The "Insta-Pot"

I have a small one in the freezer. I was at a Marshall's store in down today. Saw an Insta Pot in the box. The box looked like it was opened & then Taped back closed. Same thing with a big KA mixer.

Unless this merchandise was opened by a staff member, or not, I don't know. But I'm not in the habit of buying merchandise that is in previously opened boxes!! This could indicate that they were either tampered with or opened to get something out of them. Gives the impression that something went missing!! :eek::headshake::mad:
 
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The seal on my cheap pressure cooker has started to fail, so I decided to buy a new one. But, they didn't have the old metal pot style at this particular place, so I ended up with....an "Instant" Pot. Note that the word "instant" is in quotes. I'm finding it's not so instant after all! I decided to try making farro as a simple first thing to prepare. It takes FOREVER to build up the pressure...at least 20 minutes. This is longer than it takes to cook in a pot on the stove! Then, it took forever to open before I could do the natural release. After 10 minutes, I decided to use the Vent. All told, my farro took 40 minutes to prepare...compared to 30 on the stove (and only 20 for rice on the stove).

Well...I have it now, and I have to live with it. I suppose there will be some sort of time savings for things that take longer.
 
The Late Night Gourmet said:
The seal on my cheap pressure cooker has started to fail, so I decided to buy a new one. But, they didn't have the old metal pot style at this particular place, so I ended up with....an "Instant" Pot. Note that the word "instant" is in quotes. I'm finding it's not so instant after all! I decided to try making farro as a simple first thing to prepare. It takes FOREVER to build up the pressure...at least 20 minutes. This is longer than it takes to cook in a pot on the stove! Then, it took forever to open before I could do the natural release. After 10 minutes, I decided to use the Vent. All told, my farro took 40 minutes to prepare...compared to 30 on the stove (and only 20 for rice on the stove).

Well...I have it now, and I have to live with it. I suppose there will be some sort of time savings for things that take longer.
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So sorry to hear that you are having such problems!! :ohmy:

I'm seriously thinking about trying THIS!! :wink:
 
Shermie said:
One advantage over the Insta-Pot. It can air fry, brown & crisp foods!! :wink:
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My wife's "off-brand" is an "Insignia" brand, $29.99, free shipping from Best Buy, and we are very pleased with it. She uses it to sautee, as she calls it, uses very little water initially, though I'm always worried about burning, and that hasn't happened yet. It takes about 10 minutes to get up steam, and we have been impressed with the way it produces tender meat with tough cuts of pork and beef. She did 8 ounces of Black Beans awhile back; they are delicious, and quick. No soaking or other such nonsense!
 
The Late Night Gourmet said:
It takes FOREVER to build up the pressure...at least 20 minutes. This is longer than it takes to cook in a pot on the stove! Then, it took forever to open before I could do the natural release. After 10 minutes, I decided to use the Vent. All told, my farro took 40 minutes to prepare...compared to 30 on the stove (and only 20 for rice on the stove).
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Most electric pressure cookers take longer to come up to pressure than old fashioned stove top ones (and also require about 20% longer cooking time at pressure because they work at a lower pressure). But, for me at least, the convenience compensates for that.

I've never cooked farro, but if its anything like rice then 10 mins of NPR should be fine, then release the rest of the pressure manually. I've never actually timed it, but I'd estimate rice usually takes around 30 mins in total in the Instant Pot - but I always fail at cooking rice on the hob so I'm just happy to a have a reliable way of cooking it :wink:

Boiled eggs are another thing that actually take longer in the pressure cooker....but again its more reliable so I'm happy to trade time for consistent results.
 
MrsDangermouse said:
Boiled eggs are another thing that actually take longer in the pressure cooker....but again its more reliable so I'm happy to trade time for consistent results.
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I've never heard of boiling eggs in a pressure cooker. I mean, it so easy to boil them in boiling water or (as I now do) in the microwave. What is going wrong when boiling them conventionally and why is the pressure cooker more consistent?
 
morning glory said:
I've never heard of boiling eggs in a pressure cooker. I mean, it so easy to boil them in boiling water or (as I now do) in the microwave. What is going wrong when boiling them conventionally and why is the pressure cooker more consistent?
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I hadn't heard of it either until I read it on t'inernet....but it really does work. You programme the number of minutes according to the egg size and how you want them cooked and they come out perfectly every time whether you're doing just one egg or 12. In a saucepan I've sometimes found the eggs unexpectedly under-cooked if I'm doing more than a couple at the same time.

But the main benefit of pressure cooked boiled eggs is peeling them....even with very fresh eggs the shells come off very easily :thumbsup:
 
MrsDangermouse said:
But the main benefit of pressure cooked boiled eggs is peeling them....even with very fresh eggs the shells come off very easily :thumbsup:
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That is a real plus point. Here is a test for you. Can you get The Black Farmer eggs? Only Ocado seem to sell them. They have the deepest most delicious looking golden yolks ever. More intense than Burford Browns. I use them all the time but they are impossible to peel fresh or old. I think they must add something to the feed which causes this! I'm not the only person to have found this as others have left comments on Ocados website. I've used every method under the sun except pressure cooking. So - if you are able to test this out and it works then I will be persuaded to try pressure cooking.

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MrsDangermouse said:
Wow those are some expensive eggs! :ohmy: We go through quite a few eggs so tend to either buy them in bulk from Costco or get Ocado's own.
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They are really worth the money . They look and taste stunning. I hope you try them!

Here is one - you can see how deeply coloured the yolks are alongside tomatoes:

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MrsDangermouse said:
Most electric pressure cookers take longer to come up to pressure than old fashioned stove top ones (and also require about 20% longer cooking time at pressure because they work at a lower pressure). But, for me at least, the convenience compensates for that.
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I saw so busy grumbling about how long it took that I missed this key point. With a stovetop pressure cooker, you NEED to watch it. There's always the fear that you've incinerated what's inside, even though I've gotten very good at avoiding that. But, I certainly can't leave the room and do something else. With an Instant Pot, though, there's a timed shut-down, so I don't have to worry if it's overdone. It might be underdone, but I have little or no fear that I've ruined something. It will take some time, but I think I'll enjoy it. :)
 
I'm so used to boiling eggs the normal way, that it really doesn't bother me. Besides, I have one of those timers that you just put in the cold water in the pot to tell you the doneness of the eggs!! :wink:
 
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