The Instant Pot: Who Has One/What Do You Think Of It?

[foraloysius]

Thanks Bob, I was considering using my oven for slow cooking with a roast. Temperatures in Celcius are then between 75 and 150. Sounds good. I too would love to brown the meat and cook the roast in the same pot too, hence my question.

I downloaded the manual of your range to get more details, I see a scheme with time and temperature. Great reading anyway!

Hugz!

 

[sudsmaster]

I've an Instant Pot competitor: the 8 qt Power Pressure Cooker XL. I'm not all that enthused with it, mainly because the menus are too restrictive. For example, when I want to make brown rice, the rice option doesn't cook long enough to get the rice properly cooked. And you can't change the maximum time under that option. Instead I've had to select the "Beans and Lentils" option because that allows for longer cook times. I have used to to cook a pot roast or two. Those came out OK but I got tired of trying to figure out if the preset times needed more tweaking, so it went on the shelf. The "cookbook" that comes with the PPCXL is a joke. The recipes on the web site are full of typos and other errors.

For brown rice I got out the Cuisinart 6 qt pressure cooker I've had for a years now, and it does a very good job, plus you can set the time to whatever you want.

I also have a Zojirushi rice cooker, which makes excellent white, brown, sushi, etc rice. Its main drawback is it takes a very long time to cook brown rice. But that is partly because it incorporates a pre-soak period. I think it takes about 90 minutes to cook brown rice, vs. 40 minutes (including warm up time) in the Cuisinart. For white rice I still use the Zojirushi, though.

 

[johnrk]

Cooking Rice

Again, Frigilux--don't be deceived into buying off-brand competitors to the I-Pot, particularly those without the heavy stainless steel pot. They aren't the same quality.

You know what I cook more rice in than anything? The little cooker shown below that you can get for around $15. I have a Tiger that I paid over a hundred for, that'll cook all sorts of stuff, including veggies and porridge, etc.

But most of the time, all I want is just enough rice for me. That's why I bought this little 3-cup (cooked) B&D. It'll make a perfect amount for one meal. It doesn't burn rice to the bottom of its little bowl. Because it is the traditional un-sealed type, there's no liquid reservoir to clean. This actually replaced another one that I'd had by Panasonic for a decade or so and broke the glass lid accidentally.

I also like the fact that it's small and light enough that I just tuck it above the sink in a small cabinet. I use a little bungee cord to wrap around the lid and hook on the side handles to keep the lid and cord from coming apart. It matches in size the little egg cooker that I use on occasion. And I use it for either brown or white and it comes out perfect.

If anyone is interested, there's a fascinating video on YouTube on the history of rice cookers. It definitely wasn't an easy path until Toshiba invented the first one.

 

[sudsmaster]

Um, the Power Pressure Cooker XL has a heavy inner stainless steel pot... with a non-stick interior. Best of both worlds, IMHO. But don't go just by the pot - the menu options on the PPCXL, as I described, are a bit too dumbed down, to the point of making it harder to use.

 

[johnrk]

Um,

With a month's experience any capable cook can ignore all the silly little buttons that serve no purpose other than to cut flexibility. Rather like our current washing machines...

As for finishes--if you like the chemical finish on your pot, then enjoy it. As for me, I make my purchases planning to keep them indefinitely. Even if and when the I-Pot dies, the heavy stainless steel pot will remain as a great stovetop pot, suitable also for induction. Me? I'm not big on chemicals like that stuff in my food--and particularly at high temps, no scientist will defend those unnecessary coatings.

 

[petek]

I've seen but am not familiar with the Power XL models. But my Bravetti may have been similar. It had the teflon coated pot and there was no way to adjust anything.. it has about 6 pre programmed buttons and that's it.  It worked well , in fact it's still working, but after seeing the Ipot and how more convenient it is is, with the high grade ss pot.. well being the gadget freak I am.. how could I  not.   

 

[sudsmaster]

The Instant Pot is about 50% higher priced than the PPCXL. But that's not exactly why I bought it. It was at Costco and the price had been dropped a bit. I wanted something larger than the 6 qt Cuisnart so I took a chance on the PPCXL. It does have a canning setting, which I'd only use at sea level, but that has more adjustable settings, and might work for most pressure cooking apps.

As for the inner pot... I have plenty of stove top cookware, I surely do not need to use a handle-less stainless pot on the stove where it will be difficult if not impossible to grab until it's cooled, and then it has no lid either.

And if push came to shove, I could always take a wire brush to the PPCXL inner pot and take off that non-stick coating. Then polish it up nice and shiny and put it on the shelf with all the other extra cookware I never use. LOL.

That said, I do think the Instant Pot looks like a better design. But it really isn't something I think I need, anyway. These things are gimmicks. Useful gimmicks, but nothing a competent cook can't do with simpler, older designs. Some gimmicks are better than others, but they are still gimmicks.

 

[johnrk]

Quality Is Never a Gimmick-

We have seen that with the appliances with which this website is concerned.

PS - I went to look up your brand of cooker as I'd only seen it hawked on infomercials on TV. I found that looking it up on Amazon, the inner pot is stated in the description as being aluminum with a nonstick finish. I sure wouldn't recommend trying to scrape that pot with any type of steel wool, therefore. I went to their website--right now if someone buys one they can get a second one at half-price! They studiously avoid stating what their pot is made of, only showing it as a rather thin pot coated with some type of nonstick finish.

Again--if you're happy with it, that's what's important. But I'd hate to see someone who knows cooking to be disappointed using a pot that they wouldn't dream of owning otherwise.

I got rid of the equivalent pot sizes in s.s. that I owned after about 6 months with this. In this 4-bedroom house I have what would be considered a large kitchen, but like Julia Child, I don't keep extra stuff. As for not having handles on these heavy pots? Well, I'm not superman, and I would never haul a full 6- or 8-quart pot around anyway. Forty years of cooking, particularly soups, stews and chili, has enabled me to know my habits. But again, perhaps you haul those huge pots around full of food; it'd at least be a good workout on your pecs and biceps! Furthermore, lacking handles on the two heavy pots that I own makes them easier to store...

 

[toploader55]

I think what I will do is just wait until the Spring and see how many of these Instant Pots are on Craig's List NIB after the holidays and no one wants them.

Just like the Show Time Rotisserie and the George Forman Grills.

I can just see the ads now... "Used Once, Original Box, Manual included...$40.00

LOL[this post was last edited: 11/20/2017-07:40]

 

[johnrk]

Who's 'Manuel'?

The lady's unwanted husband? LOL--you made my morning...

 

[toploader55]

Edit complete... Thank You.

I wrote that on my 1 st cup of Coffee. Not firing on all eights quite yet.

 

[sudsmaster]

Yup, alumunum

Sorry, I was going on the weight of the inner pot on the Cuisinart, which I've been using in lieu of the PPCXL for the past couple of months. It's a relatively heavy gauge, which led me to think it's stainless, but when I held a magnet to it just now, there wasn't even a slight attraction, so it must be aluminum. I also got the XL out of its box and saw that It has to be aluminum as well. Makes sense, since few stainless pots and pans come with non-stick coating. Probably some difficulty in getting the coating to adhere to stainless.

However I'm not sure how much of a difference the inner pot material makes to me. To me the drawback of the PPCXL is the restrictive nature of the menu buttons. The Cuisinart is much more flexible ... for brown rice, for example, I just choose the "HIGH" setting and then input any number of minutes I want, using the suggested times in the owner's manual as a guide. With the PPCXL the rice option doesn't cook long enough, so I have to select the BEANS option instead. That annoys me.

Under normal use, the inner pot in any of these appliances should never get to the temperature that would degrade a non-stick coating. On the stove top, yes, it's possible. If you put an empty pot on the burner, set it to high, and walk away for 30 minutes. So don't do that.

And no, I'm not particularly happy with the PPCXL. Which is why I've been using the Cuisinart instead. Smaller (6qt) but I find it easier to use.

If I had to do it over again, I would not have purchased the PPCXL. But one can't know such a gimmick's drawbacks until one tries it. I could probably still return it to Costco, with some grumbling. I doubt I'd get an Instant Pot as its replacement, however. Don't need another gimmick, no matter how high quality part of it is.

And to be honest, we have a number of members who look down upon any of these electric pressure cookers, because in their opinions they don't achieve a high enough pressure and temp to do true pressure cooking. They have a point. Which is why I have collection of range-top pressure cookers should I need to get something sterilized or pressure canned.

 

[johnrk]

Pressure Cookers

Sudsmaster, don't let anyone BS you about some particular level of steam pressure being needed for it to be 'true' pressure cooking. That's pure nonsense. Now, pressure canning is a whole 'nother thing entirely. But, the main function of pressure cooking is, and always has been, speed. True, it can break down some tough cuts of meat, but it can also make some meats really funky, too. Plus, tests have shown that many if not most of the top-level (Fissler, Kuhn-Rikon, etc) pc's aren't running at 15 lb but instead more like 12.

I've been canning since the 80's and I'll never use one of these pots for canning because I do want 15 lb, which translates to about 264F. Less pressure than that doesn't assure that botulism, for one, is prevented. No reason to take chances.

But I still own 4 regular stovetop pc's and love them too. My 22 litre Hawkins Big Boy is large enough inside to pressure cook two whole chickens, which I'll do to harvest the meat for a big soup or chicken chili. Can't do that in one of these little pots!

 

[sudsmaster]

I have a big still new in box (16 qt, I think) Presto pressure cooker specifically for canning. I've never run it, and I want to supplement the rocker valve with a pressure gauge. I've been too busy to get into canning for the past few years, although I did some boiling water canning of jams about 10 years ago. It's a LOT of work! LOL. But to preserve special back yard produce it's the way to go. Besides freezing, of course. The Presto is aluminum, but I don't see anything wrong with that for canning, since the food itself won't be in contact with the metal (unless something goes wrong).

I used to work in a public heath school lab, and got familiar with what is needed to produce sterile glassware and media. They had huge autoclaves that could do many racks at once. I'd probably want to get some of that temperature indicator tape we used, as well.

 

[johnrk]

Your Presto

is a fine canner. But don't bother with the stupid gauge. I own 3 All American canners, the least expensive of which was over $200. They still come with a gauge as they have for a century. However--they now come with the 'jiggler' also. As they state in the owner's manual, pressure gauges can easily go out of adjustment, even if you get them calibrated annually by your county agent. On the other hand, the 'jiggler' is always accurate. So trust it, and there's no need to waste money on the gauge. I can quite often and yes, the gauges on mine show around 15-17 pounds. However, the 'jiggler' is made for 15 pounds, so that's what I trust.

Keep in mind also that that nice Presto is also a fantastic pressure cooker! After all, a canner is just a much heavier-duty pressure cooker. I've made chili many times in my largest pressure canner. Of course, when full of chili it's way too heavy to even lift but that's no problem. I've canned up 18 quarts of chili in another of my canners after cooking it up in the largest one.

Aluminum is the norm for canners. Why? First, it is a great conductor of heat. Second, and more importantly, it holds down the weight. Still amazes me how few people can any more. I've canned a lot of hamburger, I've canned bacon, I've canned summer sausage, I've canned a whole lot of chicken, and so on. People somehow think they've got to have a farm or something to can. Not so. It's so cheap and when you can in that Presto, it'll keep for easily 5 years. Get it out and use it! And don't waste your money on the gauge...

 

[sudsmaster]

On a local cooking show the other day I saw a bit about a chef who cans... bread... it was some sort of rum bread, and it was canned in a glass jar. As soon as the jar opened, the bread ball puffed up to about twice its canned size. The TV host said it was very good. The chef said the bread would last in the can about nine months.

I probably won't be making chili or other foods in the big Presto. Way too much food for this house. But for canning produce, it will be nice. I'm thinking tomatoes and such. When all I had was the boiling water canner, I started freezing garden produce. That worked fine until the chest freezer acted up and I had to toss a lot of stuff. Cést la vie...

 

[johnrk]

I Give Away

a lot of chili; I'm Catholic and we have St. Vincent de Paul and there are always people needing food. I get my jars back and of course lids are very cheap. I also have a pantry that stays stocked with chili. Though I can pc beans in an hour in the I-Pot if I'm in a hurry, I also keep some canned w/o seasoning. I also can a generic vegetable soup made from just frozen mixed vegetables of different types, in 1/2 pint jars. I can pull a jar of those out and use as an ingredient with other dishes.

I live in hurricane country and I lost a side-by-side in Hurricane Ike full of food back in 2008. I was on a business trip and had no time to prep, not that there's much to start with. My pantry stays much more full than my freezer these days.

I've canned butter before but I quit doing that as it's a weird texture when it's opened. Just not worth it.

You can pressure cook an entire chicken in your Presto easily. In less than an hour you can have a fully cooked chicken. I do that to save the chicken for use in recipes.

 

[sudsmaster]

Yeah, I'm not too fond of slow cooked chicken; too much like boiled. I can't imagine PC chicken is any better. The best is rotisserie or fried. Brining is my latest fad for chicken of any persuasion. It really helps with the tenderness and flavor.

I've made pulled pork in the HB slow cooker. It might also work OK in the PC, but most PC's are not big enough for a pork butt.

These days I don't have time to do big batches, and I'm tired of the extras going to waste, but when I retire bringing mass quantities to a church or homeless shelter sounds like a plan.

 

[DADoES]

Rice

 
My microwave oven has an auto-sensor function for rice.  Works nicely.  Making a packaged jambalaya mix with sausage added this evening.  Set the rice cycle and a separate minute timer for the maximum suggested time for comparison.  The microwave is running 4 mins less than the minute timer.

 

[johnrk]

Rice

What kind of rice are you using? That's interesting! And of course, with most of my extended family being from South LA, jambalaya always gets my attention.