I have used a stovetop pressure cooker for years. Then a friend of mine showed me his Instant Pot Pressure Cooker. Then I bought one. Buy Yours Here: Instant Pressure Cooker 6 Quart Watch our review video and read on for more info below the video.
[Being up front here, the above link is to Amazon and we get a finder's fee for referring you to Amazon, its part of how we pay the bills to make more videos and posts for you all to watch.]
OK back to the story:
Its literally "set it and forget it". Put in ingredients, turn it on, and go do something else in the yard or house. Don't leave the property, OK?
I make beans and chickpeas ever week, we cook pork shoulders and short ribs in it, and I want to try a carrot soup recipe I saw in the Modernist Cooks At Home cookbook next.
The advantage of electric over stovetop pressure cookers:
- You don't have to adjust the stove burner
- It stops cooking at a pre-set time and goes into keep warm mode
- Its incredibly quiet
- It makes cooking super easy
Read more on the Pressure Cooker review page here.
America's Test Kitchen has a great pressure cooker cookbook, Pressure Cooker Perfection and a new book, Multicooker Perfection.
I'll go more into this with more posts as I cook more with it. Let me know what you think in the comments. thx!
John D Hulsmann IV
I think you NEED to soak any bean (or legume) an other grains in a slightly acidified (vinegar, lemon juice, etc) for at least 8hrs or more (I do 2-3 days sometimes for beans to get rid of the "fart" factor. Soaking lets things already in the bean wake up and break down the phytic acid and other "anti-nutrients" that is hard for humans (or impossible) to digest. You get more nutrients out of ALL the food you eat anywhere near one of these kinds of foods by doing that. So, plan ahead and soak....THEN you can do crazy-quick instant pot bean cooking!
Misty Smith
Hi, Eric! I have an instant pot also. I love it for pressure cooking but was wondering if you would test the slow cooker function. I tried it once and my roast was tough. I know it could be many reasons but I wanted to hear your thoughts. I love your videos, keep them coming! Thanks, Misty
Eric
Will do! roasts are tricky, its easy to over cook them , I think thx!
Mary Kay
I love my instant pot. I wasn't to sure about it at first but wow! Frozen meat cooked beautifully and that's great when someone forgets to get the meat out of Freezer for dinner
Barbara R.
If you make yogurt you can make a whole gallon in this thing! The pot even scalds the milk for you. I just take the interior pot out when it finishes scalding and I put it in the sink with some cold water to speed up the cooling process. It makes the best yogurt I've ever made - no more double boiler for me!
Eric
HI Barbara, I did not think about making large amounts of yogurt but that is exciting to hear. I buy yogurt in quart plastic containers and wondered about making larger batches. thx!
Eric
Exactly Mary! I am always forgetting and this works great. thx!
Michael
In spite of comments to the contrary, you do NOT need to soak beans (or any other grain) before cooking in the Instant Pot. Dried beans will cook without soaking in under an hour. Whole wheat berries in 15 minutes, pot in pot. Anyone who gets the "fart" factor needs to improve their intestinal flora, not change their method of cooking.
Eric
@michael Thanks for that! I agree. If I remember, I do soak beans in a salt brine, but its more for flavor than other reasons. thx!
Linda Mecum
Hi, Eric! We love your videos and have watched for years. We have been using our Instant Pot mostly for homemade dog food! There are lots of recipes online from which to choose. I've also used it recently to cook down turkey and chicken carcasses for stock. Had great results and ended up with a large container of gelatin.
Eric
@linda had not thought of using it make dog food. thanks for that.
Stu Taylor
Have watched your video on the Instant Pot, I am a male and doing 99% of the cooking in my house. Just recently have I seen recipes using the Instant Pot and was waiting for a sale. Our local Costco has a Power Pressure Cooker but no IP. Have you heard of the PPC from Costco? About the only thing I see different is yogurt and the actual saute button. The PPC has browning feature in a program.
Thanks, your wife is funny with the jabs
S
Eric
@Stu, sorry I don't know anything about the PPC, though Costco usually sells good equipment. thx!