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So I ordered one of these million in one things aka Instant Pot..

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    #16
    Please let me know if anyone has a good grits/polenta recipe. Checked YouTube but they were taking too long. I'm looking for "instant"...dump it in, push a button then enjoy the fruits of your labor.
    Last edited by Larry Grover; January 30, 2019, 08:27 PM.

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      #17
      I got one for Christmas (Ultra). I must say, it does a great job on soups, chili, beans, stews and rice. I even made yogurt with it - came out really good!

      My wife is not a big "gadget" fan but she uses it at least twice a week. Im in the Northeast - cold this time of year. Stew and soup time. The IP does great.

      What I like the most is that you can often start by sauteing the vegetables and/or meats right in the pot. Then, move to adding liquid and pressure cooking. Finally, the "warm" mode which kicks in automatically keeps the food just right.

      I must say, I am impressed with the Instant Pot.

      Done so far
      Pho - used Serious Eats method - in ~ 2 hours it was great, hands down
      Refried Beans - starting with dried beans to delish in like an hour!!!
      Chili - very good
      Pork Carnitas - came out great! Need to do the finished pork under broiler to get the crispy parts - but was a hit
      Butter Chicken - very nice!
      Whole Chicken Soup - cooking right now!

      We shall see how much use it gets when the warmer, summer weather (finally) gets here ;-)

      Comment


        #18
        Instant Pots are the truth...amazing homemade mac and cheese in only slightly more time than it takes to make the stuff out of a box, absolutely the easiest way to make risotto and you don't have to watch the pot every single second, and perfect soft boiled eggs. I just bought the springform cake pan for it too, so I can try my hand at cheesecakes and whatnot. Worth every penny. Might even try (gasp!) pulled pork in it because I've heard amazing things and I wanna see how it stacks up to the smoker.

        Comment


        • Donw
          Donw commented
          Editing a comment
          I hate to admit it here but the IP does produce a great moist pulled pork product. When we are in stock up the freezer mode I do one on the smoker and then one in the IP. I then combine them for the best of both worlds.

        #19
        Lots of responses here thanks everyone I think you all have taken some of the learning curve out of using one of these and after reading some of the posts I'm a little more excited about getting this. The delivery has been delayed due to the outside weather here the last few days does not support human habitation! Weather just reported a minus 37 degrees and a minus 60 wind chill! Post office and schools have been shut down for 2 days. Wife just put a beef stew in the crock pot. Perfect for a day like today! She doesn't know about the Instant Pot yet. I'm going to let her decide on how useful she does or does not find it. It's her kitchen and and I just happen to use it now and again.

        I did sneak my Finex cast iron pan on her glass top yesterday as I made a cap of rib eye in the house. She questioned right away. What are you doing with that?? Told her I need to put a sear on a steak. I got "the look" for about 3 seconds and then ok but be damn careful!! So one thing to come out of the cold weather is I broke the no cast iron on the new glass top barrier!!

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          #20
          We use the instant pot at least once a week. Right now our regulars are: yogurt (1/2 gallon every other week), 3 minute eggs (at least once a week), charros (once or twice a month), pork carnitas (about once a month). This weekend if I can find the time I want to try a cheesecake.

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            #21
            I got one for a gift that I've yet to put into service, but I guess it's about time I do. These things have been around for a while now and seem to be maintaining their popularity, so I think they are beyond the scope of fad.

            Comment


            • adamcoe
              adamcoe commented
              Editing a comment
              Definitely not a fad. Super useful for rice, steaming veggies, eggs, you name it. I feel like I could cook for the rest of my life using just a sous vide machine, Instant Pot, and most importantly a charcoal grill. There are plenty of meals where I employ all three and it couldn't be more slick.

            #22
            I have been using the Instant Pot maybe once or twice a week since early December. I'd say it is a very useful tool. I have been making homemade yogurt with it and is by far better than store bought. Other dishes include Cochinita Pibil (similar to pork Carnitas) Beef Bourguignon, Pulled Pork, Chicken Stock, perfect hard boiled eggs, Jamaican Oxtail, and some real good beans.

            As a tool I'd say it's pretty good if used properly and for the right job. Over all I am happy with it.

            One more tool in the arsenal of cooking gadgets I probably don't need...But what the heck...It's fun...

            Comment


              #23
              Hi, my name is Joe, and my wife Jen and I are Instant Pot addicts..... My daughter and her fiancé got one for an engagement present, and she raved about it. I went and bought the Mini for when I travel due to work. It is wonderful to have, let me tell you! Then I got the 8 quart Duo, because we have a large family.

              At first my wife Jen scoffed at me for buying another gadget, but now she is hooked too.
              I made baked potatoes in it the other night in 12 minutes!!

              The slow cooker is going bye-bye.


              Click image for larger version  Name:	E63D5BFC-EF95-430D-9E4E-DDECB2183DCE.jpeg Views:	1 Size:	2.31 MB ID:	630534
              Last edited by Thunder77; February 1, 2019, 07:20 AM.

              Comment


              • Thunder77
                Thunder77 commented
                Editing a comment
                Frozen Smoke, my wife says the IP makes the best chicken stock she has ever had, and I can’t disagree with her... 😎😎

              • Craigar
                Craigar commented
                Editing a comment
                Baked taters in 12 minutes? Hmm...I haven't tried that trick yet. I guess I will have to add it to the list.

              • Thunder77
                Thunder77 commented
                Editing a comment
                And they were BIG potatoes! Like 12-13 ounces each. The only downside is that the skins are not as crisp. You can brush them with some oil, and crisp them in the oven, or on the grill, if you know, you happen to be grilling. :-)

              #24
              Ok made my first meal in this thing last night. Wanted the wife to do it so she got familiar with it and after all I bought it for her but she had purse bingo to go to so I was left to my own devices once again. Ok fair enough.
              I went with spaghetti bolognese simply because I happened to have all the ingredients on hand.

              First thing I must fess up to is I don't have the patience to read user manuals so I just kind of glanced over it and dived in. Besides the recipe I used walked you through all the settings you needed to use. Here's the recipe.


              First step was browning the hamburger and onions. This went very well no issues and it did a very good job of it. Now add beef broth and the other ingredients with uncooked spaghetti noodles and lastly the crushed tomatoes on top. The next step was to set to high pressure for 7 minutes. This is where operator error came in. I made the settings and waited to see if this thing was going to blow up showering the entire kitchen with spaghetti bolognese or cook it perfectly. First thing I noticed was the timer of 7 minutes was not displayed it simply said "On". Hmm. So now it's been on for 5 minutes and still just says on. Doubt is starting to creep in that I probably should have read the manual closer but why start now.

              7 minutes comes and goes and it still just says on but I can hear noises going on inside something is percolating. Oh boy i'm getting worried. Now it's 9 minutes 2 minutes past the cook time something must be awry so I hit cancel and stop the process of what surely is building up to be my impending doom. I turn the little steam release thingy to vent and get a little pssssttt for about a minute. Open the cover and things are boiling and the noodles are still uncooked. Plus it's spaghetti bolognese soup at this point.

              Ok start from scratch only leave out the glancing over the manual part just repeat the same mistake. This time I set the timer for 5 minutes instead of 7 figuring it has cooked some already. So this time I figure I'm just letting it go and see what the outcome is. I position myself as far away from this thing as I can but still see the display. Again it's been running way over the set cook time and the display is still just reading "On".
              This time I refuse to be intimidated and figure if it blows up I got time to get Service Master in to do the clean up before the wife gets home.

              All of a sudden out of the corner of my eye I see the display flicker. It changed to the timer showing 5 minutes!! Now I can't take my eyes off it. I have to watch the countdown. 4,3,2,1 DING!! Dinner is ready right? No! You have to hit the little steam release thingy. Now instead of psssttt I get HISSSSSSSSS!!! For about 10 minutes. Is it safe to take the lid off while this dragon is Hissing I don't think so. Wonder what the manual says about that? So I wait it out until it's just a whisper of noise.

              Turn the cover to open and very carefully lift the lid off. I cautiously stick my face over the pot to see what's inside. Well I'll be if that contraption didn't turn that spaghetti bolognese soup into something that looks like it could be real spaghetti bolognese! I dish myself up a plate and dig in and it was darn good if I must say myself. The sweet taste of victory man over machine triumphs!

              Upon reflection of this experience I think I know where I went wrong. I took "Instant" literally. Nothing is "Instant" with this thing. But hey it was fun!!!

              Comment


              • Thunder77
                Thunder77 commented
                Editing a comment
                Yeah, the name Instant Pot is really a misnomer. The reason it said "on" was that it was coming up to pressure. It switches to timer when desired pressure is reached.

              • Buck Flicks
                Buck Flicks commented
                Editing a comment
                I had to come to grips with that added time, which most recipes don't include in the cook time. If you sautee/brown meat or veggies or aromatics in the pot, it doesn't take as long to come up to pressure, but then you have the possibility of the dreaded burn warning, especially if you're cooking rice or pasta or something that might stick to the bottom of the pot.

              #25
              Glad you're still alive, it made me nervous the first time I cooked even though I read the instructions. I think the main safety concern is steam burns, and vapors from alcohol even though people use it anyway.

              Got a lot of rain the past couple weeks so I made Coca Cola ribs. Turned out really good and super easy. Put a cup of apple juice in the pot, applied rub then placed ribs on trivet, pressure cook, sauce, then broil for 4-5 min. Here's a screen grab from a youtube video (He rambles so just fast forward to 6:07 if you want to see the end result.)



              Most on youtube tend to use baby backs...25 minute high pressure with fast release. This guy used 50/50 BBQ sauce & Coke for the liquid to bring to pressure (which meant he had to thicken after the cook.) I did it different...while the meat was cooking I put the coke in a saucepan and reduced 75% then mixed it with the sauce.

              Click image for larger version  Name:	Screen Shot 2019-02-08 at 12.07.57 PM.png Views:	1 Size:	560.2 KB ID:	633815
              Last edited by Larry Grover; February 8, 2019, 02:22 PM.

              Comment


              • Mr. Bones
                Mr. Bones commented
                Editing a comment
                Thanks fer sharin, Brother!
                Ribs look delicious!

              #26
              No pics but i did some carrots in the ip last night. Peeled some whole carrots (not those baby carrot things), choppped them into roughly 3" long pieces and split the thicker ends to try and make the pieces uniform. Put 1 cup h2o in pot, carrots in steamer basket, high pressure for 2 minutes. After they were done, i dumped the water, put the ip on saute and added butter and some honey and sauteed the carrots. Salt, pepper, they were xcellent.

              Comment


                #27
                Frozen Smoke , the detail you missed out on is that the countdown timer on the Instant Pot doesn't start until the pot is fully up to pressure, which takes around 15 minutes or so. So you always have to remember that the time, start to finish, has to include the ramp up time, the actual cook time that you set, and then the pressure release time.

                Some dishes have you do an Immediate Pressure Release (the Old Faithful look and sound); others have you do a Natural Pressure Release, which is to let the pot sit until the little pressure indicator has gone back down to the pre-pressure setting, which could take around 40 minutes or so after the set cook time has expired. There are in-between release times too. So read each IP recipe closely so you will know the true start-to-finish time and what sort of pressure release is required.

                Kathryn

                Comment


                  #28
                  Yep you are right fzxdoc and had I read the manual I would have known that before I started but that would have taken all the suspense out of it right? So now with that being said I could have prepared this dish in the same amount of time and maybe even less than what the Instant Pot did so for this dish the only advantage I see is it's all done in one pot. Otherwise I would have browned the hamburger and sauteed the veggies cooked down the beef broth and added the tomatoes in one skillet. While I was doing this I would have had the pasta cooking in another pot. When done combine the pasta into the skillet. Done.

                  So I would have had to wash the skillet that's it. So this recipe wasn't a dish that really makes the Instant Pot show it's value. We will be giving it another go I'm sure.

                  Comment


                    #29
                    I bought my wife one for Christmas and she loves it. I have to admit that I'm now a huge fan too. So far she's made a pizza casserole, Mongolian chicken (twice), pork fried rice, a cheeseburger casserole and just last night a chicken cordon bleu casserole.

                    The fried rice was a little bit sticky but still delicious. My absolute favorite was the cheeseburger casserole, I can't even describe how good it was. Everything she's churned out so far has been just off the charts delicious. She claims to have a surprise in store for me this weekend, can't wait to try it whatever it is!

                    Comment


                    #30
                    Not gonna lie. Was not a fan of a new gadget my wife wanted for Christmas. She told me all of her friends had one and they make incredible food. Bought the large one and have been impressed so far. She describes it as a "fast action crock pot." I would never make BBQ in it. Just my opinion. She makes incridible soups, bone broths, bake potatoes, hard boiled eggs, etc. Awesome appliance in my opinion. Just not for "BBQ."

                    Comment


                    • Donw
                      Donw commented
                      Editing a comment
                      I was the same way but over several days we had sleet here so no outside cooking. I broke down and made pulled pork in the IP and it was down right good. Some of the moistest I ever made.

                    • Thunder77
                      Thunder77 commented
                      Editing a comment
                      I made some really awesome pulled pork in the IP. Used some liquid smoke flavor. It wasn't "BBQ" but it was dang good.

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