'Instant Pot changed my life'! Intolerant pescatarian asks.

[Bongespobsparepants]

Could it be the best thing I ever bought? And if so should I go for the air-fryer combo version? I cook from scratch so the oven and hob are on a lot and I'd love to save on energy, and be able to leave dinner cooking unsupervised...

However, I'm gluten and lactose intolerant and a pescatarian (so few dinner invitations ) so I wouldn't benefit from the meat cooking advantages, or be able to indulge in amazing cheesecakes but I can see that faster cooking of beans and lentils would be an asset, and maybe the air-fryer version would enable me to do roast veg faster, and maybe make tofu crispy which would make it more acceptable to my mum!

Anyone with similar awkward feeding habits found it useful please?

The fact that you can just set it off and leave it is, IMO, the best thing about it and a total gift to parents.

I don't do anything adventurous with mine, just one pot meals, or cooking up rice, polenta etc. Wouldn't want to be without it now though.

I don't know anything about the air fryer, sorry.

Air fryer/ very good for fish.

I have used my air fryer for salmon, when I want a change from poached/baked. Quick and less smelly than cooking on the hob.

If you would use a lot of dried lentils and beans the IP is fab, reduces the cooking time tremendously and is safe to leave to manage itself. I do a full pot of beans and use them over several days.

I have a stand-alone air fryer, very useful for fish and roasted veg.

Also the air fryer makes amazing roast halloumi chunks

Oooh! This all sounds promising. Use lots of pulses and sheep's cheese seems okay for me so Halloumi would be fab - in fact Nadiya Hussien has a great curry recipe with red peppers and lemon and it is so fresh and that uses Halloumi!
Thank you!

@Yddraigoldragon how long and what temp do you do the halloumi?

I slap most things on at 200 and do it on blocks of 4 or 7 mins and take a peek - over cooked haloumi is tooth- breaking! It’s nice in the air fryer but beat on a griddle (we fight over it here!).

An instant pot will make a nice curry and great soup - remember everything is a bit more ‘wet’ because the steam isn’t cooked away, and it’s easy to cook thinks to a soft squish (if you are doing a veggie curry for example) but making stock is great in an IP.

You can also boil beetroot and make yoghurt.

Do you cook pasta in your IP? Presumably, shapes not spaghetti?
Does it do stews/casseroles?
I’ve recently got an air fryer, hoping it would replace my oven, and although I like it, it does have its limitations, particularly size wise.

I’ve got an air fryer that also pressure cooks and it’s great but it takes up a lot of space. Ninja foodi.

I think the halloumi was 200 and less than 10 mins, kept an eye on it

IP is constantly in use for stews, I brown the meat and chuck the veg in to the top, generally about 400 ml water with a few stock cubes mixed in. I add more liquid if I put lentils in.
It always tastes like a proper all day cooked stew, but takes 30 mins plus time coming to pressure. I use the soup button.

It's great for risotto- dump in ingredients, press button, walk away until you are ready to eat.

Great for dried beans from scratch. I do a mean Smokey bean stew- several kinds of dry beans, plus twice their volume in water, onions, smoked paprika, garlic, herbs etc. one tin tomatoes. Cook 20/30mins.

When it's done, check seasoning, add sweetcorn, peppers and green beans and bring back up to temperature. Fantastic.

You don't need to pre soak dried pulses which is a game changer for disorganised me. I occasionally use it for meat but mostly for vegan dishes

@AdaColeman

Do you cook pasta in your IP? Presumably, shapes not spaghetti? Does it do stews/casseroles? I’ve recently got an air fryer, hoping it would replace my oven, and although I like it, it does have its limitations, particularly size wise.

Ah yes - dump and cook - pasta, jar of arabiata sauce, water, capers, olives and lemon zest. That’s a thing.

@KittenKong
Thanks, interesting to know!

There are Facebook groups who share recipes. Some looks like dog food but people swear it’s nice! A lot of cake!

The Instant Pot is great for cooking breakfast porridge like steel cut oats. Also beans and pulses. I use it for chickpeas to make hummus. We are not vegetarian, but very low meat consumers. Today I am making a stew with many different root veg in it, plus some cheap cuts of beef. It works great and the stew takes very little time.

It works great for things like butternut squash and lentil soup. Also for making any kind of stock, including veggie or fish.

I LOVE my IP (had it since 2016 and it’s never missed a trick). I use that and my Thermomix (bought that last year) more than I use oven/hob :) the IP is a really versatile bit of kit. :)

Air fryer great for fish quicker than the oven and uses less energy. Best baked pirates in air fryer. I have a separate instant pot - risottos, beans, soups and stews. I have a large kitchen though as they take up a lot of surface and cupboard space

@Huckleberries73 I look in my jars for similar size beans, so they cook similarly. Kidney beans, Lima beans, pinto beans tend to work well. I've got smaller butter beans at the moment so they go in, too. Chickpeas work.

You just want a variety of colours, but similar sizes.

By the time you add sweetcorn and green beans at the end, and chopped peppers, it starts looking lovely.

@picklemewalnuts That sounds delicious!

Well it seems it would be worth getting the pressure cooker - air fryer combo model. Feel a bit of a coward not going for a plain old stove top type but they seem a bit scary...

The electric ones are pretty fab - and also are an extra cooking option of you are cooking lots of things. I love mine - I have separate air fryer because I got a baby IP and you can’t get the air fryer lid for these.