy, so it was on cool down for 15 minutes, them I released the pressure.

That's the beauty of the instant pot, really. You can put frozen meat in there, and because the sealing stage relies on a build up of pressure, the meat will be defrosted before it starts timing the cooking. (Because as steam is formed from the water, it will hit the frozen food and cool down again. Only once the food is the same temperature as the steam, will the pressure build.)

What size instant pot is best for a family of 4-6 please?