Foodies Instant Pot - Pressure cooker, crockpot, slow cooker, steam cooker...

Kevin

Kevin

Code Monkey
Staff member
Well, I was finally tempted to buy an Instant Pot. It's a multi combo pressure cooker, crockpot, steamer, and a bunch of other things rolled into one device.

Amazon.com: Instant Pot

I picked mine from our local Costco but Amazon has a nice selection of different sizes and accessories. Ours is the Instant Pot "Nova Plus" 6qt model; the "Nova Plus" is Costco's unique model, while BJ's have their own model version and some others but generally they are comparable to the ones on Amazon and other retail places.

Anybody else have one? What recipes have you tried so far? I'm still in the "Reading the instruction manual" phase but am hoping find some good low calorie recipes that both I & Mrs. Kevin would like.


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Kevin said:
Well, I was finally tempted to buy an Instant Pot. It's a multi combo pressure cooker, crockpot, steamer, and a bunch of other things rolled into one device.

Amazon.com: Instant Pot

I picked mine from our local Costco but Amazon has a nice selection of different sizes and accessories. Ours is the Instant Pot "Nova Plus" 6qt model; the "Nova Plus" is Costco's unique model, while BJ's have their own model version and some others but generally they are comparable to the ones on Amazon and other retail places.

Anybody else have one? What recipes have you tried so far? I'm still in the "Reading the instruction manual" phase but am hoping find some good low calorie recipes that both I & Mrs. Kevin would like.


ffZJnbW.jpg
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Get healthy bro, less milk products, cheese, milk, etc. get out and walk for 30 min a day, eat more fish and veggies, but for pete's sake don't cut out red meat, my auntie did it and had a stroke!
 
Kevin said:
Well, I was finally tempted to buy an Instant Pot. It's a multi combo pressure cooker, crockpot, steamer, and a bunch of other things rolled into one device.

Amazon.com: Instant Pot

I picked mine from our local Costco but Amazon has a nice selection of different sizes and accessories. Ours is the Instant Pot "Nova Plus" 6qt model; the "Nova Plus" is Costco's unique model, while BJ's have their own model version and some others but generally they are comparable to the ones on Amazon and other retail places.

Anybody else have one? What recipes have you tried so far? I'm still in the "Reading the instruction manual" phase but am hoping find some good low calorie recipes that both I & Mrs. Kevin would like.


ffZJnbW.jpg
Click to expand...
I got the nuwave air fryer, its pretty cool, I still have to work with it to get fish sticks and fries to get crunchy. Maybe I need to pre-heat it a little longer. Pass the vinager and tarter sauce! Your device looks pretty multi functional, have fun with it!
 
screenersam said:
on my wish list

keep us posted
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So far we've just tried a few simple items; corn on the cob, a pasta & meatball 'dump', and spaghetti squash. There are some absolutely fanatical people out there who seem to insist on cooking anything & everything in their "IP" but I can't see myself doing that.

The corn came out great and I'm never going to boil water for corn again. Seriously, it was so easy & fast in the IP that if I never cook anything again in it but fresh corn on the cob I'll still consider it a good investment. From a cold start it takes about 5-10 minutes to come up to pressure and then the cooking time. In the case of the corn we did a 2 minute cook time to start-to-finish it was likely closer to about 10 minutes or so. It came out great though, the kernels were soft enough to eat but still firm and not wrinkled like overcooked corn gets. We had that with some burgers on ciabatta rolls.

An IP "dump" dish is where everything can be thrown together at once and then just sit back & wait. In our case we did some frozen meatballs from Costco, a box of pasta, and some sauce. A 10 minute cook time and everything came out just as good (and way faster) as separately boiling & draining the pasta, heating the meatballs in the oven, and the sauce in a sauce pan. Dinner was ready in about 20 minutes with just one pot to clean. When first opening the pot the liquid was kind of thin (even with the sauce in the pot you still need to put water in so it can come up to pressure and for the pasta to absorb it) but stirring it up and letting it cool a bit thickened it up.

It was the first time for us trying spaghetti squash and neither my wife nor I ever cooked a whole squash in our lives. The traditional method would have been to cut the squash, remove the seeds, put in the oven for about 35 minutes, and essentially shred the pulp with a fork to create pasta-like strands of the squash. In the IP we still cut it first & took the seeds out but cook time was only a few minutes. The next time we do it I think I'll drain the shreds first since I thought it was a little watery; doing it in the oven would help dry it out I would assume but since we've never had it before I don't know if the texture was normal or not. It was good though... a little butter & seasoning mixed in and I was happy.

sci-fi-dude said:
I got the nuwave air fryer, its pretty cool, I still have to work with it to get fish sticks and fries to get crunchy. Maybe I need to pre-heat it a little longer. Pass the vinager and tarter sauce! Your device looks pretty multi functional, have fun with it!
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I was considering one of them for stuff like fish sticks and frozen chicken tenders also. But I prefer my stuff on the crunchier side; when doing them in the oven we leave them in a bit longer just to add a bit of crunch. Have you tried other stuff in it, does it all come up a bit on the softer side or was it just the fish sticks?
 
Kevin said:
Well, I was finally tempted to buy an Instant Pot. It's a multi combo pressure cooker, crockpot, steamer, and a bunch of other things rolled into one device.

Amazon.com: Instant Pot

I picked mine from our local Costco but Amazon has a nice selection of different sizes and accessories. Ours is the Instant Pot "Nova Plus" 6qt model; the "Nova Plus" is Costco's unique model, while BJ's have their own model version and some others but generally they are comparable to the ones on Amazon and other retail places.

Anybody else have one? What recipes have you tried so far? I'm still in the "Reading the instruction manual" phase but am hoping find some good low calorie recipes that both I & Mrs. Kevin would like.
Click to expand...

I gave in and bought one when they were on sale. I've used it twice in the last 10 or so months. I bought the 8 qt one, figuring since you can only fill it so full that this would let me cook more in it. What I wasn't figuring was how big it would be. I used to have a stove top pressure cooker, and the instant pot is much larger- which makes sense since the heating element is contained. The cooker is easy enough to use, and to clean. But I get dissuaded from using it since I have to drag it out from under the counter. There aren't many recipes that come with it, so I ordered a couple books, and there are online recipe sources also. I've cooked beef stew and chicken in it.
 
Bmat said:
I bought the 8 qt one, figuring since you can only fill it so full that this would let me cook more in it. What I wasn't figuring was how big it would be. I used to have a stove top pressure cooker, and the instant pot is much larger- which makes sense since the heating element is contained.
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They are surprisingly big. We got the 6qt which easily handles a dozen meatballs and a pound of pasta with sauce but since there is just two of us in the house it's too much. I'm thinking the 3qt model might be a better choice for us.

Bmat said:
There aren't many recipes that come with it, so I ordered a couple books, and there are online recipe sources also. I've cooked beef stew and chicken in it.
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There is an official "Instant-Pot" app with recipes available for iOS & Android. There is also an official company Facebook group that posts a ton of recipes everyday. A lot of the posts are regurgitated and useless stuff like people decorating their pots so I'm only peeking in there when I'm looking for something in particular.
 
For those on Facebook, here's a link to the 'official' IP group....

Log into Facebook

This week we'll be doing the squash again but also trying a boneless turkey breast. Supposedly it can handle a 'frozen as a rock' turkey breast under an hour. We'll see.
 
At the moment Amazon has the 6qt Instant Pot Duo on sale for just $69.95, a $30 savings. (y)

Instant Pot 6 qt Pressure Cooker / Steamer / Slow Cooker / Rice Cooker / Yogurt Maker / Warmer

If you're not an Amazon shopper and you're in the US keep an eye open for Black Friday sales as local stores like Kohl's, Target, and WalMart will have similar pricing.

I'm actually considering picking up a second one, the smaller 3qt Instant Pot "Mini" this time. The 6qt size is perfect for doing stuff like the spaghetti squash and other big items but Mrs. Kevin & I have been doing 3lb boneless turkey breasts in the IP and the 6qt is way bigger than the turkey breast. Plus by getting the 3qt I can do something like the turkey breast in the 3qt while doing squash or something else in the 6qt instead of my current method of using the oven to keep the turkey warm after it's done while waiting for the squash in the IP.

Considering how much the 6qt can hold I'm not sure what people are using the 8qt for! :eek: They must be sticking giant whole chickens in there or cooking soup for a small army or something.
 
Kevin said:
At the moment Amazon has the 6qt Instant Pot Duo on sale for just $69.95, a $30 savings. (y)

Instant Pot 6 qt Pressure Cooker / Steamer / Slow Cooker / Rice Cooker / Yogurt Maker / Warmer

If you're not an Amazon shopper and you're in the US keep an eye open for Black Friday sales as local stores like Kohl's, Target, and WalMart will have similar pricing.

I'm actually considering picking up a second one, the smaller 3qt Instant Pot "Mini" this time. The 6qt size is perfect for doing stuff like the spaghetti squash and other big items but Mrs. Kevin & I have been doing 3lb boneless turkey breasts in the IP and the 6qt is way bigger than the turkey breast. Plus by getting the 3qt I can do something like the turkey breast in the 3qt while doing squash or something else in the 6qt instead of my current method of using the oven to keep the turkey warm after it's done while waiting for the squash in the IP.

Considering how much the 6qt can hold I'm not sure what people are using the 8qt for! :eek: They must be sticking giant whole chickens in there or cooking soup for a small army or something.
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Did you get the 3 qt?
 
Bmat said:
Did you get the 3 qt?
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Not yet because Mrs. Kevin is convinced that we don't need it but there are some things that seem like a waste of using the 6qt for, especially since I like different kinds of soups & stews and she doesn't so I think the 3qt would be good for the dishes she won't eat. We use the 6qt at least once a week or so (this week will be a boneless turkey breast for dinner) so I'm still wanting the 3qt.

I also want an air fryer so I'm still trying to convince Mrs. Kevin why we need one of them also. :D
 
Our son has one and cooks just about everything in it. I'm undecided because we already have too many bots roaming about now. :LOL:
 
Kevin said:
Not yet because Mrs. Kevin is convinced that we don't need it but there are some things that seem like a waste of using the 6qt for, especially since I like different kinds of soups & stews and she doesn't so I think the 3qt would be good for the dishes she won't eat. We use the 6qt at least once a week or so (this week will be a boneless turkey breast for dinner) so I'm still wanting the 3qt.

I also want an air fryer so I'm still trying to convince Mrs. Kevin why we need one of them also. :D
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I was just thinking about cooking a turkey breast in my slow cooker. I am concerned that the middle might not get cooked all the way while the outside cooked so much it got stringy. Any suggestions?
 
I love cooking a turkey breast in a crock pot. Always moist! I have 3 sizes and it's important to use the right size crock for the size breast you will cook.
 
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