Slow cooker vs Instant Pot

[Whathefisgoingon]

Having seen many using Instant Pots for years, last night I impulse bought the 10 in 1 Duo Evo Plus.

I’ve never used a pressure cooker in my life but fondly remember my mum using her stove top one to make sausage and marmite casserole!

Having now delved deeper in to reviews, I’ve found that apparently despite having a slow cooker setting, they’re not great at it. Is this the case?

I’m also confused because a lot of the beginner Instant Pot websites have recipes for Mac and cheese which include milk, yet the blogs that talk about them say that using dairy in a pressure cooker would be a big mistake and possibly result in curdling or the disastrous spitting I’ve seen in videos, which is mildly terrifying.

I often use my slow cooker to make stews so I thought this could be a better (healthier?) and more convenient option since since it’s non toxic stainless steel, but now I’m considering cancelling the order!

help!

Oh, and happy new year everyone! 😄

I don't have a problem with the slow cooker function on my instant pot, all you have to remember is there are 3 heat settings for it, low, medium and high. Do not use the low setting for cooking as that is basically keep warm. Use medium instead for low. I also have the clear lid for mine which isn't essential but nice to be able to see the progress without having to open it and let the heat escape

Oh and mine is the older style so not sure if the evo plus is any different?

I have used an instant pot for about 6 years. The slow cooker is fine. Slow cooked meals are always pretty average and I would say all cookers are similar. I wouldn't make macaroni cheese in it - simple and quick to do not using the instant pot. For me it is simply a pressure cooker and slow cooker in one (very large) device. Send it back if you are not sure.

I replaced my slow cooler with an IP several years ago. I've never really used the slow cooker function on the IP, I pressure cook things I would previously have slow cooked with similar results. The only thing I really use the slow cook function for is sweating large quantities of veg for soups or freezing, eg leeks. I have done macaroni cheese in it successfully but was years ago and I can't remember what settings I used it really is no easier than the conventional way.

I have switched from slow cooker to pressure cooker functions almost completely, it’s so much better.

You can do mac cheese in a pressure cooker but I can’t see the point - it’s so quick and easy on the hob and you have more control over the sauce that way. The kids prefer it to the pressure cooker version.

However, stews, soups, curries, rice, pulses are all brilliant in the Instant Pot.

1 cup of water, 1 cup of brown rice and 22 minutes pressure cooking is perfect, and it keeps it warm until you need it. We’ve switched from white rice and it’s healthier and tastes better.

Chickpeas and beans all cooked from dried, so massive savings on tinned, and the texture is better.

Thanks everyone.

@HiccupHorrendousHaddock Ah, the curry thing. I use the Patak’s curry paste pots at least once or twice a week, it only takes 20 mins to cook on the hob, but if pressure cooking it will make for more tender chicken, would it be worth using it for things like this where the hob doesn’t really take long anyway? It includes dairy and has to be simmered with the lid off to reduce, so I’m not sure what a pressure cooker result would be like but I’d imagine… watery.

You use less liquid than you would on the hob, I'm not familiar with those pots though. One big advantage of the IP over the hob is no splatters and no smells.

The slow cook function on my IP is okay, but I prefer to pressure cook then leave it on Keep Warm for the rest of the day. If it's a tad too liquid when I open it up, I remove the meat with a slotted spoon, saute till the sauce has thickened to my liking then lob the meat back in for a min to warm up.
It's perfect for days when I'm manically busy.
Big plus for me for the IP is being able to pressure cook meat from frozen. It takes longer to come to pressure but if you've forgotten to raid the freezer, it's a godsend.

I've replaced my slow cooker with my instant pot. (Duo plus I think, it has a air fryer lid as well basically) Although I do favour the pressure function I have found it absolutely fine for slow cooking too. It's an absolute investment and singularly the most used kitchen gadget I've ever had. I roasted a chicken in it today, made a red lentil dhal with rice (pot in pot on top of dhal) yesterday, and on New Year's Day I proved my dough, baked my bread and made soup in it. Amazing machine. It did my turkey brown on Christmas Day too!

Crown not brown!

There’s a great Facebook group called Instant Pot UK Community which I’ve found invaluable whilst getting to grips with my Instant Pot.

Thanks all.

I did get the instant pot and have used it almost every day since. I don’t really care for the slow cook function anyway because pressure cooking, as everyone says, gives the same result!

@TheWorldKickedBack - so that’ll be why my pre Christmas red cabbage recipe was raw and barely warm after 8 hours overnight in my IP!

First time I’d used it in slow cooker mode.

It must have been on the lowest setting 🤣