@JustaMom5465 - good look! There is supposed to be a learning curve.
Please report back. I am thinking of asking for one for my birthday. I’m intimidated as well.
Don’t worry; it’s easy. For my first time I just browned the stuff I was going to brown by hitting sauté. Then I added the liquid, closed up the lid, made sure the vent was closed, and hit the Manual button. Then I adjusted the time to what I thought would be right by hitting + or -. Then I waited for it to beep that it was done. Easy.
My Instant Pot is arriving tomorrow and I’m having a bit of buyer’s remorse. We eat mostly chicken in our household, perhaps red meat once a week for my husband and son at the most, in the form of steak tips. I’ve been researching recipes, of course well after I pressed the purchase button on Amazon, and most recipes seem to be for meats such as roasts, pork and stews. My husband and I like soups, but the kids would never sample a delicious bean or lentil soup at this point. Do I return it tomorrow or look for more recipes which include chicken on the bone which isn’t typical in my home? I realize chicken on the bone is more juicy and full of flavor. Help!
^^ I have to laugh, @wheatonmom , I had the same buyers remorse but we eat plenty of beef/pork…and most of the recipes I was seeing were for chicken!!!
I think I’d like to make a chuck roast for my first try. Any suggestions? I have a really good conventional recipe for a Mushroom Sherry Pot Roast that usually simmers in a dutch oven for almost 3 hours…tips on converting? Mostly I’m not confident in how much liquid things would require.
I’d say one and a half cups of liquid, two cups max for the Mushroom Sherry Pot Roast. No liquid evaporates, and the mushrooms (and onions, if you use them) are going to give off liquid. It seems like too little, but I used a cup of water and a cup of BBQ sauce for some pulled pork, and it turned out to be way too much.
If you mostly cook white meat chicken, a pressure cooker is probably not of much use to you. Chicken thighs and legs are going to be good in the Instant Pot, though.
Today’s instant pot successes:
Hard Boiled Eggs: 1 cup water, STEAM for 8 minutes on low pressure. Works like a charm and you don’t have to babysit it.
Then for dinner, [Pork Ragu](Pressure Cooker Pork Ragu Pasta Sauce) over spaghetti.
I came home from my bike ride around dark, secure in the knowledge that Mr. Fang was getting takeout for dinner. Mr. Fang arrived back from his hike slightly later, with no food-- we’d had a miscommunication and he’d thought I was making dinner. Instant Pot to the rescue! I defrosted some country style ribs in the micro while I chopped an onion and some garlic. Browned the meat, cooked the onion a bit, threw everything in, and started boiling the water for pasta. It took about an hour and half, but just as Fang Jr got home from work, dinner was ready.
@“Cardinal Fang” - thanks for sharing your success story! I have heard great things about doing eggs in the InstantPot.
I’ve also heard that one can put frozen meat into it. But, I guess you couldn’t do the browning part if you did that.
I am really wanting one of these. Are you in the FB group? Lots of recipes posted there. I think the main reason I want one is that I feel like it will get me back interested in cooking. I used to love to cook, but with the empty nest, I find that I am in a rut and not doing dh the justice he deserves.
No problem putting in frozen meat, but you’d need to up the time a bit. I defrosted my ribs because I wanted to brown them.
I like my Instant Pot. I want to make a general caution that the Instant Pot is for people who want to cook braises, stews and beans, basically. You shouldn’t buy it if you generally want to cook partially prepared things such as are bought at Trader Joes, or if you generally like stirfries, or steaks, chops and roasts. If you’re thinking about buying an Instant Pot, make sure that the foods that you can make in an Instant Pot are the foods you like to cook and eat.
I’m not a crockpot user, so my only comment about whether the Instant Pot can replace your crockpot is, I would not use delayed timing to cook meat. I wouldn’t leave meat around for hours at room temperature.
Well after I found out that a Chuck roast was going to set me back $25 (guess it’s been a while since I bought a pot roast!) I decided that my first attempt would be a rack of baby back ribs. Any advice? There’s a couple online recipes, I’ll probably go with the one that uses some apple juice and is finished up in the oven with BBQ sauce. Wish me luck!
On another note, I w was telling D (an engineer) about it and she was so excited to tell me how it works… I mean REALLY how it works… :))
Here’s the trick for steam release: Put a thick towel between your hands and the valve as you turn the valve to release the steam. Leave it there to absorb the escaping steam. Keep your hands out of the steam flow-- it will burn you.
My mom who was always about fast and easy always had the old fashioned pressure cooker and used it often. Me I love to either pop something in the oven or use the crock pot and smell the food all day.
Success! They were delicious. Cooked at pressure for 32 minutes… I think next time I’ll do just a few minutes more. I was surprised that the stream released was so funny. Thanks @“Cardinal Fang” for the tip about the towel…saved the day!
Mmm, baby back ribs. That sounds yummy.
Yesterday’s success was a cup custard, in a corelle bowl on the trivet, steamed. It was plain, but a flan with a caramel, made the same way but with cream instead of reduced fat milk would be delectable.
I didn’t feel like going for a bike ride but I knew I should get out, so I rode over to the Indian grocery to get some dried beans for dhal experiments. Good thing the route was flat, since I ended up coming home with a 10 lb bag of basmati rice, plus two pound sacks of toor dhal, channa dhal, masoor dhal, green split peas and lentils. I’m looking forward to some tasty Indian meals. The split peas and the lentils are destined for Western-style soups with some sort of smoked pork product.
Dh is getting me an IP for my birthday - I decided I wanted one! Wish me luck!
I just made this recipe for delicious, easy chicken and rice:
http://www.hippressurecooking.com/pressure-cooker-chicken-and-rice-one-pot-meal/
Saute an onion, add some garlic, spices, tomato paste and water. Dump in some chicken thighs and drumsticks (not breasts please). Cook. After 13 minutes, take out the chicken, add basmati rice and some water, cook. Meanwhile brown the chicken under the broiler.
So, so good. And so, so easy.
mmm - that’s going on my “to do” list! @“Cardinal Fang” “add basmati rice and some water, cook” - does that mean, just cook regular style in the pot? Or did you pressure cook that step too?
Today’s experiment is split pea soup:
http://www.food.com/recipe/pressure-cooker-split-pea-and-ham-soup-55438
I gave a quick description of the recipe, but for details, click the link. The Instant Pot has a Rice setting. You measure out the liquid resulting from cooking the chicken, then add enough to measure 3 1/2 cups. Then you add 2 cups basmati rice, and hit the Rice setting, which will steam the rice under low pressure.
One note: I suggest using less salt than the recipe calls for. A tablespoon of salt is, in my view, too much.
I was making split pea soup with ham this week. I didn’t use the Instant Pot, because I was afraid the valve could possibly jam, a concern for split peas. But I probably should have used the Instant Pot and just made sure not to over-fill, and then used Natural Release. It probably would be fine.
(oops, yes, should have just looked at the link)
For the pea soup, I did use natural release, left it about 30 min or so after cooking. It looks and smells good, but is pretty watery. So I’ve got it reducing at the moment hoping it will thicken up. Maybe next time I should use less water? That recipe called for 8 cups, maybe I’d try 7…
Gotta say…that soup was MMM MMM GOOOOOOOODDDDDD. Next time I’ll use better ham, and a little less water.
Split pea soup also thickens if you just wait.