Why electric countertop ("Instantpot") pressure cooker?
(This subforum seems moribund: 41 topics in 5 years.)
I've been using a stovetop pressure cooker (at least) twice a week for decades. However, it's not compatible with our new induction cooktop. I was just going to buy a replacement but over the last half-decade or so everyone seems to be moving to countertop electronic programmable pressure cookers. If you've made that switch, why?
Set and forget. Don't have to throttle up or down the range. Only advantage i see. I only use it for beans, rice, stock, and grits, but I make a lot of each so...
I will point out that SWMBO, who just had to have it, has yet to use it on her own. It's basically mine. She likes her crockpots with their High/Low/Warm/Off knob...
jfmorris - I agree - my instant pot is used most often as a rice cooker, although I do use it for other applications, as well. I've even done thai style sticky rice in there that turned out really well. Probably use it every other week for rice and then maybe once every month or two for stock or chili
I have both. I use my huge stovetop cooker mainly for pressure canning and the smaller electric for meal prep. The main advantage as others have already pointed out is ease of use -- you don't have to hover to monitor the pressure when using an electric PC.
LSG Adjustable Grill/Smoker, MAK Pellet Grill, Large BGE with Several Attachments from the Ceramic Grill Store, Weber Gasser, Cast Iron Pans & Griddle, Grill Grates, Mostly Thermoworks Thermometers, Avova SV Stick, BBQ Guru Controller and Fan
I've never had a Large Dedicated Pressure Cooker but our Instant Pot works well when cooking small batches. We use ours mainly for Oatmeal, Bone Broth, Rissoto, Pork Stew, Rice, Boiled Eggs, Etc
Versatility. Some of the ones on the market can be used as both a slow cooker or a pressure cooker. They can be used for frying and sauteing as well. I don't have one but several of my staff members have one and love it.
It's not just marketing. It has to do with the versatility, control, and number of things a stovetop cooker can't do. Ever soft boiled eggs, made fice, poached, etc. in a stovetop?
I will add that I feel the popularity of the Instant Pot and knock offs (We have a knock off bought at Sam's on Black Friday a few years ago) is due to the fact that many many folks are SCARED of using pressure cookers on the stove top, as they have heard too many stories of them blowing up. I grew up with my mom and grandmother using them all the time to make pot roast, can stuff, and so on. My wife did not, and I bought one right after we were married, and it sat in the cabinet unused for 20 years before she gave it away or did something to get rid of it.
2 of my 3 kids ended up with Instant Pots after they got married, and use them a lot - that is what had my wife wanting one. But she wasn't interested enough to actually use it apparently! That was up to me.
I also think many folks don't even realize they are using a pressure cooker when they are using the instant pot. If they did, they may not be as popular.
One thing to note: InstaPots and their ilk tend to pull more wattage than a slow cooker will.
If you're running on battery power (say, an RV or campsite - or using a portable battery generator thing like a Jackery), the Instapot may not work when a standard crock would.
We know this might be an edge case for some folks, but for those it applies to thought it'd be worth mentioning.
I have a stovetop pressure cooker too. A nice one, Fagor. It is induction ready. But it is a one trick pony. Not hard to use, but I do have to stand there while it is heating up and wait for the pressure relief valve to hiss then adjust the heat so it only hisses briefly every now and then. But given the shorter cooking times by the time I fiddle with the stove settings to keep it hot enough to maintain the pressure but not so hot the valve is open more than it is closed - cooking time is just about done anyway. It is a three or four quart, and since my wife is from Central America she buys a lot of dry beans and lentils. Using the magic of pressure it is possible to cook dry beans in 20 minutes, as opposed to simmering them for some extended period of time.
So one Amazon Prime Days I saw the 16-in-one instant pot. With a larger capacity than my Fagor. So I went for it.
I quickly realized that some settings were not that useful. Like the yogurt setting. Im not going to make yogurt. I could, but I just never have. Other settings are redundant, like "sterilize". All that does is set it to high pressure for 5 or 10 minutes. It has a "rice" setting, but it is also 10 quarts. WHO makes that much rice? I'm not running a sushi restaurant (although in Tokyo I went to a conveyor belt sushi place that DID use a large capacity instant pot type thing to make large quantities of rice fast). The "porridge" setting is basically the exact same as "rice". And then there is the "soup", " "stew", and "chili" setting that are not really much different, just low pressure setting for varying times. I never used the "egg" setting but it is supposed to work well. 16 settings is really just four basic functions, pressure, slow, sauté, and warm.
But that is where the magic happens. I often use the sauté mode then a pressure mode for quick one put dinners. Want stew? Sauté mode to brown the meat and whatever veggies I have on hand, add water or whatever stock I have on hand, high pressure for 20 minutes or so. Done. That chunk of raw frozen port butt? Throw it in there and its falling apart in 20 - 30 minutes. And its a one put meal, so that means less to clean up. Additionally it is also a slow cooker, something a stovetop pressure cooker can't really do.
The new models throw in a sous vide and even air fry mode. I do not know how well air fry will work, but sous vide should work great. AND all modes except sauté are fully automatic. But all you have to do for sauté is make sure nothing burns, temperature control is automatic. get the oil hot, throw the stuff in, stir to evenly brown. That is it.
Serious Eats recommends ignoring almost all the buttons. Like you say they are just presets. They recommend doing everything manually so you really know how to use the thing. That way when you're doing something new you can start with a similar setting to something you already know how to cook because you learned your pressure cooker and how it works.
It just works and its easy to use. As others have stated, you can throw stuff in it, turn it on, and walk away. Although we dont do it often, the yogurt setting works really well and you have the benefit of not worrying about maintaining specific temps. The hard boiled egg setting is also really good. Mostly though its the ability to be able to leave it alone and do whatever else you need to do.
That was up to me.
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