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InstantPot Black Friday?


three4me
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YES x 1000. It is so much faster and easier than a crockpot. My family has literally never liked anything I've made in a crockpot, but I use my Instant Pot nearly every day. The main difference I can think of outside of the time factor is that the Instant Pot has a sauté feature, so you can sauté/caramelize/brown anything you need to first, then dump everything else in and cook it all together.

 

I'm not big on kitchen gadgets at all, but I'm seriously considering buying a second IP today. I was wanting a second inner pot, but for an extra $20, it might be worth it.

 

There's a huge Instant Pot Community on FB. If you're on the fence, you might spend some time there looking around.

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My friend cooked a frozen chicken in less than an hour, if I remembered correctly. Also can sautee. So for me, I think it will be worth it!

Yes! That blew me away. After years of hearing how good whole chickens are from the crockpot while mine always turned out dry and horrible, I was totally skeptical about the whole chicken in the IP. One night I needed to cook one quickly just to get the meat off for soup, so I used the IP to do that part, and I was amazed at how moist and flavorful the chicken came out. I almost didn't want to take it apart for the soup! And the whole thing actually took less than an hour. It sounds like hype, but it's really true.

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YES x 1000. It is so much faster and easier than a crockpot. My family has literally never liked anything I've made in a crockpot, but I use my Instant Pot nearly every day. The main difference I can think of outside of the time factor is that the Instant Pot has a sauté feature, so you can sauté/caramelize/brown anything you need to first, then dump everything else in and cook it all together.

 

I'm not big on kitchen gadgets at all, but I'm seriously considering buying a second IP today. I was wanting a second inner pot, but for an extra $20, it might be worth it.

 

There's a huge Instant Pot Community on FB. If you're on the fence, you might spend some time there looking around.

Do you happen to have links to some of the FB groups?

 

Also, are there any accessories that are must-have for the IP?

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I bought a generic electric pressure cooker at Wal-Mart a few weeks ago and LOVED it -- but when I saw how much more I could get with an Instant Pot, I returned it and ordered the Instant Pot. 

 

It makes cooking much more convenient with fewer dishes to wash and less time actively watching whatever is cooking. The cooking time overall is not always less, but I can be doing a bunch of other things rather than watching the food to stir, prevent it from boiling over, etc. 

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Do you happen to have links to some of the FB groups?

 

Also, are there any accessories that are must-have for the IP?

 

This is the main FB group. It has something like 150,000 members. It moves so fast that I had to remove it from my news feed because it was all I could see! But you'll usually gets answers in minutes if you have a question.

 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/InstantPotCommunity/

 

As for accessories, at a minimum you'll want a good steamer basket and a backup silicone ring or two. I have a million other things, but I find I rarely use them (though I still find them useful occasionally--a small bundt pan, and small push pan, a glass lid for when I'm not using pressure, etc.). 

 

I WILL make cheesecake in my IP someday!

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I hardly ever use my crock pot anymore. In fact, I don't cook big meals much at all anymore, so I can't decide if an IP is worth it. We hardly ever eat together now. Dh and ds have such abnormal schedules these days that I often make simply meals we can grab at different times. Soup. tacos, pulled pork, and other easily reheated dishes. Or main dish salads. 

 

Any thoughts on whether or not an IP is worth it for me?

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I hardly ever use my crock pot anymore. In fact, I don't cook big meals much at all anymore, so I can't decide if an IP is worth it. We hardly ever eat together now. Dh and ds have such abnormal schedules these days that I often make simply meals we can grab at different times. Soup. tacos, pulled pork, and other easily reheated dishes. Or main dish salads. 

 

Any thoughts on whether or not an IP is worth it for me?

 

Soups and pulled pork are exactly the sort of things we cook in our crockpot. I haven't used an IP yet, but it's supposed to be useful for the same kind of things. 

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My paleo husband says the $60 doesn't do high / dual pressure so he is holding out for $120 or less for the step up one.

 

It doesn't do dual pressure, but it does do high pressure. There's no low pressure option, but on the FB IP group, I constantly see people talking about how they don't know what people would use low pressure for. All the recipes I've saved call for high pressure cooking, so you may want to take another look, if it's not too late.

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Thanks, y'all. I just ordered the 7 in 1 through the amazon sale. I needed a slow cooker and wanted a rice cooker. I've never considered pressure cooking - it always sounded too scary!

This thing has so many safety features, you don't need to be scared. Join the FB group I linked above and start reading while you wait. It's like IP boot camp. Be prepared to save a million recipes. Maybe now is a good time to look at the Plan to Eat Black Friday sale too :lol:

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Last night I tried to order the 6in 1 but my phone battery died. (I am spending the holiday in a cabin away from my real computer.). By the time I got back to it, they were gone. Was surprised to see the 7 in 1 on sale this morning, so I bought it. I ordered the glass lid too, hope it's worth the extra $17. Thanks y'all.

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I just bought myself a second IP, because my first doesn't have the yogurt feature, and we like yogurt here. I'd been kicking around the idea of a buying a second inner pot or a rice cooker anyway. DH isn't going to be super thrilled, but he just bought himself a very nice new (to him) car, so he's not allowed to complain about any of my purchases for awhile :lol: 

 

Last night I tried to order the 6in 1 but my phone battery died. (I am spending the holiday in a cabin away from my real computer.). By the time I got back to it, they were gone. Was surprised to see the 7 in 1 on sale this morning, so I bought it. I ordered the glass lid too, hope it's worth the extra $17. Thanks y'all.

 

The glass lid is useful if you're going to use the slow cooker feature or make yogurt or proof dough. If you don't already have a steamer basket that will fit inside it, consider one of those as well. It looks like the trivet that comes with the Duo has handles, but you may want something with smaller gaps and slightly raised sides so things like eggs or broccoli don't slip through or roll out. You might also want to buy a backup silicone sealing gasket. The gasket does pick up odors from your food (my original STILL smells like Old Bay from literally its second use) and some people say that it can infuse the flavor of non-savory things you cook (like yogurt). I haven't had it happen, but the only non-savory thing I've made in mine is rice pudding, which had lots of cinnamon in it anyway. So some people keep a second gasket just for non-savory things, just in case. 

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I finally bit the bullet as well. I realized cooking all of thanksgiving meal that I need one pot (the regular pressure cooker) where my weekly broth resides and then another one for the meals.

What are your favorite websites, etc for the instant pot meals? This pressing buttons to cook will take some getting used to for this particular old fashioned gal ;)

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I finally bit the bullet as well. I realized cooking all of thanksgiving meal that I need one pot (the regular pressure cooker) where my weekly broth resides and then another one for the meals.

What are your favorite websites, etc for the instant pot meals? This pressing buttons to cook will take some getting used to for this particular old fashioned gal ;)

 

 

The FB group I mentioned above is my go-to for recipes. I can search there for whatever I'm looking for and get recipes as well as people's actual experience with cooking them, which I always find very helpful. For blogs, these seem to be the top sources:

 

http://thisoldgal.com

http://hippressurecooking.com

http://www.theveggiequeen.com

http://nomnompaleo.com/post/125878339293/my-top-paleo-pressure-cookerinstant-pot-recipes

 

Seriously though, if you Google "instant pot recipes," you'll get a bazillion hits. There's a lot out there.

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The FB group I mentioned above is my go-to for recipes. I can search there for whatever I'm looking for and get recipes as well as people's actual experience with cooking them, which I always find very helpful. For blogs, these seem to be the top sources:

 

http://thisoldgal.com

http://hippressurecooking.com

http://www.theveggiequeen.com

http://nomnompaleo.com/post/125878339293/my-top-paleo-pressure-cookerinstant-pot-recipes

 

Seriously though, if you Google "instant pot recipes," you'll get a bazillion hits. There's a lot out there.

Thank you!
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