Anyone have one? Experiences? Recipes? My sister got me one for Christmas. My only experience with using a pressure cooker is a 2-hour cooking class I took at Sur la Table a few months ago that utilized them. I have been looking at recipes online, but thought I would check in with the group here. Thanks.
User BubblesQuah recently posted a great looking lentil soup in his instant pot. I'd PM him for recipes. If it were me, F-chat chili! Cubed chuck roast, Williams chili mix, whatever veggies are in the crisper diced up. Voila! T
Funny, the first thing that came to mind was exactly what tomc posted above. Other than that I honestly don't have any specific standout recipes that I've tried in it - I've made a bunch of soups, pot roast, beef stew type things (like stroganoff), etc. All from online recipes. Good thing is nothing I've tried has been bad. I don't use it as much as I should. I get on a Instantpot kick every once in a while. Certainly isn't anything much easier. If you like oatmeal, setting it up on the time to be ready in the morning is nice.
This Instant Pot looks like a new-fangled electronic pressure cooker. I have an old-school, stove-top Presto and just about the only thing I use it for is to cook beets for beet salad. This is their chili recipe. Looks like a PITA. https://recipes.instantpot.com/recipe/instant-pot-chili/ I say ditch the spices & pick up a packet of this @ the supermarket. It's low salt, so you'll need to add what you like. I also add extra garlic, but maybe that's my Sicilian blood. http://williamsfoods.com/products/original-2-oz-chili-seasoning-mix/ Ground chuck - chili grind. Can of tomato paste. Salt. Water. Can of kidney beans, drained (yes, I know, this is a religious debate to some, but I like beans in my chili!). Dice up the holy trinity of Creole cuisine - bell pepper, celery, onions. BQ can give you a clue on how long/what Instant Pot settings, 'cause I'm just making stuff up here! Once you get a system down - replace the ground beef with diced chuck roast, and let 'er rip! Happy cooking...T
Thank you! I got some short ribs last night that I am going to throw in this weekend. I do a fair amount of braising (osso buco, pot roast, short ribs, wild boar shanks, etc), so for the most part, I plan to use the thing in that manner. I just don't know cook times. I think the wife will use it more for soups than I will. I do love chili though, but I always feel like the cumin smell sticks in the house for day. I'm sure I'll try chili coon though, it's getting down right frigid here in the desert!
My wife, even though a native Texan, agrees with you on cumin! The Williams chili mix is not bad in that regard. We started using it because the MIL was on a salt-restricted diet, so you need to add salt to your taste. Another thing I like my pressure cooker for is making soup stocks & bases, so if your wife plans to make soup from scratch, that's probably another killer app for the Instant Pot. I think the pressure cooker does a better job than old fashioned boiling for extracting all the flavor and goodness out of bones, carcasses and the like. Stay warm in Lost Wages! T
That's one thing I haven't tried, chili coon. I do see a lot of possum sleeping on the road around here, maybe I'll give some chili possum a try.
Lol. The mother in law grew up in West Virginia during the Great Depression. They ate raccoon & possum. Said they were tough and stringy, so maybe a little time in the Instant Pot might just be the ticket...T
The thing impresses me every time, and has for the last couple years but my go-to is potatoes. I can fill it with sweet potatoes, crank it up and have a bunch of whole potatoes in less then an hour.
Wife received one of these from her Mother for Christmas. She hsan't tried it out yet, but says you can literally make anything in it. Her sister just made a cheesecake in one!
As we move forward with the legalization of marijuana I can assure you this thread was not what I expected all kidding aside Happy New Year Mark to you and the family!
Bump. My wife got one of these recently. We’ve made a few things. Spaghetti and meatballs was pretty good. Add raw spaghetti, sauce, frozen meatballs and boom. Other recipes she’s done are pretty good, but we’re still a fair amount of work. She’s making chicken adobo now, had to brown the chicken, the pressure cook, then let it simmer for about 20 minutes. We’ve done a seafood boil, which was shrimp, crawfish, potatoes, sausage, etc. That was relatively simple- just add all the ingredients, spices, and let her go for a bit. We’ve also done hard boiled eggs. I’d like to find more of the simple recipes- just add stuff and cook.
Not sure if I should post this here, or in the sous vide thread... Our instant pot (instant pot ultra) is advertised as being capable of doing sous vide, so I got a chance to try it today with some Tri-tip I got at Costco yesterday. This morning I put the seasoned tri-tip into a vacuum seal bag, then into the instant pot with water (I clipped the bag to the side to ensure the meat would be submerged). Put the instant pot on the ultra setting, set the temp to 125 degrees, no pressure, and set the timer. I then went off to a conference for work. When I got back, I threw it on the grill for a couple minutes on each side to sear. Came out really well. Perfectly cooked on the inside (I measured 124 degrees with my thermopen for both the meat and the water in the pot) with a nice crust on the outside from the sear. Family ate the whole thing, no leftovers. Didn’t take a pic, unfortunately. I might have to try this with a small prime rib next time.
I bought one of these for my mom for xmas and ended up going back on monday to pick up one for myself. Used it in past few days for short ribs, lentils, chickpeas, potatoes etc. and very impressed. I'm astonished at the quality of the stainless steel pot it comes with and the quality of product from this little thing can't believe i waited so long to jump on the instant pot train. Cooking chickpeas etc without soaking for a day ahead of time is worth it alone.
My wife and I received one for Christmas this year and while we haven't used it much (4-5 times), I can only say it's a love/hate relationship. We enjoy it because it "makes" meals faster than a conventional oven/microwave/etc. However, it feels as if we need to take a night class at a community college in order to operate it. I'm exaggerating of course but the simplest of tasks, like cooking plain-Jane white rice, involves way too many steps in my opinion. Granted of course, a pressure cookers only intention isn't white rice, BUT if there's a rice option smack-dab on the machine itself, it should be made simpler. Overall, very cool innovation to the pressure-cooker but too complicated for occasional use.
I use my instant pot every night. Frozen chicken cooked in ten minutes! I cook salmon in it all the time too.
I too have jumped on the instant pot bamdwaggon. The speed at which it Cooks things is amazing. Had great experiences so far.
