Does anyone have an Instant Pot?

[CarrotPuff]

I've got the Duo one, and I haven't really used it much. Today I've decided to do slow cooked pork and it's been a bit of a disaster.

The recipe from BBC good food states 7-8h on low, and I've put it on for 7.5h, but about half way through I realised it was supposed to be on low instead of medium ("normal" on IP), so turned it down. And it wasn't cooked. Put it on for 3 more hours on "normal" and it's still not cooked 😩 is there any way of salvaging it? I've put it on for another 3h on "more" (high?) but after that I'm just binging it.

Binning*

Slow cook function on the IP is crap, TBH. I use it mostly for the saute & pressure cook functions (no need to switch pans between the 2). If I had (or ever have) space, I'd get a proper slow cooker. As well as keeping the IP.

Low on an IP basically means keep warm. You can do 8 hours at high as an equivalent of most slow cookers' low setting but I would almost always say it's better to do a short period at high pressure and then leave on keep warm - even better than slow cooking IME. If you're happy that the food is still safe after so long at lowish temperature you could give it a blast at high pressure for 10 mins.

@UnaOfStormhold so would 10 mins in pressure cook be enough to fix it?

@AwdBovril It was a present, I never really wanted a slow cooker

I’ve never used the slow cook function, I do 15 minutes for pork steaks from scratch so if already half cooked 10 should be fine.

Thanks for all your help, I've put it n pressure cook for 10 mins, and it was looking much better, and then I've done 15 mins more and it turned out quite good!

So in future, if I want to slow cook 2kg of pork, how should I do it?

I wouldn’t slow cook it in the instant pot. It functions much better as a pressure cooker

Glad pressure cooking helped! For future reference you'd probably want 30 minutes at pressure and then leave on keep warm for up to ten hours, but it depends on what joint,the size of pieces and whether you want it sliceable or falling apart.

Do you have an IP recipe book? It's generally best to start with some tried and tested recipes until you've got the hang of it. The Uk instant pot Facebook group is very helpful and has its own recipe archive.

Thanks @UnaOfStormhold !
I do have the one that came with it, I'll have a flick through

Everybody's right about the IP slow cooking; it's hopeless, but it's great at its main function. I don't recall the recipe book included with the IP being much help, but there is plenty on the internet. You may have to adapt a bit if you try US recipes. I generally do any frying in a wok and then pressure cook in the IP.

The recipes I use generally come from the Facebook group, Coco Morante and Jenny Tschiesche's general IP cookbooks and Urvashi Pitre's Indian IP recipe book. All in UK measures and ingredients which makes life easier!

I think the IP is great at making slow cooker dishes as long as you don't use the slow cooker setting! I find burst at high pressure and long keep warm phase does a much better job than my old slow cooker, which has now been relegated to melting beeswax.

Join the facebook instant pot groups or Urvashi Pitre's website is twosleevers

I make....

Bolognese,
Paella
Risotto
Meatballs, pasta and sauce
Marinara Sauce
Chicken breasts for sandwiches
Mashed Potato
Rice Pudding
Chicken and Rice One Pot

Basically I use it for a lot of things.

my partner refuses to use it and so it's been a little bit neglected but every time he roast a chicken I put the carcass in the IP, cover with water and then 2 hours makes the most lovely concentrated stock. Could do just one hour tbh

I find the slow cooker function works well if you get it up to temp with saute first.

I think the IP is too tall to be a effective slow cooker. Only on the highest setting does it seem to cook at all. Most or all of the larger slow cookers are oval and wider than they are deep. There must be a good reason for that, not just so you can cook a whole chicken. Also stainless steel conducts heat poorly. My slow cooker inserts are aluminium and ceramic. Better stainless pans have laminated bases to improve heat distribution but the IP does not, as far as I know.

@adriennewillfly I've tried that, several times. Doesn't work with mine. I usually solve the problem, as near as possible, by reducing the amount of liquid a bit, pressure cooking the dish until fully cooked, then switching to saute to reduce any excess liquid at the end, if necessary.