Please recommend an Instant Pot

[babbi]

Can anyone please recommend an Instant Pot please ?

Are they worth the money ?

I have a very busy lifestyle and think this could be a good solution .

Generally doing batch cooking too so I am wondering if I should consider a large one ?

TIA

Love my IPs. I have two, one small basic and the one with the air fryer lid. I love these beasts so much. If you want it for slow cooking, do buy the extra glass lid with the steam hole.
I bought my first in 2017 for my first ski season as the kitchens are usually tiny. I would do porridge for breakfast, then make a soup to take out skiing, and put a stew in to be ready for supper. I batch cook boiled eggs (love them) made my red cabbage for Christmas Day and if my sister had given me the carcass, would have turkey soup and stock. I also cook curries, chill and spaghetti bolognaise all in one.
They are fantastic!

I've got a duo plus, the 5.7L one, the 3L one isn't much cheaper and is not that much smaller physically. I agree you need the glass lid for regular slow cooking. I don't see the point of the air fryer lid, if you want an air fryer buy an air fryer. I especially like the fact that I can use the saute mode to brown/soften before switching to slow or pressure cook, also to to reduce down the fluid after cooking. TBH if I had already owned a slow cooker I would have bought an electric pressure cooker or vice versa. On a plus note, electric pressure cookers seem to be much safer than my mum's old stove top one, that always seemed to be close to exploding and redecorating the kitchen. Put simply if you like soups and stews or cook lots of pulses it's great, if you roast and grill it's not for you.

I also have the 5.7L one, have had it for maybe 7 years or so and it gets regular use. Stocks, soups, curry, stews, ragu, rice…
I have a separate air fryer and prefer to keep it that way, like to have them on simultaneously at times. Agree with the suggestion of getting the glass lid.

I’ve got an old one, so I can’t recommend model, but I love it!

Wouldn't be without mine, bought my first one when they arrived in UK and at one time I had 3. One at MIL's, 1 at home and a smaller one I took everywhere we travelled.
Love the fact you turn it on and walk away and come back when it bleeps. I now live alone but still use it lots, potatoes for a few days, dhal in 10 mins and a chicken in 35 with lots of stock.
Mine is the larger one (no airfryer function) and not too big for me. Lots of youtube vids for information.

Another fan, I have the 5.7l duo and that's big enough for doing double quantities for a family of three. It takes a bit of getting used to (the instant pot facebook group is very handy here) but once you have the hang of it, it is a real time saver. Risotto is particularly easy. I haven't tried the air fryer models but my impression is that these are less effective than a dedicated airfryer.

Just bought the XL for DS as a Christmas present so we’ve been giving it some trial runs.

7.1 l capacity. It’s a big bit of kit though so think about space, but for batch cooking or cooking for a crowd it’s brilliant

What I love is that the inner pot is much wider and shallower than the smaller models. Obviously that is great for capacity but it also makes the searing function more useful (it’s like a massive deep frying pan) and simmering/reducing much faster.

For example when searing beef for a stew we didn’t need to do it in two batches as there is so much more surface area. I’m pretty sure you could sear a couple of steaks in it as well.

The keep warm function was brilliant when we had guests over and made a huge chilli and just set it to keep warm as people helped themselves.

Not tried it as a slow cooker yet but I think due to the shape it’s probably a bit better than the standard models at that.

That's a good point, I would say don't bother with the slow cooker setting, it's not particularly effective and I find I get better results by pressure cooking and then leaving on keep warm.

Love ours! I cook rice in it every day and make stews, soups, pulled pork… so many things!

I have the bigger one and love it.
Pressure cook wise I tend to do chicken breasts for sherdding, dhal, bean chilli and mash.

Slow cook- casseroles and joints of beef.

Brilliant .. thanks so much all , I will definitely treat myself to one as I regularly make all the things you’ve mentioned .
Noted re the air fryer , I have one already .
Will also get the glass lid .
very excited … I definitely live in the fast lane 🙄🤣

If anyone has any tried and true recipes for their IP would love to take a look. I bought one a few weeks ago and haven’t really got round to road testing it yet.

I had a crockpot version which I loved, but it had a nonstick pot and it started peeling.

I replaced it with an instant pot because of the stainless steel pot, and I find it takes an age to get to temperature, the saute function is too hot when it’s finally got going and everything sticks. I’ve cracked a lovely stock and chicken soup though.

In summary, if it wasn’t for the stainless steel pot, it would have gone back!

There’s this thread :

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/food_and_recipes/3347436-We-ve-ordered-an-Instant-Pot?utm_campaign=thread&utm_medium=app_share

And another which is linked to on it

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit thank you!

If you have an air fryer already, then don’t get the one with the AF lid. I only bought an Instant Pot dedicated air-fryer after I had used the lid and realised I could get a lot of use out of it.
The Instant Pot air-fryer is excellent, intuitive to use and just as versatile.