I own an Instant Pot!

Last updated on: July 15, 2017 at 7:47 pm by Jane the Actuary

I own an Instant Pot! 2017-07-15T19:47:07-06:00 Jane the Actuary

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I’d deliberated about an Instant Pot for a while now, and, in fact, a couple years ago bought an electric pressure cooker from Aldi. I read through the instructions and concluded that the time savings wasn’t really that impressive, considering that the cooking time may be minimal but the time required to pre-heat and to de-pressurize afterwards can be substantial. “For as long as it takes, I might as well just keep using my crockpot,” I said, and returned it.

But in the meantime, I’ve had a number of instances where I have a crock pot-using recipe in mind, but then don’t get around to actually putting it in the pot in time. So this, plus the appeal of being able to use the same device as a rice cooker and a slow cooker, and the fact that I learned they’re now being sold at Target rather than just on Amazon, meant that I decided to go ahead.

Here it is:

Yes, it’s a 6 qt. version, and a 7-in-1 model — apparently there’s a 9-in-1 that makes cakes as well, but that wasn’t on the shelves at Target. (And, of the seven functions, several are not so impressive — “warmer”? “steamer”? And I’m unlikely to take it out for a spin as a yogurt-maker.)

I had my first trial run tonight: chicken thighs with spaghetti (marinara) sauce, a recipe that I usually make in the crockpot. It’s as simple as dumping spaghetti sauce and chicken thighs together — though it requires a final step, that of cooking down the resulting fairly runny sauce. (Maybe if I made my own sauce with tomato paste and seasonings it wouldn’t be necessary but I never have.) The green bits are spinach that I cooked separately (I just used the same serving spoon).

Was it lightning fast? No, not really — it took 40 minutes to go through all three parts of preheat, cook, and natural release. I could have tried a quick release but it wasn’t clear enough to me exactly how much liquid is “too much” to do a quick release. But I’m not rushing to cook dinner quickly as often as I used to be — yet at the same time, often have days where I have to dash out and pick up a kid from somewhere just before dinner, so that this duration wouldn’t necessarily be an issue, if it’s a matter of getting it started and then doing the pick-up and coming back to dinner that’s nearly ready, especially since it has a “keep warm” program that automatically kicks in after the cooking is finished.

Will it replace the rice cooker? I’d probably still want to have it handy for those sorts of meals where rice is the side dish to whatever is crock-potted/pressure-cooked. It would probably replace the crock pot, though. And I like the saute feature, since presumably it should give a flavor boost to those recipes where I skip the meat browning because it’s too much work to do so in a separate pan.

But here’s one thing I haven’t figured out: the crock pot and the rice cooker are both small enough to be tucked away in a kitchen cabinet when not in use. The Instant Pot? Not so much. Which means that I’d have the breadmaker, the Instant Pot, and the stand mixer permanently on the counter. Maybe it’s time for that kitchen remodel . . .

And the other thing that’s odd is that there seems to be a significant Chinese customer base, judging from the fact that the instruction book included Chinese as a language, and small included recipe book was English and Chinese. This NPR article on the rise of the Canadian-invented Instant Pot doesn’t mention any Chinese connection — is it a favorite among the Chinese? Among the Chinese-Canadian immigrant community?

Anyway, readers, please share your Instant Pot experiences (and resist the temptation to make jokes about the other sort of pot).

Uncategorized

cooking/baking

Instant Pot

Previous Post

July 14, 2017

The "child care calculator" from an actuary's point of view

Next Post

July 16, 2017 Mosul, rebuilding and blame-shifting

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Actuarial/Retirement Issues Politics Uncategorized

Select a Month September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 December 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 August 2021 June 2021 April 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What did Jesus use to feed the 5,000?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Five loaves and two fish Grapes and figs Manna from heaven A basket of quail