FOOD What is an Instapot? What is it good for?

[Barry Natchitoches]

OK, be easy on me - I am just now learning to be the chief cook and bottle washer in my family.

My wife has always been an excellent cook, and I guess she spoiled me by taking full responsibility for the cooking and cleaning chores.

But now, it is my turn to be chief cook and bottle washer.

And I keep hearing about people who have InstaPots, and swear by them.

So I am wondering, What is so great about them?

And what exactly, do they do?

Should I get one?

I would appreciate your opinions and insights - especially those of you who have used these gizmos before.

 

[nehimama]

Someone other than me can sing Instapot's accolades. I bought one, and the instructions left a lot to be desired. I ended up donating it to Goodwill.

 

[Dennis Olson]

Look up INSTANTPOT on the forum. Lots of info.

It’s a programmable electric pressure cooker, but that description doesn’t do it justice.

 

[Night Owl]

I think Ninja makes the easiest to use. Best is you put frozen Turkey breast in and it comes out cooked in 30 mins, also cut up potatoes, spray with olive oil can spray and in 20 minutes you got good French fries. Battered chicken tastes a little longer but same good result. I don’t use it for anything that a crock pot can do. Good luck.

 

[erichtmobile]

We have a ninja foodie and love it.

 

[Publius]

We have one wife loves it I hate it as it make the food taste funny to me.

 

[Blastoff]

Ribs in the instapot in an about 35 mins, yum

 

[Profit of Doom]

We have one wife loves it I hate it as it make the food taste funny to me.

 

[Thunderbird]

We have one, Ribs, Roast beef, vegetable beef soup, steel cut oatmeal, once you use one you can find all kinds of things.

 

[dawgofwar10]

I love mine, millions of recipes online as well. I make braised ribs, chili, Mongolian beef, pot roast, etc.

 

[greysage]

All I've done in mine is ground meat soups over the last 2 years. Because it's darn simple, effective, and delicious.

For example yesterday. Had a bag and a half of old carrots in the refrigerator. Weeks old. Also had half a large onion a few days old. Bought ground turkey several days ago planning to make soup but never got around to because of an out of town trip. Turkey expired today, carrots were not going to be eaten fresh.

Chopped the carrots in to big chunks, ran them for a few quick blasts in the food processor along with the onion. Put that stuff in the instapot with a splash of olive oil. Added salt, pepper, heaping spoon of jar garlic, heavy dash of Old Bay, 1/3 box of leftover chicken broth from fridge, heaping spoonful of chicken bullion from a jar, 1 pound of near expired ground turkey, and then filled with some water.

Placed it out on the porch (so it wouldn't smell like garlic soup inside), plugged it in, set time for 17 min, let it do it's thing. Got to it maybe an hour later. It had depressurized but was still very hot.

Took about 30 minutes from deciding to do it, to plugging it in and turning it on.
Results were delicious, nutritious soup that will last for days as a good hot meal. And once again easily used stuff that wasn't likely to be eaten.

I can't say enough good about the machine.

 

[Melodi]

They are extremely good for certain things, and if you are a new cook and don't want to have a dozen new appliances, they do more than just pressure cook.

You can lightly brown meat (or veg) you can use them as a slow cooker (though for serious slow cooking a crock pot is better), you can make yogurt, you can stack functions with inserts from the company or an Asian market that let you cook several small items at once.

Some things I like better on the stove if I have time, the Instant pot can leave beans a bit watery, on the other hand, it will cook older "Hard beans" softer a lot faster and you can always "simmer down" after the pressure cooking in the same pot (so saves on dishes) or finish your old beans off on the stove.

Stews also can be a bit watery, but it is a learning curve and somewhat dependent on the local climate.

The main thing is they cook quickly, are multifunctional and about as "idiot-proof" as you can get with a pressure cooker. Which is to say using a silicon glove (or at least a tea towel) is a good idea if a recipe calls for fast depressurization (most don't) and you need to be a bit careful.

But they will just automatically power down, or not start-up in the first place if something goes wrong.

The major issue people have with them is accidentally putting them on a real stove, someone else turns it on and poof no more Instant Pot - I just don't keep mine anywhere near a stove top.

 

[Limner]

We LOVE ours. So much that we bought another for our RV. Hard cook eggs, make those old storage beans into a meal, pulled pork, rice pudding.

There's a learning curve. But it's very doable, and lots of available cook books to help.

 

[Dennis Olson]

Again, LOTS of threads in INSTANTPOT on TB. Use Search.

 

[ktrapper]

My wife bought one when it was the new rage and bought a air fryer. She does pot roasts and chili in it.
She tried to win me over to it with pulled pork, ribs, etc. He he, every meat she tried i blew it away in taste with my Traeger smoker. But it does make pretty good pot roast, but I prefer a pot roast more so in a old fashioned crock pot cooked all day if it’s summer time otherwise during the winter we slow cook on our wood stove in cast iron. She tried the air fryer, until I tasted it and asked what heck is this. I looked at her and said Why? Air fryer went back.

 

[WalknTrot]

It's an easy to use pressure cooker. I ate out of a pressure cooker a lot as a kid, Mom used them a lot for getting meals together. It gets old...everything is basically steamed/boiled and tastes like it.

Fine for soup or beans or something, but meat? No. Give me an oven or crockpot any day.

 

[Jubilee on Earth]

Fine for soup or beans or something, but meat? No. Give me an oven or crockpot any day.

I’m with you on this. I just didn’t feel it was as tasty as the crock pot. I can see the appeal for busy adults or parents who spend all day at wok and want a quick, easy meal. But I work out of my home and it’s no big deal to use the crock pot or oven.

 

[thompson]

It's an easy to use pressure cooker. I ate out of a pressure cooker a lot as a kid, Mom used them a lot for getting meals together. It gets old...everything is basically steamed/boiled and tastes like it.

Fine for soup or beans or something, but meat? No. Give me an oven or crockpot any day.

I find that if I brown the meat extra well, that is, develop a really nice, thick crust on all edges (to the point you'd think it would render the meat inedible) and then use beef broth as the liquid, it does great in a regular "old fashioned" pressure cooker. Has to have that extra crust from browning on it, though. Turns out very flavorful and tender. Otherwise I'm in agreement with using the oven or crockpot. I don't have an Instapot and just don't see my need for one. I know lots of people who do love theirs, though.

 

[Txkstew]

The last few years, they go on sale during the Holidays. I've always been a stove top/oven type cooker. I have crock pots as well. However, I bought one two years ago around Christmas time, and I use it a lot. Not in the pressure cooker mode, but I bought a glass lid off Amazon that is my go to cook mode.

One dish I really like, is Meat Loaf. I use the pot part to mix up about three pounds of 70/30 hamburger meat. I add in chopped onion, garlic, bread crumbs, three eggs, seasonings, and a big can of crushed tomatoes. I put about a third of the can in with the meat, and gush it all up, and then make a big dome patty. I pour the rest of the crushed tomato sauce over the top and sprinkle a little Italian seasoning, more garlic, onions, and Tony Chachere's seasoning. I then put the glass lid on and set the Instapot on Meat/Stew and medium heat setting.

It doesn't take long to come to a boil, then I lower the temp to low. I let it time out on that setting. All the fat cooks to the top, which I drain off most of it. Feeds a lot of people, with left overs for the next day. Amazon also has a silicone lid that fits the pot, and you can put the whole pot in the fridge overnight.

 

[krf248]

I cook pretty much exclusively sous vide and/or instant. Food is always great and very low effort. Just gotta plan ahead

 

[Freeholder]

I agree with meat not being as good cooked in the Instantpot, but it's absolutely great for boiled eggs and for making yoghurt. Good for cooking rice or soups or stews. You just have to decide if the things it does really well are things that you would use it for often enough to justify having an extra appliance in the kitchen.

Kathleen

 

[xtreme_right]

I would appreciate your opinions and insights - especially those of you who have used these gizmos before.

Barry, I love to cook dried beans in mine. Being from Texas, my only introduction to red beans and rice is Popeyes, which I love.

You’ve mentioned several times that you have red beans and rice every Monday. It always makes me crave them after you mention it. I don’t have a popeyes nearby so I learned how to cook dried beans in the instapot and it’s so quick and easy. No soaking necessary. Cook for 90 minutes with a natural release of 20 minutes.

 

[pinkelsteinsmom]

OK, be easy on me - I am just now learning to be the chief cook and bottle washer in my family.

My wife has always been an excellent cook, and I guess she spoiled me by taking full responsibility for the cooking and cleaning chores.

But now, it is my turn to be chief cook and bottle washer.

And I keep hearing about people who have InstaPots, and swear by them.

So I am wondering, What is so great about them?

And what exactly, do they do?

Should I get one?

I would appreciate your opinions and insights - especially those of you who have used these gizmos before.

Door stop

 

[Josie]

I was on a yogurt kick over the summer. The absolute best yogurt you will ever taste can be made in an instapot. It really is a godsend for those watching their sugars. You control the flavor and the amount of sugar. YUM!

 

[Profit of Doom]

spend all day at wok and want a quick, easy meal.

 

[Cardinal]

The instruction booklet that came with mine left much to be desired. Specifically what button does what, so mine does not get used very much.

 

[Melodi]

The instruction booklet that came with mine left much to be desired. Specifically what button does what, so mine does not get used very much.

That's where the free information sites, Facebook groups, and cookbooks come in handy - I have a feeling the new one that I haven't opened yet will be in German. But that won't really matter because most of what I use it for I get online or from a cookbook.

And if the buttons are in German, I'll just have my housemate translate them for me - I won't be setting this up until we have the kitchen totally cleared out in a week or two.

 

[usmcpackrat]

Damn....need new glasses...

I thought the thread title was instaTHOT........

 

[Mary Contrary]

OK, be easy on me - I am just now learning to be the chief cook and bottle washer in my family.

My wife has always been an excellent cook, and I guess she spoiled me by taking full responsibility for the cooking and cleaning chores.

But now, it is my turn to be chief cook and bottle washer.

And I keep hearing about people who have InstaPots, and swear by them.

So I am wondering, What is so great about them?

And what exactly, do they do?

Should I get one?

I would appreciate your opinions and insights - especially those of you who have used these gizmos before.

I wonder too cuz I never knew. I like simple and easy. I use the Crock-Pot a lot in winter, fry in the cast iron pan, and use the toaster oven. I don't want a microwave.

 

[Dennis Olson]

and you can put the whole pot in the fridge overnight.

We’ll, actually no. You can put the stainless steel liner in the fridge. The rest of the Instantpot doesn’t go.

 

[rhughe13]

Low cost to operate and fast. Start out small by putting in several potatoes, a cup of water and pressure cook for 25 min.

Then work your way up to meals. Learn along the way.

 

[packyderms_wife]

Green beans with bacon and onion for 13 minutes on the manual setting and yum!

There's a saute button on the loser left hand side of the unit. Turn that on, go over to the middle and change the heat from low to high. Saute your bacon, then throw in your onion, saute until clearish, then throw in your green beans a cup of water, salt and pepper to taste, Put on the lid. turn power off, then hit the manual button and change the time to 13 minutes.

Make sure the little thingy on top of the lid is pushed to close.

Once it comes up to pressure it'll beep once and then the timer starts. Once it's done it'll beep something like four times.

Let sit for ten minutes and then open the little valve to release the remaining pressure. This is called natural pressure release. If you open the valve right after it's stopped beeping that's called quick pressure release.

Once the pressure has been released a little gizmo drops and unlocks the lid. be careful the steam can burn you. Open the lid and there you go, green beans with bacon and onion.

 

[packyderms_wife]

It's an easy to use pressure cooker. I ate out of a pressure cooker a lot as a kid, Mom used them a lot for getting meals together. It gets old...everything is basically steamed/boiled and tastes like it.

Fine for soup or beans or something, but meat? No. Give me an oven or crockpot any day.

Did you use the saute function to sear the meat prior to cooking in the IP?

 

[WalknTrot]

Did you use the saute function to sear the meat prior to cooking in the IP?

Ya still have steamed, seared meat. Just not impressed.

 

[Walrus]

We have an Instapot and I have used it a few times to figure out what it does. It's basically a smaller pressure cooker with some convenient settings on it which are pre-set for various foods. We haven't used it all that much except in the following instances it's become a go-to tool.

The handiest thing I've used it for is old beans. I have a bunch of beans - mostly but not all pinto or black - which are at least 10 years old. I'd been told that old beans wouldn't cook up right and discovered that's true. Soak for 2-3 days and cook for a couple of days - never would soften up. There's this setting on the InstaPot (oddly named Multigrain) which gives the beans a good soak for about an hour and then pressure cooks them for about 1-1/2 hours. I extend it to a couple of hours, but the beans come out well-softened and with good bean gravy. I was impressed.

It's worked real well for beans n rice, too, as long as you don't overfill it with food and ensure that there's enough water in it. I haven't used it specifically for meat.

I made a pot of borracho beans (basically a hamburger & bean stew with chiles, onions and maters n such) for a meeting last weekend and the Instapot did a bang-up job on the 12-yr-old beans. The beans were one of those fancy mixes with lots of different types in them and they were in a sealed jar - never had been vacuum-packed in mylar or anything.

 

[cyberiot]

We have an Instapot and I have used it a few times to figure out what it does. It's basically a smaller pressure cooker with some convenient settings on it which are pre-set for various foods. We haven't used it all that much except in the following instances it's become a go-to tool.

The handiest thing I've used it for is old beans. I have a bunch of beans - mostly but not all pinto or black - which are at least 10 years old. I'd been told that old beans wouldn't cook up right and discovered that's true. Soak for 2-3 days and cook for a couple of days - never would soften up. There's this setting on the InstaPot (oddly named Multigrain) which gives the beans a good soak for about an hour and then pressure cooks them for about 1-1/2 hours. I extend it to a couple of hours, but the beans come out well-softened and with good bean gravy. I was impressed.

It's worked real well for beans n rice, too, as long as you don't overfill it with food and ensure that there's enough water in it. I haven't used it specifically for meat.

I made a pot of borracho beans (basically a hamburger & bean stew with chiles, onions and maters n such) for a meeting last weekend and the Instapot did a bang-up job on the 12-yr-old beans. The beans were one of those fancy mixes with lots of different types in them and they were in a sealed jar - never had been vacuum-packed in mylar or anything.

Walrus, your borracho beans sound delicious! I'm also a fan of how well Instant Pot rescues ancient dried beans.

Mostly, I use my little 3-qt. pot as an "extra burner" for fresh veggies. I get PRECISION and REPEATABILITY--flawlessly steamed vegetables Every. Single. Time. Al dente fresh green beans are to die for.

I'm also fiddling with IP custard and keto cheesecake. Both are almost where I want them to be, and I don't mind eating the runners-up.

Oddly enough, I do a better job with rice using my enameled cast iron pot on the stovetop.

 

[Josie]

The instruction booklet that came with mine left much to be desired. Specifically what button does what, so mine does not get used very much.

Probably a Youtube about it. In the beginning I was on Youtube a lot. Somehow, I was sure I would blow the thing up. There is also an Instant Pot community on Facebook where you can ask questions or suggestions.

 

[Barry Natchitoches]

Barry, I love to cook dried beans in mine. Being from Texas, my only introduction to red beans and rice is Popeyes, which I love.

You’ve mentioned several times that you have red beans and rice every Monday. It always makes me crave them after you mention it. I don’t have a popeyes nearby so I learned how to cook dried beans in the instapot and it’s so quick and easy. No soaking necessary. Cook for 90 minutes with a natural release of 20 minutes.

Red beans is one thing I doubt I would ever fix in an insta pot.

It is part of my heritage to slow cook beans.

It is New Orleans tradition to do the wash on Monday. In our grandparents time, that meant hand washing the clothes in two large buckets - one for soaping/scrubbing, the other for rinsing. Hot water could only be obtained by heating buckets of water on huge, wood or oil fueled stoves.

And they used solar dryers to dry clothes back in that day. My grandmother’s solar dryers took the form of a clothes line. After washing and wringing out (by hand) each individual piece of clothing, then the lady had to hang the clothes out on the clothes line.

People didn’t have many clothes in that day, and they would wear the same outfit all week, only changing their clothes on Sunday morning to wear clean clothes to church. That is why Monday was always wash day - you couldn’t use the Lord’s day to do wash labor, but you wanted to clean those clothes as soon as possible, which meant wash day was always Monday.

But the clothes back then were heavy cotton or denim fabrics, and they were quite time consuming to hand wash and wring clothing for every member of your family.

So it literally took ALL DAY to do the family wash.

Meantime, the family needed to be fed, and just like clothes washing - cooking dinner was more time consuming and difficult back then, than it is today. There was no DoorDash or Uber Eats to call for dinner. No drive through McDonalds to help out when the family wash zapped all your time and energy.

So it became tradition to always have red beans and rice on Monday - wash day.

You can stick a pot of beans on the same wood stove you already have fired up to heat your wash water. Beans naturally cook slow and can cook without tying up the housewife’s time, leaving her free to hand wash the laundry.

My ancestors would put a pot of beans on the wood stove in the early morning, spend all day hand washing the clothes, then in the last hour before serving dinner (and, of course, after the wash was done and hanging out on the clothes line), she would cook up some rice to go along with the beans, and maybe even fry up a little pork fat or sausage to go with the meal.

That is how the successive generations of the Barry household have always cooked beans - slow. All day. I might use a crock pot nowadays instead of a wooden stove, but slow cooking dry beans is the tradition in my family....

 

[ShadowMan]

I've used ours for making all kinds of delicious meals. Take tough cuts of beef and cook it tender in minutes instead of hours. Basically it's a pressure cooker with computer/timer control. It greatly speeds up cooking time which when you live above 5,000 ft like we do, it takes quite a while to get water to boil due to the altitude. The Instapot takes care of that for you. Making bone broth, stews, beans, rice, yogurt, etc., etc., is easy and quick. You can brown your meat in it then drop in the rest of the fixings, cover, set the parameters, hit the button and off you go.

There are several great books out there that will give you plenty of recipes to choose from. It's like anything, with practice everything gets better and it's a great tool to have in the kitchen. Clean up is easy as well.

 

[Johnny Reb]

We have 3. Use them all the time for weekly meal prep, fast dinners, long term food prep including pressure canning