What can an instapot do that can't be done with either a : crockpot, or stove / dutch oven / other ??
I have been loaned an extra-large version variation to an Instapot (Fagor brand). I am trying to make things that would convince me to purchase one before I return this one. Honestly, I have not been very impressed, other than perhaps the timer / off feature.
Key benefits:
Pressure cooking (for speed, quality is like the crockpot so far)
Timer off / set: Convenient, no hanging around the house to low and slow cook in the oven.
So far I have cooked:
A) Large piece of pork (Browned and quasi-pulled port for taco style). I was told pot roast was awesome with it. Um? Just faster than crockpot? Not as tasty as braised in the oven? Browning was still a bit of work..
B) Lot and lots of Chickpeas (to see if pressure cooking could get them smoother than the stovetop) - not really better / smoother, just very very fast, under 1 hr from dry. I found a crockpot recipe from dry that I will try, too, to compare.
Will try next:
C) large pearl tapioca... for pudding
D) the risotto recipe
What do you make that works better in the instapot than any other, that you would not give up? What am I missing here that is worth nearly $100 and counter/storage space? I have lots of storage, and I don't mind owning appliances that do things I can't do otherwise (e.g. the electric optigrill, a processor, a mixer, blender).
Other foods people recommend that I already make with little effort:
1) Yogurt
2) Stock for soup (Is it not easier on the stove in a large pot? Sometimes it boils too hard for me, is Instapot correcting that or just steam all the time which is a strong boil anyway?)
3) Rice (I already have a rice function on my microwave. pretty easy and fluffy, never burns)
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Update:
Pork
Cooked a cheap cut of pork loin with a band of fat, but not marbled. Cooked with lime juice, chili, cumin, salt / pepper, onion, garlic. Added the required 1.5 cups of stock.
I gotta say, this was not better tasting quality than the crockpots, was a combo of boiled/stewed / yet dry (because of the lack of marbellling) and the juices covered it. It was not nearly as good as braised pork on the stovetop /oven. Flavours were great - thanks to a MMM poster that recommended the lime. Cutting the meat into large pieces, and browning it in the pot took quite a bit of time.
The pot is quite tall so browning was a chore to turn the pieces, too. Not a repeat, maybe if I had a pork shoulder for a true pulled pork.
Chickpeas
I made close to 10+ cups of chickpeas yesterday, no presoaking. They were not nearly tender enough to beat out boiling after 38 minutes, but another 10 minutes helped. Gotta say, 10 cups of cooked chickpeas in under an hour is an interesting concept. Note the huge batch because I can't be bothered to soak and boil for hours in small batches. But having them done in under an hour would mean that making 4 cups at a time would definitely be possible.
Made hummus with 4 cups of chickpeas -- a little grainier than the soak / cook method (either that or I had older chickpeas... my chickpeas are never quite as smooth as canned). Froze the rest. MUCH shorter time, but not necessarily easier than a crockpot recipe for dried beans. The sad part is I don't eat enough beans to justify $100 on an appliance. I wouldn't buy $100 worth of canned beans in 2 years, I bet.
UPDATE 1:
Risotto:
Total time to prepare from cold: 23 minutes
7 minutes heating time to saute level
5 minutes saute
2 minutes to increase temperature from saute to Risotto after lid is on.
7 minutes risotto cook mode
2 minutes checking recipe and getting the stock measured / adding ingredients before and after cook
Advantages: Only one pot. 7 minutes to cook instead of 30 minutes and no stirring during cook phase. Crockpot version (no stirring) needs a larger serving size and takes 4 hours..best with brown rice / barley for texture.
Notes: Total prep time is same (saute, chop onion). Quality is highly dependent on what ingredients are used (fresh basil, wine, home made stock, parmesan cheese and quality rice should be winners in any recipe).
Overall -- Easy to make and to clean up. Fast. Need more recipes like this to justify, would I make risotto more if I had this? IDK, but positive experience. UPDATE -- my DD and DS just ate some and give it a lot of compliments, would eat every day, etc... To me, it isn't creamy like true risotto, but it is quite good.
Update 2: WHOLE FROZEN CHICKEN
Okay folks, this is where the crockpot truly fails,, (rubbery and stewed).. and I make an awesome butterflied high roast chicken, but from thawed, in my oven in quite a short time. So, the gap is for how to get dinner on the table when the WHOLE CHICKEN is a frozen lump in the freezer and it is already 4pm and we just got home (from shopping or picking up kids, work meeting, whatever).
Chicken -- I managed to separate the 2 frozen chickens from each other (hey, it was a super special sale at $2/lb, which is more than half off)... put 1 cup of stock (turkey stock, also still partially frozen), a upside down lid from a pot to use as a trivet, and the chicken. Topped with 4 garlic cloves, 1/2 onion in chunks, and sprinkled with lawry's salt and my seasoning blend (thyme, basil, garlic salt, etc). Into the IP for 38 minutes, natural release (typing that it sound dirtier than it is), and not quite done. Added 10min pressure, and it is done. Chopped it into 4 pieces and put under broiler....
Then washed and cut 5lbs of red potatoes in half, added to the stock/juices still in the pot. Put in 3 whole large peeled carrots, a tablespoon of butter and more salt (for the potatoes). Into IP for 5 minutes, pressure cook, while chicken broils (broiling it highly recommended by Budget bytes).
OOPS - just read that the directions were for 5 minutes of steaming... oh well..
Total time -- approx 1 hr 20 minutes, start to finish, including trying to break apart / thaw 2 frozen chickens.
Next step - kids / DH taste testing. DH hates crock pot cooking / chicken, so let's see. It is looking very very good right now, however. I think the broiling and lack of boiled / rubbery texture will be key.
Update 3 - CHICKEN RESULTS
Everyone liked the chicken very much. I would give it at 7.5 / 10. Needs a bit of broiled sauce on it or something extra, but the taste kicks crockpot to the curb. DH "tolerates" crockpot meats, but said he would eat this again. Definitely moister, but the meat still has texture.
Bonus is that a dinner with 1 chicken, and potatoes and carrots with leftovers geneated 1 dirty crockpot and 1 small pan under the broiler for 5 minutes, which will be easy to clean.
Update 4 - TAPIOCA PUDDING
One thing DH loves loves loves is tapioca pudding with large tapioca pearls. Unfortunately our recipe calls for buying this strange ingredient (getting much harder to find), and soaking it overnight in milk, then boiling gently, THEN making it into an actual cooked pudding. So he eats home made tapioca about 1x per year.
I thought, hey, may as well try it...! Found a couple of recipes.
Well, 7 minutes on pressure cook actually worked to eliminate a 12 hour soak and the boil gently part of the recipe. BUT the milk did burn a bit on the bottom so next time I would need to put it into its own bowl to keep away the high heat. I was able to finish cooking the pudding on saute mode with the egg yolks and sugar without another bowl. DH was eating tapioca pudding within 20 minutes of my starting to cook it. I have never tried this in the crockpot because that just seems wrong to cook milk for so long / slow.
Notes -- Definite win for the IP. Even if I have to rig up a second "steam" bowl.
Update 5 - Hard boiled Eggs
Cooked on trivet, 1cup water, 5 minutes pressure mode, 5 minutes natural release, then ice bowl of water to chill.
Easy to set up, very easy to peel (the membrane under the shell was tougher, though). I need to adjust this recipe somehow, as I like med/hard cooked eggs, and there is the very start of a grey ring on one yolk (a sign of too long heat dwell).
If I ever need to cook very fresh eggs, this would be the way to do it.. or to try the "steamed" method. Not sure if you could cook them soft boiled this way for toast soldiers.
Great for large quantities of very fresh eggs like when you are cooking them for community easter egg hunt / breakfast, and only bought them the day before (been there). The key to this being super easy is that the cooker was already out, waiting on my counter, no getting it out of the pantry...
Notes -- great for a large batch of eggs, or very fresh eggs, not necessarily better or easier for everyday if you don't use farm fresh eggs.
Update 6: CHICKEN STOCK
Had the chicken last night, so thought to try stock today. Fast, check, not scenting up the whole house? Check. Clear broth? Check.
The clear broth was quite nice. IP may not over boil the broth. I only made 6 cups of broth, so it seemed like a small quantity, but easy to set up / clean.
Update 7: STEAMED PUDDING
I made a Carrot Steamed Pudding. Saskatchewan style with raisins, nuts, spices, and grated potato. Used the steam setting for 10 minutes and pressure for 35 minutes. It was fluffy moist cake and not nearly as dense and moist as I like, so maybe I will try just pressure mode only next time. Had trouble finding a 6 cup bowl that fits the pot.
Update 8: Reheating LEFTOVERS
I thought I would take a stab at using the IP instead of the microwave for leftovers, and it worked quite fast. High pressure for 2 minutes, plus heat up time. I definitely need to find a way to pull my inner pan out of the large cooking pot. The pot is deep and hard to grip the smaller pan inside, especially when hot.
Notes -- definitely a great option to reheat foods. Very similar results to microwave, but a few minutes longer, and needs full sized hot mitts.
UPDATE 9: Butternut squash.
High on for 10 minutes, natural release. Maybe 20 minutes total.
Overcooked, for certain. Good for mashing.
Better / faster than steamed / boiled on stovetop. I prefer the taste of roasted.
UPDATE 10: Kraft Mac and Cheese
With chunks of cheap cheese and frozen peas.
Well, it worked, and the quality after sitting was pretty much KD. EXCEPT that the cheap cheese block (mozzerella) chunks disintegrated into little bits and gave a curdled look, but not a curdled taste. We thought we would get melted chunks on noodles, but nope.
Kids liked it.
....to be continued.....
I think i will write the summary of my results and post that separately.