Has anybody bought an Instant Pot and not loved it? (and a couple of other IP-related questions)

[Soror]

It can cook up to 24 boiled eggs perfectly, peels very easily.  I plan to do that every weekend.

 

It makes a very good cheesecake, I have done two.

 

I dump pasta, sauce, and meatballs in there (still frozen) and it cooks nicely (must add about a cup of water)

Oh, yeah, I've heard it makes the best HB eggs but I've never tried that. I've seen some awesome cheesecake pics too, but haven't made that either(I don't eat dairy or eggs).

[Seasider]

I'm trying a block of frozen ground beef right now for spaghetti. If I don't have to stand there and fry it up, I'm sending a cyber kiss.

Let us know how it turns out. My middle schooler could handle that.

[UmMusa]

I'm trying to make my spaghetti sauce right now. So far I've been messing with it for an hour!  Something that takes me like 15 minutes stovetop is already taking too long, but I there's the learning curve so I'll let it slide today.  I sauteed onion, added a block of ground beef (not frozen), added the large jar of Prego sauce from Costco.  Turned it to manual 10 minutes.  It started the countdown but i noticed the valve never popped up.  After I opened it up the meat was still raw inside, so I figured it never reached pressurization.

 

So I made sure the valve was all the way turned to "sealing" and tried again. The second time the valve did pop up and now I'm about to open the lid and see what I have.

[ILiveInFlipFlops]

I'm trying to make my spaghetti sauce right now. So far I've been messing with it for an hour!  Something that takes me like 15 minutes stovetop is already taking too long, but I there's the learning curve so I'll let it slide today.  I sauteed onion, added a block of ground beef (not frozen), added the large jar of Prego sauce from Costco.  Turned it to manual 10 minutes.  It started the countdown but i noticed the valve never popped up.  After I opened it up the meat was still raw inside, so I figured it never reached pressurization.

 

So I made sure the valve was all the way turned to "sealing" and tried again. The second time the valve did pop up and now I'm about to open the lid and see what I have.

 

 

:lurk5:

[UmMusa]

So the meat did fully cook... likely due to it actually sealing the second time around.  The sauce tasted not unlike it always does from the stovetop so that's good.  However... the meat was in big chunks which I had to go around and smash into the 'ground beef'.  I don't get how you can put frozen beef in there and get crumbled cooked ground beef after cooking.  I had to break mine up myself.  Next time I will break it up fully before cooking it.  

 

So that was my first attempt with the Instant Pot.  I will try lima beans tomorrow, but we rarely eat beans so I'm not sure if that would be a score or not.

 

I'm having a little buyer's remorse.... I guess using it will be a habit I'll have to get in to use it versus my traditional stovetop methods.  I'm curious about the boiled eggs, but honestly, it's not hard to boil eggs on the stove top!  I'm trying to figure out where the big deal is here.

Could I even return this thing to amazon??

[ILiveInFlipFlops]

So the meat did fully cook... likely due to it actually sealing the second time around.  The sauce tasted not unlike it always does from the stovetop so that's good.  However... the meat was in big chunks which I had to go around and smash into the 'ground beef'.  I don't get how you can put frozen beef in there and get crumbled cooked ground beef after cooking.  I had to break mine up myself.  Next time I will break it up fully before cooking it.  

 

So that was my first attempt with the Instant Pot.  I will try lima beans tomorrow, but we rarely eat beans so I'm not sure if that would be a score or not.

 

I'm having a little buyer's remorse.... I guess using it will be a habit I'll have to get in to use it versus my traditional stovetop methods.  I'm curious about the boiled eggs, but honestly, it's not hard to boil eggs on the stove top!  I'm trying to figure out where the big deal is here.

Could I even return this thing to amazon??

 

 

Some of the recipes I've read say to start the ground beef from frozen. Maybe that makes a difference?

 

If you decide you don't love it and it's the 7-in-1 model, I'd be interested in buying it from you.

[UmMusa]

Some of the recipes I've read say to start the ground beef from frozen. Maybe that makes a difference?

 

If you decide you don't love it and it's the 7-in-1 model, I'd be interested in buying it from you.

Hmmmmm! I'll think about that.

[school17777]

So the meat did fully cook... likely due to it actually sealing the second time around. The sauce tasted not unlike it always does from the stovetop so that's good. However... the meat was in big chunks which I had to go around and smash into the 'ground beef'. I don't get how you can put frozen beef in there and get crumbled cooked ground beef after cooking. I had to break mine up myself. Next time I will break it up fully before cooking it.

 

So that was my first attempt with the Instant Pot. I will try lima beans tomorrow, but we rarely eat beans so I'm not sure if that would be a score or not.

 

I'm having a little buyer's remorse.... I guess using it will be a habit I'll have to get in to use it versus my traditional stovetop methods. I'm curious about the boiled eggs, but honestly, it's not hard to boil eggs on the stove top! I'm trying to figure out where the big deal is here.

Could I even return this thing to amazon??

 

If I was making your dish, I would follow this recipe: http://cancerwife.com/content/healthy-eating-home-one-pot-pressure-cooker-beef-ragu-pasta

 

In that recipe, you sauté the hamburger meat before you add the sauce and pasta. If the meat was frozen, then I would I would cook it under pressure.

[ILiveInFlipFlops]

Hmmmmm! I'll think about that.

 

No pressure at all, just wanted to mention! :D

[calihil]

I've had mine for several months and honestly, to me, it's just ok. I like it for cooking meat and rice. What I don't like about it is that you have to know exactly how long to cook it for or you have to depressurize it and start all over. And it doesn't "just" take 4 minutes to cook rice, it takes 4 minutes after the 10 minutes it takes to get the pressure high enough. So really, might as well cook it on the stove. And again, if something isn't quite cooked how you want it, you can't just take a peek like you can in a crock pot. Anyways, I like it and use it occasionally but I don't understand the love from others lol.

[MistyMountain]

I had one when I was mostly a vegetarian and I did not love it. I did not love how it cooked beans or rice and I always seemed to need more water then the recipe called for and it still did not turn out real fluffy like a rice cooker cooks it. If you are pressure cooking you have to wait for it to get up to pressure and then a little afterwards so it really did not always save much time. It did for beans but it was hard to get the texture right even following the directions. Then the worse was that it ended up breaking when my dh was using it and he did follow the instructions on how it is supposed to be used. Now that we eat some meat maybe it would have been a lot more useful but I would not know because it broke. The idea of being able to cook frozen meat and it coming out tender sounds good.

Edited July 19, 2016 by MistyMountain

[Ottakee]

I did hard boiled eggs today.

 

9 eggs in the rack with 1 cup water. 6 minutes High pressure, natural release for 5 then open vent.

 

Results:

1 egg broke through..but was easy to peel.

5 eggs were very easy to peel

3 eggs were sorta ok but peel stuck some and lost some white.

 

Disclaimer though....these eggs are fresh, as in the chickens laid them yesterday.

[VaKim]

I've had mine for several months and honestly, to me, it's just ok. I like it for cooking meat and rice. What I don't like about it is that you have to know exactly how long to cook it for or you have to depressurize it and start all over. And it doesn't "just" take 4 minutes to cook rice, it takes 4 minutes after the 10 minutes it takes to get the pressure high enough. So really, might as well cook it on the stove. And again, if something isn't quite cooked how you want it, you can't just take a peek like you can in a crock pot. Anyways, I like it and use it occasionally but I don't understand the love from others lol.

I have had mine for over a year now and have used it about 3 times. Twice for beans and once for a roast. I can't say it was any better, faster, or easier than using my crock pot. And like the bolded says, you can't just open it up to peek or add stuff like you can a crock pot without a lot of trouble. Also, as bolded, it is not really all that fast. Especially if you follow the suggestion to let the pressure come down naturally, which takes another 20 minutes or so. 

 

For rice, my rice cooker is fast, and a better size for the amount of rice I make. For boiled eggs, a simple pan works fine with less to clean up. We rarely have roasts or other meat besides hamburger based, and I'd much rather just use my huge skillet for that stuff, as I can see what it is doing and drain it much easier. 

 

I guess it all depends on what kinds of things you eat the most, how much you actually cook, and probably whether you ever used a regular pressure cooker very much (I never used one). It all comes down to preferences, really. I will probably give mine to my mom or aunt.

[zoobie]

I did hard boiled eggs today.

 

9 eggs in the rack with 1 cup water. 6 minutes High pressure, natural release for 5 then open vent.

 

Results:

1 egg broke through..but was easy to peel.

5 eggs were very easy to peel

3 eggs were sorta ok but peel stuck some and lost some white.

 

Disclaimer though....these eggs are fresh, as in the chickens laid them yesterday.

 

I find them easier to peel when I immediately vent, run cold water in the pot, and peel while they're hot. I use store bought eggs, but it is noticeably harder to peel the longer I wait.

[momee]

I'm still not loving mine.  It makes great rice - both brown and jasmine are favorites but it isn't doing a better job than my old $20 rice maker was :(  I loved that thing - then it died.  We did make this -

http://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/pressure-cooker-mongolian-beef/

I think the kids only love it because it is so sweet.  And meat.  Sugar + meat = kid fave around here.  Actually I can't stand the thought of another serving, to be honest.

 

As far as the IP itself, I'm with calihill (sp?) who posted upthread.  The actual time recipes quote really is off because the IP needs time to heat up.  I guess if you're a crockpot/microwave cooker you would find it handy.

 

I'm a stovetop cooker really - usually only use oven for baking.  I never use a microwave and I threw the crockpot out when we moved because I found everything to taste like a congealed mush when using it.  Sorry - just giving my opinion. 

 

 

[momee]

I make hb eggs by putting in faucet temp water, turning stove on, boiling ten mins, cover pot then walking away until I remember to drain and move to fridge.  Sounds like same results and same amount of time.  I found this with rice as well.  By the time I made it in IP I could have made on stove top.  Well, brown rice was...idk...10 mins faster.

 

"9 eggs in the rack with 1 cup water. 6 minutes High pressure, natural release for 5 then open vent."

 

 

 

[Ottakee]

While my results weren't perfect and it wasn't quicker it was way easier to peel the fresh eggs than any stove top method I have tried.

[momee]

Ottakee - that is very important!  Thanks for adding.

I haven't tried them yet in the instapot.

 

Edited July 20, 2016 by momee

[Katy]

I love mine.  I have a relative who didn't, but I'm convinced that's only because she was too lazy to read the directions, assuming it would work exactly the same way as a traditional pressure cooker.  It doesn't, and she ruined her dinner a few times. I'm hoping she gives hers to me.

 

If you have the patience to read the instructions, you'll love it.  If you insist on cooking everything exactly the same way you always have, you might hate it.

[MotherGoose]

I've given mine a run now. Whole Steamed potatoes in 10 mins. Tonight cooked chicken thighs from frozen with can of enchilada sauce and some water 30 mins. Cooked black beans not soaked in 45 mins. Sautéed peppers and onions to go with. One of the Huge advantages I can see is that you don't have to plan ahead to soak the beans or thaw the chicken. Also you can do all this without having to dirty multiple pots, and since stuff doesn't dry out (after you figure it out) or boil over then the pots aren't covered with stuff to scrub. I should say that I'm an experienced cook and I've also canned a lot with a real pressure canner, as well as used crock pot, so I'm not scared. I think that helps! :D

[ElizabethB]

Th best thing about it, IMO, is the keep warm feature...once your food is done, it automatically switches to a true low, a keep warm setting, for a very long time. Older crockpots had a good low that would not burn your food but the low on newer crockpots will overcook your food if you leave it too long. Keep warm is even cooler than the old low on crockpots and keeps your food nice and warm without overcooking.

[Seasider]

Awkward question for those of you who are cooking your beans from dry. Does eating them that way make you more gassy?

 

I was taught that a hot soak (4-10 hours) helps break down hard to digest starches in the beans. Then they are drained and fresh water used for cooking. It would be quicker to cook them from dry, great if they taste as good, but I am curious about this part of the result.

[ILiveInFlipFlops]

Awkward question for those of you who are cooking your beans from dry. Does eating them that way make you more gassy?

 

I was taught that a hot soak (4-10 hours) helps break down hard to digest starches in the beans. Then they are drained and fresh water used for cooking. It would be quicker to cook them from dry, great if they taste as good, but I am curious about this part of the result.

 

I've heard all kinds of different things about this. I don't think I believe any of them anymore. I have always soaked my beans, and they always make my stomach upset. And heaven forbid I eat them two days in a row! I end up needing a 12-hour quarantine *sigh* Anyway, here's an article that might help:

 

http://www.latimes.com/food/dailydish/la-dd-dont-soak-dried-beans-20140911-story.html

Edited July 21, 2016 by ILiveInFlipFlops

[Seasider]

I've heard all kinds of different things about this. I don't think I believe any of them anymore. I have always soaked my beans, and they always make my stomach upset. And heaven forbid I eat them two days in a row! I end up needing a 12-hour quarantine *sigh* Anyway, here's an article that might help:

 

http://www.latimes.com/food/dailydish/la-dd-dont-soak-dried-beans-20140911-story.html

Great article, thanks! I am going to cook them from dry next time and see how the family likes them.

[happypamama]

I like my IP a lot and use it frequently. My favorite thing, other than the Mac and cheese, is oatmeal because I can set it up and let it go. Regular rolled oats aren't necessarily faster than on the stove, because it takes time to get pressure, but I can go take a shower while it's cooking, which I couldn't when I had to add oats at a certain point.

 

The one thing I don't like is that frozen meat won't often fit right in the IP. (I wish it were oval, but that's okay.). If chicken is in a flat package, I need to repackage that into more of a ball, if I want it to fit in the IP, and I need to put the pork tenderloins into the freezer so that they're supported in wanting to curve so that they'll fit in the IP frozen.

[ktgrok]

Awkward question for those of you who are cooking your beans from dry. Does eating them that way make you more gassy?

 

I was taught that a hot soak (4-10 hours) helps break down hard to digest starches in the beans. Then they are drained and fresh water used for cooking. It would be quicker to cook them from dry, great if they taste as good, but I am curious about this part of the result.

 

I was worried about that, but nope, didn't seem to cause any um, issues. 

[Laurie4b]

So far, I'm not thrilled with it.  :glare:

 

Pros: 

Clean up was easier than it would have been if I had baked the meat in the oven (but it was because of all the liquid. Not sure that I like that).

 

Chicken thighs were tender, but not more so than in the oven. 

 

Cons: 

 

Info on how much water is needed to pressurize is not easily available. Couldn't find it in the instruction book or online. Good thing I had read some threads and had a vague recollection that there was some kind of minimum. In response to a last minute "help!" thread I posted here, Zoobie posted a link which seemed to confirm that the info wasn't readily available. That blogger had to email Instant Pot for minimum water info which she said was 1 1/2 cups. 

 

I had to get dinner on before Zoobie posted the link, so I looked around online for some recipes and punted.

 

I put in 1 cup of water for a potful of boneless chicken thighs. I ended up with 4-5 cups water in the pot. So the seasoning was watered down, and I had all this "juice." 

 

No significant time saved over cooking in the oven. 

 

The "time" that comes on when you turn it on is not the total time until it's done. 

 

I had the impression that I could cook ground meat in there, but now reading carefully, I can only cook ground meat if I have "sauce" in there with it. I am not particularly a fan of saucy foods. We have tomato sauce with pasta occasionally, but that's pretty much it. Oh well. 

 

******

 

Not sure that I am going to be using this much. I tend to cook things well seasoned but without sauces and it appears that sauce or water is needed. 

 

All that water means that if it's not going to be used for soup that I am just losing nutrients if I cook veges in it, right? 

 

If anyone has any tips, I'm happy for input. I can use it in the winter for soups I guess. 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 21, 2016 by Laurie4b

[zoobie]

So far, I'm not thrilled with it.  :glare:

 

Pros: 

Clean up was easier than it would have been if I had baked the meat in the oven (but it was because of all the liquid. Not sure that I like that).

 

Chicken thighs were tender, but not more so than in the oven. 

 

Cons: 

 

Info on how much water is needed to pressurize is not easily available. Couldn't find it in the instruction book or online. Good thing I had read some threads and had a vague recollection that there was some kind of minimum. In response to a last minute "help!" thread I posted here, Zoobie posted a link which seemed to confirm that the info wasn't readily available. That blogger had to email Instant Pot for minimum water info which she said was 1 1/2 cups. 

 

I had to get dinner on before Zoobie posted the link, so I looked around online for some recipes and punted.

 

I put in 1 cup of water for a potful of boneless chicken thighs. I ended up with 4-5 cups water in the pot. So the seasoning was watered down, and I had all this "juice." 

 

No significant time saved over cooking in the oven. 

 

The "time" that comes on when you turn it on is not the total time until it's done. 

 

I had the impression that I could cook ground meat in there, but now reading carefully, I can only cook ground meat if I have "sauce" in there with it. I am not particularly a fan of saucy foods. We have tomato sauce with pasta occasionally, but that's pretty much it. Oh well. 

 

******

 

Not sure that I am going to be using this much. I tend to cook things well seasoned but without sauces and it appears that sauce or water is needed. 

 

All that water means that if it's not going to be used for soup that I am just losing nutrients if I cook veges in it, right? 

 

If anyone has any tips, I'm happy for input. I can use it in the winter for soups I guess. 

 

The liquid doesn't have to be water. It just needs to be liquid. I only add a cup of liquid to pork shoulder for pulled pork, and it comes out fine. I put whole chickens on the rack to keep them out of sitting in the broth. Braised pieces like pulled pork or beef come out fine, even if I have to reduce the sauce. The benefit for me is not heating the oven and whole house (heat index is over 110 today) and not having to babysit it. Anything cooked in there is going to be steamed or braised. The types of chicken that are injected with saline or broth beforehand (15-30% by weight) come out even more watery. I don't believe that practice is common with pork or beef. I generally do not cook individual pieces of boneless chicken in mine.

[Ottakee]

In most cases there is a savings in energy costs of using the instant pot over heating up the oven.