Author Topic: electric pressure cooker vs electric cooktop  (Read 3113 times)

fpjeepy

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electric pressure cooker vs electric cooktop
« on: July 10, 2018, 10:42:02 AM »
Thinking about doing a renovation on an older boat to be a liveaboard. Not really the topic of this post.

Designing the galley / kitchen area. I'm thinking I could get away with just three kitchen appliances. A 10 qt electric pressure cooker, a convection / microwave combo, and a fridge / freezer.

Has anyone tried to live by only cooking out of an electric pressure cooker? I've never had one, but they appear to function like a pot on the stove if you take the lid off. Is this a bad idea? Should I plan on having a cooktop as well?

Syonyk

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Re: electric pressure cooker vs electric cooktop
« Reply #1 on: July 11, 2018, 11:36:50 AM »
Has anyone tried to live by only cooking out of an electric pressure cooker? I've never had one, but they appear to function like a pot on the stove if you take the lid off. Is this a bad idea? Should I plan on having a cooktop as well?

I've got an 8qt Instant Pot we use quite a bit (should be about the same as any other electric pressure cooker), and, yes, you should be able to use them like a pot if you take the lid off.  A lot of the stuff we do will have us brown the meat first (with the lid off), then throw everything in and let it heat up.  I'm not sure you'd want a 10qt, though.  I have an 8qt, and it's quite large (I can do doubles of most recipes in it), but it doesn't do small stuff very well.  I can cook a cup of rice in it, but... eh.  It's a very, very thin layer of rice I end up having to scrape off the bottom at that point.  For one or two people, the 6qt is probably about right (I bought larger than currently needed because we've got 2 kids who, hopefully well within the lifespan of this unit, will be teenagers who inhale everything in sight and a lot of stuff that isn't).

They also can work as a slow cooker.

I would miss a stovetop for our cooking, but we live in a house with plenty of space and, admittedly, most of my cooking has been on a stove so that's what I'm used to.  I think, if I really had to, I could do most of my cooking with the Instant Pot, and if I only had one, I'd certainly change my eating around to focus on what it works well for.

In your case, I'd probably design without a stovetop.  You can always get a countertop induction burner if you find you can't live without it.  Devoting counter space to a cooktop, unless you're going with a gas one, probably doesn't make sense.

... how are you powering all this stuff?  Shore power?

maginvizIZ

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Re: electric pressure cooker vs electric cooktop
« Reply #2 on: July 11, 2018, 03:23:52 PM »
I moved out of my parents house in Feb 2018.  I invested in an instant pot, and I ABSOLUTELY love it.

I've used my cooktop for boil water for mac n cheese (I imagine this is totally doable in the instant pot), and making scambled eggs (I wonder if the sauté mode on low would be low enough to cook eggs... Hmm.... ).

I've used my oven 3 times, to cook totinos pizza (Could I make pizza in the instant pot? hmm... Will google this right now).


I could 100% rely solely on an instant pot. 

Edit: Google shows others are doing scrambled eggs with ease.  Pressure cooking a pizza is not very doable. haha
« Last Edit: July 11, 2018, 03:26:57 PM by teltic »

Rural

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Re: electric pressure cooker vs electric cooktop
« Reply #3 on: July 12, 2018, 10:12:22 AM »
I'd think you could get by. What you'd lose is the ability to coook meals that involve more than one thing in a pot. Spaghetti comes to mind - it is doable, pasta and sauce together, in an instantpot, but the texture of the noodles suffers a bit (whole wheat noodles come out better, less squishy, but you're not going to get al dente). But without two burners (or a burner and an instantpot) you really can't do sauce and pasta separately.

sokoloff

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Re: electric pressure cooker vs electric cooktop
« Reply #4 on: July 12, 2018, 10:18:09 AM »
Have you considered a countertop induction hob? I know space is a premium on a boat, but something like the one we got might work well for you.

We paid $54 a couple years ago and it's the go-to for long-simmering dishes (for safety reasons; we feel better about that unattended than the gas cooktop), but can also cook pasta or other random things.

(The link is not an affiliate link.)

fpjeepy

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Re: electric pressure cooker vs electric cooktop
« Reply #5 on: July 14, 2018, 08:30:14 AM »
Has anyone tried to live by only cooking out of an electric pressure cooker? I've never had one, but they appear to function like a pot on the stove if you take the lid off. Is this a bad idea? Should I plan on having a cooktop as well?

I've got an 8qt Instant Pot we use quite a bit (should be about the same as any other electric pressure cooker), and, yes, you should be able to use them like a pot if you take the lid off.  A lot of the stuff we do will have us brown the meat first (with the lid off), then throw everything in and let it heat up.  I'm not sure you'd want a 10qt, though.  I have an 8qt, and it's quite large (I can do doubles of most recipes in it), but it doesn't do small stuff very well.  I can cook a cup of rice in it, but... eh.  It's a very, very thin layer of rice I end up having to scrape off the bottom at that point.  For one or two people, the 6qt is probably about right (I bought larger than currently needed because we've got 2 kids who, hopefully well within the lifespan of this unit, will be teenagers who inhale everything in sight and a lot of stuff that isn't).

They also can work as a slow cooker.

I would miss a stovetop for our cooking, but we live in a house with plenty of space and, admittedly, most of my cooking has been on a stove so that's what I'm used to.  I think, if I really had to, I could do most of my cooking with the Instant Pot, and if I only had one, I'd certainly change my eating around to focus on what it works well for.

In your case, I'd probably design without a stovetop.  You can always get a countertop induction burner if you find you can't live without it.  Devoting counter space to a cooktop, unless you're going with a gas one, probably doesn't make sense.

... how are you powering all this stuff?  Shore power?

Thank you for the help! I like knowing that an 8qt will be enough. There are a lot more options in 8qt than 10qt.  I would be running all of this off of a 50A shore power at this time.

I suppose a small touch sensor induction cooktop wouldn't take up much space, especially if I could get the countertop to have removable cooktop lids. I can't think of an easy way of mounting / storing the instapot.

fpjeepy

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Re: electric pressure cooker vs electric cooktop
« Reply #6 on: July 14, 2018, 08:30:57 AM »
I moved out of my parents house in Feb 2018.  I invested in an instant pot, and I ABSOLUTELY love it.

I've used my cooktop for boil water for mac n cheese (I imagine this is totally doable in the instant pot), and making scambled eggs (I wonder if the sauté mode on low would be low enough to cook eggs... Hmm.... ).

I've used my oven 3 times, to cook totinos pizza (Could I make pizza in the instant pot? hmm... Will google this right now).


I could 100% rely solely on an instant pot. 

Edit: Google shows others are doing scrambled eggs with ease.  Pressure cooking a pizza is not very doable. haha

I plan I getting a convection / microwave, which I think would do a great job on pizza.

fpjeepy

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Re: electric pressure cooker vs electric cooktop
« Reply #7 on: July 14, 2018, 08:32:05 AM »
I'd think you could get by. What you'd lose is the ability to coook meals that involve more than one thing in a pot. Spaghetti comes to mind - it is doable, pasta and sauce together, in an instantpot, but the texture of the noodles suffers a bit (whole wheat noodles come out better, less squishy, but you're not going to get al dente). But without two burners (or a burner and an instantpot) you really can't do sauce and pasta separately.

I wonder if I could do sauce in the microwave and pasta in the instapot or the other way around.

fpjeepy

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Re: electric pressure cooker vs electric cooktop
« Reply #8 on: July 14, 2018, 08:33:51 AM »
Have you considered a countertop induction hob? I know space is a premium on a boat, but something like the one we got might work well for you.

We paid $54 a couple years ago and it's the go-to for long-simmering dishes (for safety reasons; we feel better about that unattended than the gas cooktop), but can also cook pasta or other random things.

(The link is not an affiliate link.)

That's definitely an option. I like that I can take that, or the instapot, outside on the deck during the summer so that its not battling with the AC.

Syonyk

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Re: electric pressure cooker vs electric cooktop
« Reply #9 on: July 14, 2018, 11:46:14 AM »
The Instant Pot doesn't really let that much heat out - they're fairly well insulated.

Though I tried a combined pasta and sauce recipe in ours last night.

Yuck.

Tasted like Chef Boyardee.  Soggy, saturated pasta.  My daughter loved it... I think I'll pass on doing that again.

Rural

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Re: electric pressure cooker vs electric cooktop
« Reply #10 on: July 14, 2018, 01:05:53 PM »
I'd think you could get by. What you'd lose is the ability to coook meals that involve more than one thing in a pot. Spaghetti comes to mind - it is doable, pasta and sauce together, in an instantpot, but the texture of the noodles suffers a bit (whole wheat noodles come out better, less squishy, but you're not going to get al dente). But without two burners (or a burner and an instantpot) you really can't do sauce and pasta separately.

I wonder if I could do sauce in the microwave and pasta in the instapot or the other way around.


Yes, would recommend the sauce in the microwave and the pasta in the pot without lid - microwaved pasta is not as soggy as pressure cooked pasta, but it's not far off. Best to boil and drain pasta if possible, and you can with the saute setting on an instantpot.

GizmoTX

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Re: electric pressure cooker vs electric cooktop
« Reply #11 on: July 14, 2018, 05:06:22 PM »
Get an extra inner pot for the Instant Pot so you can do multiple items like rice or pasta.

sparkytheop

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Re: electric pressure cooker vs electric cooktop
« Reply #12 on: July 14, 2018, 06:14:57 PM »
Considering I do 90%+ of my cooking using a cast iron skillet, there is no way I could go to just a pressure cooker.

A compromise might be to add one more appliance, an electric skillet or griddle, if you don't want to do the stove top.

Rubic

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Re: electric pressure cooker vs electric cooktop
« Reply #13 on: July 15, 2018, 10:51:45 AM »
Has anyone tried to live by only cooking out of an electric pressure cooker? I've never had one, but they appear to function like a pot on the stove if you take the lid off. Is this a bad idea? Should I plan on having a cooktop as well?

I do 90% of my cooking with an electric pressure cooker and love it!  While
the meal is cooking, I can easily get other tasks done.

I've been using the Cuisinart for the past 5 years, but if it ever dies, I'd
probably replace with an Instapot.

Would be interested in any details about your liveaboard if you have anything
(or links) to share.


Firehazard

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Re: electric pressure cooker vs electric cooktop
« Reply #14 on: July 16, 2018, 07:13:49 PM »
I would suggest a cook top, a stainless steel 6qt pressure cooker and a toaster oven.  You can cook a large batch of food in a 6qt, and I wouldn't want to try and wash one that was any larger than that, especially if you have a small sink.  Also, a $50 stovetop pressure cooker will last you pretty much forever, you just have to replace the seals every couple years (cheap).  An Instant Pot or other electric pressure cooker won't be cheap, and will probably crap out on you eventually.  Small electric appliances just don't last forever.  it's why I use a stove top coffee percolator too.  I got tired of replacing my coffee maker every other year.

I do love my pressure cooker.  It never gets a day off, sometimes I use it more than once a day.

fpjeepy

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Re: electric pressure cooker vs electric cooktop
« Reply #15 on: July 16, 2018, 08:48:02 PM »
Get an extra inner pot for the Instant Pot so you can do multiple items like rice or pasta.
Thank you didn't know that was an option.
I would suggest a cook top, a stainless steel 6qt pressure cooker and a toaster oven.  You can cook a large batch of food in a 6qt, and I wouldn't want to try and wash one that was any larger than that, especially if you have a small sink.  Also, a $50 stovetop pressure cooker will last you pretty much forever, you just have to replace the seals every couple years (cheap).  An Instant Pot or other electric pressure cooker won't be cheap, and will probably crap out on you eventually.  Small electric appliances just don't last forever.  it's why I use a stove top coffee percolator too.  I got tired of replacing my coffee maker every other year.

I do love my pressure cooker.  It never gets a day off, sometimes I use it more than once a day.

Prime Day has a 6qt instant pot for $58 I might just do that.

fpjeepy

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Re: electric pressure cooker vs electric cooktop
« Reply #16 on: August 01, 2018, 09:42:30 AM »
I bought one. I love it.